Yet another take on that now classic vanilla smoothie. The “maple” in this smoothie actually comes from pecans, which for some reason add a maple-y flavor (and protein) that’s just yum. There’s no maple syrup at all (though I might try substituting some for the dates). No spinach taste — promise! (Just make sure you use baby spinach).
The method is pretty much the same as the banana edition of the green vanilla smoothie. In fact, once you get into making smoothies, you’ll see how quick and easy it is and wonder why you hadn’t started sooner. I only measure to write up these recipes, which I thought I’d never do. Everything can be “measured” right in the blender. When it comes to creating smoothies, you have a lot of latitude.
green goodness in a glass
Ingredients
- 2 dates
- lots of vanilla extract (2 teaspoons?) to taste
- 1 1/2 c (total) unsweetened almond milk
- 4 c (lightly packed) organic baby spinach
- 1 frozen banana, sliced
- fistful of pecans
- 1 1/2 c ice
In a high speed blender, pulverize dates and vanilla with just enough milk to cover (about 1/2 c). Add spinach, pecans, banana, ice, and remaining milk. Blend until smooth. Makes about two (14 oz) servings. More Smoothies
green and luscious with flecks of medjool date
I can’t seem to get enough of vanilla smoothies. My sister’s Skinny Vanilla Smoothie was so delicious, I just had to try a green version, which was every bit as good.
Now this: Green Vanilla Smoothie – the Banana Variation, when you’re looking for something a little more substantial. It’s creamier and more filling, but still no pronounced banana flavor.
As with the other Vanilla Smoothies, you can blend a pod of real vanilla bean with the dates to boost the vanilla quotient.
- 2 medjool dates,* pitted
- about 1 T vanilla extract
- organic baby spinach (about 2 fistfuls, or fill to the 4 c mark)
- 1 frozen banana, sliced
- 1 1/2 c ice
- 1 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk
In a high speed blender, pulverize dates and vanilla with just enough milk to cover (about 1/2 c).
Add spinach, banana, ice, and remaining milk.
Blend until smooth.
Makes 2 satisfying servings.
*The dates are for added sweetness. Depending on your taste and the sweetness of your banana, you can use more or less.
Eve was made from Adam’s rib, but some days I could swear Pete and I are from different planets.
Different is good. Variety is the spice of life. It’s amusing — hilarious, even. The majority of laughs between my sister and me come from comparing notes on how we view the world.
But somehow different is not so funny when it’s your spouse. It’s not so funny when you’re trying to work out life with someone who might as well be from Mars. It’s bad when one of you is convinced you’re the normal earthling in the couple. Like I am.
Well, I’m sure Pete is thinking the same thing when we’re in the middle of a heated argument. But unfortunately for him, I can usually prove that I’m the true earthling and he’s the green man, the one who needs to change.
I’m the thinker in our marriage, and I know how to present a good case. Not that I’m trying to win or anything, it’s just how I see the world. My choices are based on solid logic, so I can roll out my reasoning, including responses to opposing arguments, at a moment’s notice. I’ve already thought it all out.
And Pete, well, he flies by the seat of his pants, and when it comes to explanations, that leaves him in the dust. So for years, Pete really had no good defense. Our conversations went something like this (you can fill in the blanks):
Me: So why did you change your mind about … ?
Pete: I thought … .
Me: But I thought you said … .
Pete: Well, I did, but … .
Me: Yes, but that doesn’t make any sense.
Then I’d proceed to point out the huge holes in his reasoning. Eventually he’d have to admit he was contradicting himself.
I realize this makes me out to be the big bad wolf, but really I am just trying to understand his thought process. Most of the time I’m okay with whatever his decision is. I always get hung up on the why. And I’m frustrated that he circles around the answer, all the while getting more upset by my frustration.
He, getting frustrated with me! What’s up with that? He’s the green man, not me.
It wasn’t until recently that I realized Pete has no thought process — at least not in the way I think of it. Not one that can be documented with charts and diagrams on demand. Not one that can always be explained.
