Smoooooovies!

That was the first thing out of A.J.'s mouth this morning.  Not "Good morning, mama."  Not "Hi mama!" Not "Da da?"  Or any of the other usual morning salutations.  Just "Smoovies?"  For the past few weeks, I've been making smoothies with A.J. and we've had great fun with it.  It's a fun, easy, and nutritious snack, and he loves to eat and make them.  

I usually set up the blender (unplugged, as A.J. likes to push the buttons), and have him help me load the ingredients.  Today we just did a free form smoothie.  I didn't measure anything, just eyeballed it. He does a great job loading the blender.  I just gave him the bag of frozen fruit and he started taking the chunks out and placed them in the blender. (See below: A.J. adding the mango.)

I'm finding that smoothies are also a great way for both of us to get our greens in.  So, I've been trying to add spinach and other greens to our smoothie.  If you've never tried it, you should!  It's great for you and you cannot taste the spinach in your smoothie.

Once we've got all the ingredients in the blender, I plug it in and then let A.J. push the buttons.  He gets very excited when the blender starts up and yells, "Smoovie!"  I put his smoothie in his usual plastic cup, but give him a straw to make it fun.  He has started to insist that I also drink it with a straw ("mama straw!").  I love that little man!  We often go sit outside and enjoy our smoothies in the beautiful sunshine.

While I often do my smoothies free form, as I've been doing them a while, here are a few of our current favorites.

Blissful Mama's Tropical Smoothie

1 banana (preferably frozen)

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

1/2 cup frozen mangoes

1 cup rice milk (or your preferred type of milk - I use rice milk since it is more in line with ayruvedic principles)

1-2 tbps. agave nectar

1 tsp. coconut extract 

1 tbsp wheat germ (optional)

splash of Aloe Vera Juice (optional)

Add all the ingredients into the blender and give it a whirl.  Yield 2-3 servings

Blueberry Smoothie (From my raw food chef friend)

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 ripe banana

1 cup fresh spinach or 3-4 kale laves, stem removed

2-3 cups water

Optional seeds (flax, hemp, chia, etc.)

Add all the ingredients into the blender and give it a whirl. Yield 2-3 servings.

Pom-Cherry Smoothie

1 cup frozen sweet cherries

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup pomegranate cherry juice

3/4 cup frozen pineapple

1 banana

Throw it all in the blender and mix it up until smooth.  Yield 3-4 servings.

"When you wash the rice, wash the rice."

"When you wash the rice, wash the rice." ~ Edward Espe Brown

When I watched How to Cook Your Life with Edward Espe Brown last month, I knew this quote would stick with me for a while.  When I initially heard about the documentary, I thought, "Eureka!  This is the answer to all my issues with cooking."  While there is a part of me that obviously loves to cook, there are many times when I am in the kitchen and find myself wishing that I didn't have to cook or drained by the process.  Part of that is because my son is a very curious toddler and wants me to hold him while I'm cooking so that he can see everything.  And even though I want to do this, I find myself drained by the process.  In looking for "the answer" to this "problem" I stumbled across How to Cook Your Life, and immediately thought that there must be something in this video that will help me to change my mindset, so that I can blissfully float through the kitchen and all will be lovely and right with the world.

Not so.  My initial reaction to some of the philosophy in the video was anger!  While I really enjoyed Edward Espe Brown in the video and his authenticity, I felt that the philosophies that he espoused were not for your average mom at home in the kitchen, but were geared more towards the monk in the monastery (or anyone cooking without young children).  Case in point: Brown relates one of the most important teachings of his teacher, Suzuki,  "When you wash the rice, wash the rice."  While this is a beautiful teaching that helps bring the powerful meditation tool of mindfulness into your kitchen and daily life, this is total b.s. if you are a mother with a toddler!  (Or at least this mother, anyway!)  In my house, when I am washing the rice, I am washing the rice and telling A.J. to let go of the faucet and not to splash the water and anticipating what A.J. will do next so that I can prevent any potential disasters in the kitchen.  While I can attempt mindfulness, I can only realistically mindfully multi-task.

So my quest to make cooking a spiritual act and karmic yoga act continues.  I work to alleviate the drudgery and infuse it with lightness and love.  A few weeks after seeing the documentary, I saw The Tassajara Recipe Book at Half Price Books and couldn't resist picking it up.  I had only cooked from The Tassajara Bread Book before.  I was pleasantly surprised to see some "intentions/prayers" scattered throughout the book that invoke an element of karma yoga into cooking.  I now have a few of  them taped to my microwave.  If nothing else, it helps me start out with a mindfulness mindset.  When I'm cooking with A.J., that mindset quickly deteriorates, but I'm going to keep working at it.

Getting Started:

" Washing my hands, preparing to handle food,
I cleanse my mind of the same old thinking,
and offer to lend a hand,
freshly doing each task."

And

Working on How I Work:

" I do this chore
not to just get it
out of the way,
but as the way
to make real
kind connected mind.

May I awaken to what
these ingredients offer,
and may I awaken best I can
energy, warmth, imagination,
this offering of heart, and hand."

Mixed Green Salad with Grapefruit, Avocado & Lime-Cumin Vinaigrette

Spring is here!  And for me, that means it's salad and smoothie time!  Here is one of my new favorites from the Tassajara Recipe Book by Edward Espe Brown.

For the salad:

5 large handfuls mixed greens
2 grapefruits (I love the Texas Rio grapefruits!  They are not as bitter as others.)
2 avocados

For the vinaigrette:
grated peel of 4 limes
3 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (regular works fine too)
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
pinch of chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced or pounded to a paste
1/3 cup of olive oil (or more if it's more to your taste)
1-2 tbsps. coarsely chopped parsley (recipe originally called for cilantro, but I had parsley in my garden that looked ready to eat)
2 scallions, minced (both green and white parts)

Preparation:

Wash and dry greens.  Section the grapefruit, removing seeds and membranes.

To make the vinaigrette, combine the lime zest, juice, salt, spices, and garlic and to stir to dissolve the salt.

Add olive oil, scallions, and parsley or cilantro.  Whisk lightly to combine the ingredients.

Shortly before serving, slice the avocados.