40 days of green smoothies + giveaway

Hello! Hello! It's been a while since I've posted because I've been taking a few classes at my local community college and they are kicking my butt, but now I am here to apologize for my absence in the nicest way possible - a cookbook giveaway!

Not just any cookbook, though... one that is near and dear to me because it is written and published by my fellow blogger and cookbook author friend, Becky Striepe from Glue and Glitter. She is one ambitious and amazingly talented young woman!

I wanted to present my review of this fabulous book when the weather started warming up because I know that smoothies sound better then, instead of in the winter months - and that's coming from my kids, who, you know, know everything.

Becky's green smoothie book is her second self-published volume (after Bowls! - which is another fantastic book and I encourage you to get your own copy; it is available in ebook and print.)

This book isn't just any smoothie book, however. Becky presents 40 smoothie recipes that each make one smoothie (easily doubled, however), which means that if the family isn't partaking your green smoothie adventure with you, you don't need them to!

The book presents the smoothies in weekly order, with a short shopping list preceding each week. Helpful, I know! The smoothies won't break your bank or your waistline with tons of included fruit - the fruit in each smoothie is just enough!

I started my 40 day smoothie adventure with the basic Strawberry Banana green smoothie and it was as delicious as it was easy to make.

Slight confession: I tend to be a bit heavier handed with the greens than Becky suggests using, so my smoothies aren't quite as colorful as hers are, but they are just as delicious, I am sure!

In that same weekly rotation was this scrumptious Chocolate Shake, which, again, I overdid with greens.

Note that all 40 days of green smoothies are completely different! The range is extraordinary and Becky shows off her creativity with smoothies such as Peachy Chocolate Blast, Spicy Mango Tango and Almond-Horchata, to name a few.

There are 6 weeks of unique, healthy and amazing smoothies in this beautiful little book and it will get you started on your smoothie habit with ease and simplicity.

Becky has offered to share one of the recipes from her book: Coconut Blackout Smoothie AND she has graciously offered to allow me to giveaway an ebook copy of 40 Days of Green Smoothies (Kindle, Amazon)! To enter the contest to win simply leave a comment (and make sure I can get in touch with you!!!) and come back here next Thursday (March 16) to see if you are the winner. Good luck!!

Coconut Blackout Smoothie

Lettuce has an even lighter flavor than spinach in a smoothie, so don’t be shy about adding a healthy handful. Most lettuce is pretty watery, so your lettuce smoothies will be a little thinner than the green smoothies you’re used to.

Ingredients
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen blackberries
1/2 cup of lettuce
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1/4-1/2 cup of water, as needed to get things moving
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 ice cubes

Method
Puree until smooth.

Yield: 1 serving



Reprinted with permission from 40 Days of Green Smoothies, © Becky Striepe.

food truck finale! chocolate hazelnut crepes

Christian, Danielle and Matthew

I'm "ending" the Month of Vegan Food with the Crepes Bonaparte food truck. This is a French-inspired truck, the brainchild of Christian Murcia, based out of Orange County, another one located in in2insight's backyard. This truck evolved from a business project at University of Southern California - incidentally one of the schools my son is interested in attending.

The truck features a prominent mustache on the front and is nick-named Gaston -- because it is a French gas-guzzler. Now, that is original! The team had true French crepe makers imported and they serve everything on crepes, sweet or savory. 

For my final food truck make-over, I decided on their signature dish - HazzelBerryAnna, hazelnut-chocolate butter, strawberries, bananas and whip cream. I totally zonked the berries, so they don't show up in my crepes, but the rest is acutely represented.

The food truck uses Nutella as the spread, but there are vegan options in health food stores now, and, whether they use hazelnuts or almonds, they are just as delicious. 

As an aside, if you enjoy nuts - hazel, almond, peanut, walnut, pecan, whatever! - don't miss Robin Robertson's new Nut Butter Universe cookbook. I tested for this book and I went totally nuts with amazement. No hazelnut-chocolate spread in the book, but the Too-Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge will make you forget you ever even wanted it. 