Pete makes decisions intuitively. Somewhere in his brain there’s a big black box, a melding room. Data goes in and a decision pops out on the other end. No one, not even Pete, can tell what goes on in that room.
So when I ask him “Why did you change your mind?” He actually has no idea, but since that seems a silly answer, (and his logic loving wife would surely nail him to the wall if he said so), Pete gives me the first reasonable explanation that pops into his head. Anyway, it’s all the same to him. In his mind, what matters is the end result. In my mind, what matters is how he got there. And he can’t tell me.
It’s taken me years of thinking I married a green man, to realize that Pete’s black box is just as effective as my trackable flow chart. In some instances it’s vastly superior. Yes, imagine that. He might not be able to explain the process, but I know it can be lightning fast. Pete can turn on a dime. He will grab an opportunity before my calculations tell me one even exists.
I’m still not convinced that he’s not from another planet. But I’m beginning to think that neither of us can claim normal earthling status. We’re both coming from a different place. And maybe now that I see that, it might be easier for us to meet in the middle.
Sigh, yes, another smoothie post.
Since I make smoothies mostly for the nutrition, I decided to throw some spinach into my sister’s already awesome Skinny Vanilla smoothie.
Result: Beautifully green and delish! I promise you, it doesn’t taste spinachy.
Ingredients for one serving:
- 2 medjool dates, pitted
- 2 -3 t (really a just use a big dash) vanilla extract*
- about 1 1/2 c milk (unsweetened almond or regular milk)
- fistful of organic baby spinach (about 2+ cups)
- 1 c ice cubes (for more intense flavor, freeze milk cubes ahead of time and use instead of ice)
Pulverize dates with 1/2 c milk and vanilla in a high speed blender.
Add spinach, ice cubes, and the remaining milk.
Blend until smooth (20 seconds).
Serve in a tall glass where you can appreciate the amazing pattern of white streaking through green, dotted with flecks of date. So good. Drink while frosty.
*For real vanilla flavor, add vanilla bean pod (1/2 pod per serving).
For Pete’s birthday, my sister and I tried to come up with the cake of his dreams. Our starting point was one of Pete’s favorite flavor combinations — chocolate and peanut butter.
Vanilla ice cream, crumbled Heath Bar, dark chocolate ganache, my mom’s homemade peanut butter sandwich cookies and dark chocolate wafers — this cake was amazing. It may even have made up for the time I gave away most of Pete’s birthday cake our first year married, something I’ve never been able to live down.
This cake is very forgiving. You can play with the proportions and ingredients to suit your taste.
INGREDIENTS
- 10 inch springform pan
- 3 c + ½ c Mom’s dark chocolate wafer cookies (or other chocolate wafer or Oreo cookies) crumbs
- 4 T (½ stick) melted butter
- 1 gallon good quality vanilla ice cream
- 4 c Mom’s homemade peanut butter sandwich cookies (or peanut butter cups), in coarse chunks
- 8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
- ½ c heavy cream
- 1/2 bag miniature Heath bars, chopped
Crumble & Crush
In a food processor pulse chocolate wafers into crumbs. Set aside ½ c crumbs.
Place peanut butter sandwich cookies in a bag and break into coarse chunks. (These cookies are fairly soft so they will break apart easily). If you’re using peanut butter cups, chop roughly.
Yes, it’s the third time you’ve seen these luscious peanut butter sandwich cookies, if you’ve been following my blog.
Chop the dark chocolate and set aside for the ganache.
Trader Joe’s dark chocolate
Chop the Heath bars and set aside for the topping.
Heath Bar miniatures were more economical than small Heath Bars
Assemble & Freeze
In a medium bowl, mix 3 c crumbs with melted butter until uniformly moistened. Press mixture into the bottom of a springform pan. Freeze for about 1 hour.
In a standing mixer, mix half of the ice cream on medium speed to soft serve consistency (about 20 seconds). Scoop into the springform pan on top of the cookie crust.
Spread the first layer of ice cream on the chocolate cooke crust
Press half of the peanut butter cookie/peanut butter cup chunks into the ice cream.
