VitaMix Recipe Book

Refreshingly Green Smoothie = 66 calories
1 cup water
2 Roma tomatoes, halved
1 cup pineapple chunks
1/4 cucumber, peeled and diced
2 cups fresh spinach
1/4 avocado
2 celery stalks, halved
8 sprigs parsley
2 carrots, halved
1 cup ice cubes

Garden Fresh Cocktail = 38 calories
1 cup diced fresh or canned tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1/4 cup diced carrots
1 Tbsp diced onion
1 sprig parsley
1/4 cup diced sweet red or green bell pepper
1/8 tsp hot sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
dash salt (optional)
1 cup ice cubes

Black Bean, Quinoa & Citrus Salad

Ingredients (serves 3-4)
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons water
1/4 small red onion, minced
1 grapefruit, peeled & diced
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off cob (1 1/2 cups)
1 avocado, diced
1/3 cup cilantro, choppedFor the 

Lime Vinaigrette:
1 1/2 limes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste


Instructions

Rinse quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer. Add to a small saucepan with the water, then bring to a boil.

Put a lid on the pan, turn the heat down to medium-low, then simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water.

Remove from heat, let sit for 5 minutes, then remove the lid and fluff quinoa with a fork.

Combine red onion, grapefruit, black beans, cranberries, corn, avocado, cilantro and cooked quinoa into a large bowl.

Toss with lime vinaigrette, sprinkle with additional salt & pepper to taste, then serve.

For Lime Vinaigrette:juice 1 1/2 limes into a small bowl, then whisk in extra virgin olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste.

This nearly no-cook summer supper is packed with yummy flavors and textures!
From Iowa Girl Eats   --   Adapted from Eat Live Run.

peachy keen vanilla bean fro CHO.

ingredients:


2 (6 oz) containers of peach chobani greek yogurt
1 cup (8 oz) plain 0% chobani greek yogurt
1/2 cup (4 oz) fat free half & half (or other milk of choice)
1 T agave (or other sweetener of choice)
1 t vanilla bean paste (can sub 1 vanilla bean or 1 t pure vanilla extract)
1 fresh peach, diced (for garnish)

directions:

1. in a small bowl, combine peach and plain yogurts.

2. add half & half, agave and vanilla bean paste.
mix well.

3. pour mixture into an ice cream maker & turn the ice cream maker on and let run for about 20 minutes or until frozen yogurt is firm.

4. divide into four equal servings and garnish with a quarter of the fresh peach slices.

5. Freeze any leftover fro CHO you may have. 

* word on the street is if you add a splash of vodka to homemade ice cream and frozen yogurt, it freezes better.

 Nutrition information per serving (1/4th of recipe):

Source: Janetha's Meals & Moves

Yogurt-Covered Blueberries & HoneyVanilla Fro'Yo Drops

INGREDIENTS:

. two cups greek yogurt, honey flavor

. one pint of fresh blueberries.


INSTRUCTION:
- Stick a berry with a toothpick and dip/swirl in the yogurt cup and use a second tooth pick to push it off onto a cookie sheet.
- Do all of them and place in the freezer.

- After an hour you can pop them off the cookie sheet and into a plastic baggie.

* blueberries covered in honey greek yogurt and frozen. tasty, healthy treat!


***

HONEY VANILLA FROZEN YOGURT DROPS

Ingredients:


1 cup Greek yogurt, plain
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions:


1. Mix yogurt and honey together in a bowl.
2. Add vanilla and mix until smooth.
3. Pour mixture into a Ziploc bag.
4. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
5. Make a small snip at the end of the baggie. Squeeze drops onto wax paper.
6. Freeze for about 30 -45 minutes until hard.

Enjoy!


from the SugarFree Mom

Farro Pilaf with toasted pine nuts, dried apricots and cranberrie

INGREDIENTS:

4 Cups Low-sodium Chicken Broth

2 Cups Whole-grain Farro

3/4 Cup Unsalted Pine Nuts

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 Large Clove Garlic, minced

1 Yellow Onion, diced

1 Large Carrot, trimmed and diced

1 Large Salk Celery, trimmed and diced

1 tsp finely Chopped fresh Thyme Leaves

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Dried Cranberries

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Dried Apricots, diced

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring broth and 2 cups water to a boil in a 6-Qt saucepan. Add farro, reduce heat so liquid just simmers & cook farro for about 20 to 25 minutes, until soft but still a bit firm at the center. Drain farro in a sieve placed over a heatproof bowl, reserving liquid. Place farro in a separate bowl and set aside

2. While faro is cooking, toast nuts. Place a small heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When hot but not smoking, add nuts. Stirring constantly, toast until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer nuts to a plate and set aside to cool.