Check it out and then check out my recipe for the crepes at the bottom of the post. 

I promise it'll show up eventually.

That's it for the wrap-up of MoFo 2013 from Zsu's Vegan Pantry. If you've been counting along, you will have realized that I failed miserably. I did not just miss the goal of 20 posts, but I missed it by more than half. 

Excuses I am full of'; let me count the ways: (1) we wound up moving this month, right on the heels of moving from Chicago in June. After making the transition from a small apartment to a bigger house, (2) our internet was unavailable for another week. Quickly on the trails of the move and lack of web-service, we found out (3) our neighbors were tenting their house, just a mere three feet from our new abode, for a termite infestation. This meant that the strong breezes of California would waft the toxic fumes over to our open windows. Californians have a distinct disdain for installing air-conditioning in homes, so the open window was not just essential, but for the three days of being tented also poisonous. So, we decided to get out of Dodge. 

As soon as we got back and settled, I was all set to continue with my outlined MoFo food tuck list - only to realize that there were (4) only three more days left in September! Oy vey! Three days, thirteen food trucks. Ahhh, no! Wasn't going to happen. 

So, you see, that as they say, is that. 

I will now go and catch-up on all the MoFo wonderfulness I've missed and find out if the missing GiGi has been located, yet. Hope so!  

Happy MoFo 2013 everyone!

Vegan HazelBerryAnna Crepes Printer-Friendly Recipe

lemon cashew-stuffed crepes

Brunch

Today's brunch item, Lemon Cashew-Stuffed Crepes with Berry Sauce, is out of Vegan Brunch by  Isa Moskowitz. Pretty much, anyway. I had made Isa's crepe recipe before and because mine is simpler and taste-wise, similar - nothing special in either of them - I used mine (updated).

Isa's filling is a lovely concoction of lemon and cashew and is even raw (if you replace the cashews with almonds - cashews are processed using heat). Creamy, easy and wonderful. The cashew filling is topped with a Berry Sauce. Again, she uses a few too many ingredients for me, so I used my own berry sauce which is nothing more than berries and a little sugar.

Brunch was an absolute hit and was ready in no time. In fact, I kept flitting back and forth from the computer to the crepe-pan (my cast iron Goliath) because each crepe takes a minute to cook on each side. One can get a good handle on the amount of time it takes to cook crepes, just don't get overzealous if you are new at it!

Cost Breakdown

crepes: $1

cashews: $4.50

maple, nondairy milk, lemon: $1.50

berries: $4

Total to make 4 servings:

$11.00

Berry Sauce Recipe

blueberry waffles

Brunch

My kitchen is full of waffles!

Strawberry, blueberry and regular. I made some blueberry syrup, too. I suppose by now it is somewhat telling that I have a bunch of berries.

And I do! Thanks to my CSA box.

Berries, berries everywhere! This is the first time I made a fruit syrup, and it was as easy as, well..., pie. Actually, it was easier; pie is more difficult. Just plop two cups of berries on your stove, add a few Tablespoons of sugar, which I am certain is optional, and cook them on low for 15 minutes. Oh, were they ever good!

To make waffles, it is quite useful to have a sink full of dirty dishes, because those little suckers can each take about 10 minutes to cook. Even though I have two waffle makers, I still have a family of five, do not make waffles all that much, so freezing some is an awesome idea, so my kids tell me, it still took me about an hour to make three batches of these goodies.

There was definitely a basic formula to follow, I was sure, and since I am - was- quite in fear of waffles, I had to find it. It really is pretty simple, and there is nothing to fear but fear itself, so the saying goes.

I now have waffles ready to be devoured for at least... a few days?

 With kids, you never know.

Cost Breakdown:

flour: $.50

almond milk: $1

berries: $1

baking powder, salt: $.10

sugar: $.25

Total to make 6 waffles:

$2.85

Waffles, template Recipe