Press chunks of peanut butter sandwich cookie into the ice cream
Sprinkle remaining chocolate crumbs, and freeze for another hour.
Sprinkle chocolate wafer crumbs
Repeat with the remaining ice cream and peanut butter cookie/peanut butter cup chunks. Return to the freezer for another hour.
Make the ganache
Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
Dark chocolate ganache
When the ganache is lukewarm, (cool, but still liquid enough to pour), remove the springform and set the cake on a plate.
Ready for chocolate ganache topping
Finishing Touches
Pour ganache over the cake and spread evenly with a spatula.
chocolate ganache layer
Top with crumbled Heath bars.
Cover lightly and freeze until hardened (at least 3 hours, but preferably overnight).
Slice and serve to drooling recipient.
Happy Birthday, Pete!
Thank you to my sister, Jacqueline, for brainstorming with me and for making this cake, and to my mom for baking the cookies, leaving me with nothing to do but talk cake, take pictures, write, and eat. Ah, the life! My sister needs to visit more often. Pete concurs.
CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM CAKE RECIPE
Ingredients
- 10 inch springform pan
- 3 c + ½ c Mom’s dark chocolate wafer cookies (or other chocolate wafer or Oreo cookies) crumbs
- 4 T (½ stick) melted butter
- 1 gallon good quality vanilla ice cream
- 4 c Mom’s peanut butter sandwich cookies (or peanut butter cups), in coarse chunks
- 8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
- ½ c heavy cream
- 1/2 bag miniature Heath bars, chopped
Chop & Crumble
- In a food processor pulse chocolate wafers into crumbs. Set aside ½ c crumbs.
- Place peanut butter sandwich cookies in a bag and break into coarse chunks. (These cookies are fairly soft so they will break apart easily). If you’re using peanut butter cups, chop roughly.
- Chop the dark chocolate and set aside for the ganache.
- Chop the Heath bars and set aside for the topping.
Assemble & Freeze
- In a medium bowl, mix 3 c crumbs with melted butter until uniformly moistened. Press mixture into the bottom of a springform pan. Freeze for about 1 hour.
- In a standing mixer, mix half of the ice cream on medium speed to soft serve consistency (about 20 seconds). Scoop into the springform pan on top of the cookie crust.
- Press half of the peanut butter cookie/peanut butter cup chunks into the ice cream. Sprinkle remaining chocolate crumbs, and freeze for another hour.
- Repeat with the remaining ice cream and peanut butter cookie/peanut butter cup chunks. Return to the freezer for another hour.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
- Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
- When the ganache is lukewarm, (cool, but still liquid enough to pour), remove the springform and set the cake on a plate.
Finishing Touches
- Pour ganache over the cake and spread evenly with a spatula.
- Top with crumbled Heath bars.
- Cover lightly and freeze until hardened (at least 3 hours, but preferably overnight).
Slice and serve.
In the days of Downton Abbey, people dressed for dinner — special, like gowns and tuxedos.
So last night Pete said, Let’s go out to dinner. Spur of the moment, because that’s Pete. I hemmed and hawed. I didn’t feel like cooking, but fish was thawing in the fridge. I should probably just cook, I said, because I’m practical like that. Oh, c’mon, Pete said, because it’s his life’s work to tempt and lure me into irresponsible behavior. (I always say it’s a good thing I didn’t meet him when I was still in school).
Anyway, I was wearing my yoga pants (one of six, or is it seven?). Unless I’m planning to go out, yoga pants are my daily standard. Heck, I’m a writer, but I do like to get dressed in the morning. Yoga pants beat jammies, hands down. Besides, I don’t own any pjs.
Yoga pants are uber comfortable, and unlike all my jeans, I don’t have to keep yanking them up. (Will someone come up with a pair of non-mom jeans that stay up without a belt? Or maybe it’s just my Asian butt. Does anyone else have this problem?) Best of all, when I’m ready to workout, I’m already dressed.
The restaurant is a little sushi place in town. Nothing fancy. I could think of it as a quick jaunt down to the 7-Eleven. Same thing, right? Pete wouldn’t care if I wore yoga pants.
