Sweet Summer Smoothie

It's been hot here. And when it's hot I don't like to make food or eat it. But apparently you still need to every day. So what better way to get all your needed nutrients than a smoothie!

I know there are tons of recipes out there for smoothies but I thought I'd add my own to the mix. I particularly love green smoothies, but didn't have any spinach or kale this day and didn't think iceberg lettuce would do the trick.

I did, however, happen to have a 4-berry blend of frozen berries in my freezer which had strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. I also happened to have some ground flax seed. So I mixed these together with some ice cubes, a bit of vanilla and some milk (to make it a tad creamier), and if I can say so myself it was SO. GOOD.

I'm very much a texture eater/drinker so I surprised myself a bit at how much I enjoyed this drink. The raspberries and flax seed made it quite a bit grainy, but that just told me there was good stuff in it.

T actually liked it a lot too, even though she did play with the straw more than she drank it. 

The best part of smoothies is you can make them any way you want, but here's how I did this one:

Sweet Summer Smoothie

Ingredients:
About a cup frozen 4-berry blend
1/4 cup ground flax seed
6-10 ice cubes
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
Blend in blender to desired consistency, pour into glasses, add a fancy straw and garnish and enjoy! 

-J

nothing tastes better!

I was watching an episode of Jamie's Meals in Minutes, and he took a carton of heavy cream, poured it in his food processor, and out came butter. Simple as that. If I had thought about making homemade butter before watching this, I would've run in the opposite direction. But I thought, "well I can do that!" 

So I went out and bought a food processor. I had been keeping my eyes open for one for a while, so it wasn't just for the butter... but that sure helped me convince CJ I needed one.

After trying it out by making a whole freezer full of good healthy baby food for J, I decided to give the butter a try.

**Disclaimer** the following pictures were taken with my phone, and when I get excited about something, I don't remember to turn it to the proper setting. Hence the orange photos.

 My processor has a liquid fill line, and it can only hold one cup.

I put it on low and went to do something else for a bit.

I'm not sure I had to, but I felt like I had to keep scraping the sides. Do you see the liquid separating from the "butter?"

For some reason I had this nursery rhyme in my head.... "Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating her curds and whey."

Once the food processor started sounding different (think working too hard... but not) I turned it off, and started straining the butter. I just used a piece of paper towel and fine strainer.

This is what was left over!

One cup of cream gets you this much butter. I was a tad disappointed, so the next time I tried two cups (my processor handled it just fine) and it made a good amount.

I wrapped it up in some parchment paper, and put it in the fridge. Apparently only salted butter can stay out of the fridge, so I think next time I'll salt it.

And there you have it! It really was super easy to do. If you don't have a food processor, apparently you can make this in a blender too. Let me know if you try either one!

-j