3. In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat & swirl to coat pan. Add garlic, onion, carrot, and celery & saute, stirring frequently, until vegetables are soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add thyme, cranberries, apricots, salt and pepper. Saute until softened slightly, 2 minutes longer. Add reserved farro and 2/3 cup reserved cooking liquid. Stir to combine, then stir in nuts. remove mixture from heat, cover and set aside until ready to serve. Warm just before serving.

Cooking tip: do not pre-soak the farro

NUTRITION INFORMATION ((1/2cup serving): 168 Calories 9G Fat 2G Saturated Fat 20G Carbohydrates 3G Fiber 7G Sugar 5G Protein

Source: "The Best of Clean Eating 2" Cookbook, pg 209

Farro Pilaf with Toasted Pine Nuts, Dried Apricots & Cranberries

4c. low-sodium chicken broth
2c. water
2c. whole-grain farro
3/4c. unsalted pine nuts2 T. olive oil2 cloves garlic, minced1 yellow onion, diced
1 large carrots, peeled & diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
1T thyme
1/2c. dried cranberries, chopped
1/2c. dried apricots, chopped
1/2t. Kosher salt
1/2t. fresh ground black pepper

[1] bring broth and 2c. water to a boil in 6qt. sauce pan. Add the farro, reduce to a simmer, and simmer for 20-25 minute, until soft but still a bit firm at the center. Drain the farro in a colander over a bowl to reserve the cooking liquid. Place farro in a separate bowl and set aside.

[2] While the farro is cooking, toast the pine nuts. If you cook them in a skillet over medium-high heat, stir constantly to toast until lightly brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Let the nuts cool on a plate.

[3] In large saute pan heat oil until and swirl to coat. Saute the garlic, onion, carrots and celery, stir frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent, but not brown–about 5 minutes.

Add the cranberries, apricots, thyme, salt and pepper, and cook 2 minutes more.

Add the farro and 2/3 cup reserved cooking liquid. Stir to combine, then stir in nuts.

Remove from heat and serve.

Serve warm or cold.

Serves 12, 1/2c. serving

Calories: 168, Total Fat: 9g, Sat. Fat: 2g, Carbs: 20g, Fiber: 3g, Sugars: 7g, Protein: 5g, Sodium: 118g

*Farro is great source of complex carbohydrates and offers more than twice the amount of protein and fiber found in modern wheat.

[from The Best of Clean Eating 2]

Banana Ice Cream

This is one of the coolest things I’ve come across. Maybe I’m the last person on the planet to try it but just in case I’m not I’ll share my “discovery” with you all. I like kitchen gadgets. I like shopping on the internet. That equals a lot of catalogs in the mail. I received one recently that had an appliance where you put in frozen bananas and they come out like soft serve ice cream. Yeah, sure they do. I wasn’t going to buy another small kitchen appliance so I figured I would try it with my food processor. It’s magic. Frozen bananas really do turn into soft creamy ice cream. My food processor can turn those banana’s into soft creamy ice cream but it can’t fill a cone with that swirly soft serve pyramid but I know how I can. Now that I’ve discovered this magic the flavor possibilities are endless. Caleb, Keegan and I would like to share some of our favorites creations here for you to enjoy too.

Kristy

Ingredients:

For Banana Blackberry Ice Cream

• 2 medium sized ripe bananas
• 8 blackberries
• 4 peach slices
• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup (optional)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

For Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

• 2 medium sized ripe bananas
• 1 tbsp raw honey or maple syrup (optional)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp peanut butter (optional)

For Banana Sweet Potato Ice Cream

• 2 medium sized ripe bananas
• 1/4 sweet potato
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tbsp coconut milk
• 2 tbsp chopped pecans (optional)

Preparation:

1. Peel the bananas and cut into 4-5 chunks. Place in a zip top bag or in a container with a tight fitting lid. Place in the freezer until frozen.
2. Prepare any other fruit you plan on using in the same way, cutting into approximately 1-2 inch chunks or slices and then freeze. When using a vegetable such as the sweet potato cook it first before freezing. I baked the sweet potato, removed the skin, cut it into chunks and then put it in the freezer.
3. To prepare the ice cream place the banana’s and any additional fruit or veggie into a food processor. Start out pulsing until the bananas are chopped into confetti sized pieces then process normally until a ball forms. You will either want to pulse a few times at this point or open the lid and chop up the ball before continuing. Process again until you have a soft smooth ice cream.
4. Add any additional ingredients here such as spices, cocoa, sweetener or coconut milk and pulse just to mix in.
5. Spoon into bowls and serve or to make a soft serve style cone spoon the ice cream into a plastic baggie, cut the tip at one end and squeeze out into a soft swirly pyramid.

