A Cool Summer

Tags

banana, banana smoothie, food, frozen, recipe, shake, smoothie, summer, vegan, vegetarian

Happy first day of summer! The weather has been cool and over cast here this past week but when the sun finally does come out again I’m sure I’ll be making lots of cool drinks for us to beat the heat with all summer long. Anna and I love drinking all kinds of different frozen fruit and berry smoothies but my husband Thomas is not a big fan of them. He does enjoy, however, the sweet and simple pureness of a banana smoothie. If you peel the bananas ahead of time and wrap them in plastic or place them in a zip lock bag before freezing them, whipping up this tasty summer drink is oh so easy. You can also add any other fresh or frozen fruits of your choice to this mixture and as long as at least the bananas are frozen it will still have a nice thick and smooth, frozen consistency. Enjoy!

Frozen Banana Smoothie

Serves 2 large or 4 small portions

Dairy Free Version:

1 Can Pure Coconut Milk (No additives)
2 Frozen Bananas (Peels removed before freezing)
2 Tbs Honey or other sweetener of choice

With Dairy:

2 Frozen Bananas (Peels removed before freezing)
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Yogurt*
2 Tbs Honey or other sweetener of choice

*If you are using already sweetened yogurt, like vanilla flavored yogurt for example, omit the additional sweetener in the recipe.

Blend all the ingredients well in a food processor or with an immersion stick blender until smooth. Serve immediately with a straw or spoon.

Have a cool summer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vgyg22yjqY

Act Fast It’s Lent

Tags

banana, banana cream pie, broccoli, broccoli crustless quiche, chocolate, chocolate cream pie, Cologne, fasting, Germany, Karneval, Lent, pie, quiche, recipe, vegetarian

I usually give up sweets for Lent, the period of roughly 40 days and nights leading up to Easter when Jesus was tempted while he was fasting in the desert. I like all sorts of sweet things and giving them up for over 6 weeks is not an easy task. In the tradition of most European cultures, not just here where I am in Germany, the Lenten season is ushered in by lots of indulging before the fasting begins. This time of the year, just prior to the beginning of Lent, is referred to here as Karneval and is even considered by some to be the 5th season. There has been a lot of partying going on here this past week, in and around the city of Cologne and it is all Karneval related. People have been dressing up in elaborate costumes, dancing, singing, eating a lot of festive foods and of course drinking lots of beer! Karneval is taken very seriously here and is an important time of the year for most people living in this part of Germany.

Here are a few of the the tasty things I made this past weekend to celebrate Karneval and to satisfy my sweet tooth before the start of Lent. I decided to make two cream pies, banana cream and chocolate cream and of course lots of whipped cream for the top! Since these pies call for only egg yolks in the custard I had a lot of egg whites left over. My favorite quiche recipe uses mostly egg whites so I opted to make this crustless quiche for dinner and it was certainly a delicious byproduct of our dessert indulgence this past weekend!

Banana Cream Pie recipe* via Cooking for Seven

Banana Cream Pie

*The Pie Crust I used for both recipes is here

Chocolate Cream Pie recipe* via Cooking for Seven

Chocolate Cream Pie

*I used 4 oz of semi-sweet chocolate and only 1 cup of sugar

Broccoli and Cheese Crustless Quiche recipe via Vegetarian Times

Broccoli and Cheese Crustless Quiche