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

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Perfect Pancakes Revisited

Tags

food, pancakes, recipe, vegan, vegetarian

I posted this recipe for vegan pancakes awhile back when I had removed all dairy from my diet while nursing Anna because of a dietary restriction. I no longer avoid dairy products, thank goodness, and in fact I tend to embrace them, but as far as pancakes go, vegan or not, these pancakes are amazing. I have made them every week now as a treat for us in the mornings on the weekend this past month and am loving their tasty, fluffy goodness, with or without maple syrup, and the fact that I don’t feel heavy and bogged down after eating them. This is probably also the easiest pancake recipe that I’ve ever made. One reader had suggested (and that is what restarted my love affair with these) that I try chia seeds in the batter instead of flax seeds and I did. They came out very pretty, looking like a slice of dragon fruit but my favorite is still the standard version with flax seed. I now use regular milk in place of soy in the recipe but you can revert to the vegan version if you like.

 

Perfect Pancakes

Makes about 6-8 medium sized pancakes

• 1 cup Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 1/4 cup ground Flax Seed
• 2 Tbs Oil
• 2 Tbs Sugar
• 1 Tbs Baking Powder
• 1/8 tsp Salt

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined. Add the oil and milk and mix into the dry ingredients until just combined (don’t over mix). Butter or oil the pan and ladle a 1/4 cup of the batter onto the hot pan (I cook two at a time).  Flip once they start to bubble on top and turn brown. Cook for another minute or two on the other side and serve hot with melted butter or maple syrup.