Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie

Happy New Year!

Let's start off the new year with this very healthy, and delicious breakfast smoothie recipe.  The banana and strawberries are frozen, so it blends up thick like a milkshake, and is best savored with a spoon.
Enjoy!

Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie

Makes 1 (16 oz.)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I use Orgain brand)
1 handful of baby spinach or kale
3 large frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana, broken into pieces

Instructions:

1. Using a blender, blend all ingredients together until smooth.
2. Pour into a large cup or mug and enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 280
Fat: 7.9g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 210.2mg
Carbohydrates: 44.3g
Fiber: 10.2g
Sugars: 20.3g
Protein: 15.5g

Kitchen Note: Bananas freeze easily by placing peeled bananas in a gallon-size freezer bag, and freezing overnight.

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

These no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookies have become my new favorite vegan cookie.  They are quick and simple to make, and so delicious.
Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 1 dozen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, measured in solid state
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Instructions:

1. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
2. Combine peanut butter, maple syrup, salt, and coconut oil in a saucepan and heat, stirring continuously, until melted and well-combined.
3. Stir in vanilla and cocoa powder.
4. Add quick-cooking oats and mix well.  Turn off heat.
5. Add shredded coconut, and stir until combined.
6. Drop cookie-size portions onto prepared baking sheet.
7. Let cool in refrigerator or freezer until hardened.
8. Always serve and keep cold.  These cookies contain coconut oil, which will melt at room temperature.
9. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator or freezer.

Vegan Broccoli and Wild Rice Casserole

Happy Fall Y'all!

I had planned to post more often this Fall, but it's been a busy one; including visiting our beautiful new granddaughter in September.

She is so sweet, and we are so thankful!

 Things have settled down for now, so I bring you this creamy vegan casserole recipe that is a satisfying meal served all by itself; or a delicious side dish.
 The French fried onion topping gives it a traditional Green Bean Casserole kind of vibe, so it would be a perfect vegan dish to serve at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

My husband and I are looking forward to our first vegan Thanksgiving dinner at the ChocolaTree Restaurant in beautiful Sedona, Arizona.  This will be the first year in many, that I haven't cooked a traditional Thanksgiving dinner!  Also, I've added the Happy Cow vegan restaurant guide link to my sidebar.  This is a very helpful website for Vegan travellers.

Wishing you and yours a very happy and peaceful Thanksgiving,
Kim


Vegan Broccoli and Wild Rice Casserole
Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked wild & long grain rice blend
2 cups frozen broccoli florets, par-cooked
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced
8 oz. white mushrooms, de-stemmed and sliced
2 Tbsp flour
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup French fried onions

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pre-cook the wild rice blend and broccoli, set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, cook onions and carrots in oil until tender.
4. Add mushrooms to the sauteed vegetables, then sprinkle with flour, and cook for about a minute.
5. Add broth, and bring to a boil.
6. Add the cooked rice and almond milk to the mixture, stirring to combine.  Cook until it thickens, then season with salt and pepper.
7. Pour into baking dish, then press individual broccoli crowns on top.
8. Top with French fried onions.
9. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden and bubbly.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes.  It will continue to set as it cools.

Maple Candied Walnuts

I just couldn't let this beautiful summer go by without sharing at least one new recipe on my blog.
So today's recipe is a simple maple candied walnut recipe that is my favorite flavor combination; salty and sweet!  They're delicious sprinkled on a salad, and make a great little snack too.
Enjoy!

Maple Candied Walnuts

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Preheat a non-stick pan over medium heat.  This step will help caramelize the walnuts properly.
3. Add walnuts, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt to the pan.
4. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes, until walnuts are carmelized.  There should be no liquid left in the pan.
5. Spoon walnuts evenly onto parchment-lined pan.  The caramelized syrup will harden as it cools.  Sprinkle with more salt, to taste.
6. Let cool for 2 hours before placing in an airtight container.

An Ordered Plan of Love

Honeysuckle climbing our porch.

I read the passage below by author Caryll Houselander many years ago when I was a young mother, and thought it was the most beautiful and inspirational message that I had ever read.  Although I fell short of the mark many days, I always strived for this lovely ideal with my own children.
Enjoy!

~~~

To a young child home stands for God.  In it he learns to see and touch the gifts of God.  If his mother is wise she will make his home beautiful.  She will copy the world's Creator and make a tiny new Eden.  She will bring in flowers and give the child animals and feed the birds.  The food on the table will be clean and simple and good.  It will not only taste nice, it will look nice . . .

It is in his home that the child should assimilate the Sermon on the Mount, not as if it were being drilled in his brain by words, but as if he were breathing it in his whole being like the air . . .

The ordering of time, which seems so simple, really requires great skill and energy from the mother.  It has tremendous importance, above all if it is related (as it obviously should be) to the rhythm of day and night and is interwoven with prayer.

The child should wake to the singing of birds (and they sing in the cities as well as in the woods).  Give his heart to God, when light is young, play for long hours when the world is awake and lively.  He should form habits of regular hunger and thirst, so that food and hunger come together, and his grace is a real thanking.  With twilight there should come stillness in the house, and he should be lit to bed by the stars.

From such ordering of time he will learn unconsciously, though it may be years before he thinks this out, that he is not part of that chaos that man has made of this world, with its fearful abuse of time, but part of an ordered plan of love.

~ Caryll Houselander

First Grandchild

Something of God comes into our world

 with every child that is born.

There is here with the newborn child

a divine spark, a light within . . .

~ Rufus Jones, Quaker Author

I am so very happy to share that our eldest son and daughter-in-law welcomed their first child into the world yesterday - a precious and healthy baby girl!  She is such a beautiful blessing to our family.

Broiled Asparagus

Harvested in the spring, fresh asparagus, broiled, is a delicious springtime side dish.  So simple and quick to make too.
Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh asparagus

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Trim tough ends of asparagus.
2. Place asparagus in a single layer on baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, then toss to coat.
4. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
5. Place baking sheet on middle rack under broiler and broil asparagus for 6-8 minutes, turning asparagus over half-way through cooking, until slightly browned.
6. Remove from oven and enjoy.