Nutritional Info:

Each banana you use makes 1 serving.

The serving size will vary depending on any additional ingredients you add.

Nutritional information not available as it will depend on any additional ingredients you use.

Notes:

I found that any leftover ice cream you have is best stored in zip top freezer bags with as much air removed from the bag as possible. To serve remove the bag from the freezer and let thaw for 10 minutes or so and then squeeze the bag working the ice cream around to soften it back up.

Experiment with different ingredients to find your favorite combinations. Fruits, nuts, seeds, even pumpkin are all great additions.

from the Naked Kitchen

12 great tasting GREEN smoothies

Spinach-Mango1 handful of fresh organic spinach
1 stalk celery (Optional)
1 or 2 sweet yellow filipino mangos
enough water to blend into a smooth smoothy! Yummy!

Try adding some herbs, too! I LOVE parsley–it’s so healthy and cleansing. So yesterday’s smoothie had spinach, kale, arugula, parsley, and basil. I added three very small peaches, the juice of half a lime, and a banana. It was really yummy!
---
Smoothie1 bunch dino kale
2 oranges
6 strawberries
1 cup of grapes
---
Kale-Strawberry-Peach1 bunch green kale
1 pint strawberries
3 small peaches
2 cups water
---
Peach-Spinach6 peaches
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
2 cups water
---
Pear-Kale-Mint4 ripe pears
5 leaves of kale
½ bunch of mint
2 cups water
---
Strawberry-Banana-Romaine1 cup strawberries
2 bananas
½ bunch romaine
2 cups water
---
Mango-Weeds2 mangos
1 handful edible weeds, (lambsquarters, stinging nettles, purslane, etc.)
2 cups water
---
Smoothie1 beautiful bunch of red dandelion greens
1 orange remove orange part of peel with knife, leave the white as it is high in calcium
1 mango
1/2 banana

http://www.greendivamom.com/2008/12/14/12-great-tasting-green-smoothie-recipes/

Pear Walnut Gorgonzola Salad

*6-8oz Mixed greens-lettuce-baby spinach

1 pear-julienne sliced

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

2 oz Crumbled Gorgonzola

Honey-Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette:

1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1 TBSP Honey

2 tsp minced shallot

3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pinch of salt

Few grinds of fresh pepper

Directions:

Heat a dry pan on medium and add the walnuts to toast. Stir often, and keep your eye on these, they will toast quickly (about 4-5 min).

Remove the walnuts from the heat once the walnuts are a light golden brown. Pour walnuts on a cutting board to cool.

Mix all the vinaigrette ingredients except olive oil together in a glass jar. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking, this will immerse the ingredients together.

Wash the pear, and slice into thin julienne strips.

Crumble the Gorgonzola cheese.

Toss the mixed greens with half the dressing. Add the dressing to the salad and toss again.

Top with pear, walnuts, and crumbled Gorgonzola and enjoy!

check out this recipe and more from the Midwest Vegetarian here

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup organic 1% low fat milk

1 cup water

1 cup quinoa

2 cups fresh blackberries

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted*

4 teaspoons agave nectar

Directions:

Combine milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan.

Bring to a boil over high heat.

Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes.

Stir in blackberries and cinnamon; transfer to four bowls and top with pecans.

Drizzle 1 teaspoon agave nectar over each serving.

Serves 4. Each serving is about 3/4 of a cup.

*While the quinoa cooks, roast the pecans in a 350F degree toaster oven for 5 to 6 minutes or in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 3 minutes.

Here's a link

Baked Apple Chips

What you will need:

• 2 apples
• Cinnamon
  

Directions:

• Remove apple core. I most likely did this wrong since half of the apple was missing when I removed it but you get the idea.
• Thinly slice the entire apple.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place apple slices on it.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon.
• Bake at 275 degrees for two hours. At the end of hour one flip them over so they bake evenly.

* UPDATE: Check on them at the hour mark and every 30 minutes after that. Once they look nice and crispy take them out

Here's a link to the Delighted Momma