But still, it was a date. And if I’m not going to dress for a date, when am I going to dress?
So I sat in the dimly lit sushi restaurant, my jean clad legs and cowboy boots under the sushi bar the entire time. On our way out, we nodded goodbye to the sushi chefs, who I doubt could see my legs over the bar, and made our way into the night. Pete was ahead of me, so he wasn’t looking, either. Two minutes later, we were sitting in a dark car on our way home. I had to wonder. Was it worth it? Not the date, of course. Changing out of my yoga pants, getting “dressed” for dinner.
When my sister and I were young teenagers, we made a pact. No matter how old we got, we would not let each other wear shapeless “house dresses.” No one even knows what those are anymore, thankfully, but it’s still possible to slip into that frumpy look as a lifestyle. Especially if you’re a stay at home person. And even if you’re not. Pretty much anything goes these days.
Maybe I’m just getting older, but I can see how easy it is to end up in a 2013 version of the old house dress. Hey, maybe that’s yoga pants! My sister and I may need to update our pact.
My sister’s Skinny Vanilla smoothie and my drying roses
My sister, of ninja weapon and dog whisperer fame, came for a visit. Besides gabbing late into the night and laughing raucously when we should be more quiet, we made treats in the kitchen.
(By “we” I mean she did everything, while I sat on the other side of the peninsula taking notes and coming up with possible variations, like adding one of these fat peanut butter cookies to her Skinny Vanilla smoothie, making it no longer “skinny”).
Awesomely delicious peanut butter sandwich cookies
Unlike most of my smoothies, this Skinny Vanilla smoothie has no veggies (but I’ve come up with a veggie variation, which of course I’ll be sharing with you). It’s a satisfying and delicious treat, (and low calorie, if you care about that sort of thing), reminiscent of a vanilla frosty.
If you’re newer to healthier eating, you can make this sweeter by adding more dates or using sweetened almond milk.
Ingredients for one 12-14 oz serving (It sounds like a lot, but you’ll want to have it all yourself):
- 2 medjool dates, pitted
- ½ vanilla bean (pliable)*
- 1 t (or more) vanilla extract
- about 1 1/4 c milk (unsweetened almond or regular milk)
- 1 c ice cubes For a more intense flavor, freeze milk cubes ahead of time and use instead of ice
Put dates, vanilla bean, and vanilla extract in a high speed blender.
Add just enough milk to make a thin puree. Blend on high until completely pulverized.
Add ice cubes and the rest of the milk (up to the 1 3/4 c mark on the blender). Blend until smooth (20 seconds).
We also tried the peanut butter cookie version, which Pete loved. It was good, but being a purist and a plain vanilla girl at heart, I preferred the original Skinny Vanilla smoothie.
vanilla bean pods and dates
*The vanilla bean really makes this smoothie, but you can also just use more vanilla extract. Make sure your vanilla bean pod is pliable and not dry.
random photo of the week (Photo Credit: Joshua Siniscal)
Stuff I read this week, stuff that made me stop and think:
After his fall from grace, urban minister Justin Cox is no longer Superman. It’s hard living up to our own reputations. Maybe it’s time to embrace our Kryptonite. Becoming Superman, Red Boots and All, by Justin Cox (Don’t be put off by the strange looking photos of Superman impersonators). It’s worth the read.
The myth of the 50-50 partnership. Call it an unfair advantage, but women with families pay a higher price for success in the workplace, simply because they have a harder time disengaging from home. The title sounds like it’s about business, but it’s really about what women (and men) have been struggling with for a long time. What Facebook’s IPO Means for Women, by Penelope Trunk
Do women still believe we can have it all? I used to think so, but I think it’s more realistic — and a lot less stressful — to have a broader view of success. Marissa Meyer becomes CEO of Yahoo and proves women cannot have it all, another take by Penelope Trunk.
As a recovering perfectionist, I’ve found a lot of camaraderie in the blogosphere. It’s almost trendy to be flawed. Is imperfect the new perfect? Imperfectionism: Why the cult of Jennifer Lawrence matters, by Alexandra Petri.
