Smoothies are a wonderful meal because they often can be adapted from what is available at the time. And I enjoy drinking them during busy times. Here’s one of my favorites. It’s delicious enough that my younger brother even forgot it was healthy.

Ingredients
1                          banana
1/2 to 1 cup    frozen berries (raspberries are the favorite)
1/2 to 1 cup    non-fat yogurt (Stonyfield has a yogurt called Banilla that is  simply perfect for this smoothie, but otherwise french vanilla works well)
1 Tbsp              Nutella (heaping) (I keep planning on trying plain old cocoa powder and forgetting)
Milk (dairy, soy or rice – you pick) – just enough to smoothie-fie
Wheat germ (or other healthy additives.) – enough to be good for you, not enough to change flavor

Instructions
Throw ingredients into a blender. Puree away!

This should make enough for two smoothies or one really large smoothie.

*Side note – if drinking this smoothie on your drive to work make sure you have a toothbrush. Raspberry seeds are unsightly.

I love our local farmer’s markets. I try to show my support for our farmers by purchasing the vegetables they have available. This also allows me to eat more seasonally.

Sometimes what I buy doesn’t work with any of the recipes I was in the mood for. Or is something I’m not sure how to prepare. Or is something I’m the only one willing to try eating.

Last week I was in the mood for a salad but didn’t find any lettuce at the farmer’s market. Instead I found some Zucchini and Summer Squash.

I was on The Kitchn looking for a new and novel way to prepare the veggies when I came across a recipe that suggested that the squashes be eaten raw and in salad form. I used this recipe, Summer Salad Recipe: Squash Ribbon, as inspiration.

Salad Ingredients:

1 whole Zucchini
1 whole Summer squash
2 Green Onions
1/2 Cup Crumbled or Cubed Feta Cheese
1/2 Cup Golden Raisins.

1. Create lengthwise ribbons out of Zucchini and Summer squash. I used a vegetable peeler.
2. Sliver the Green onion
3. Mix Salad ingredients together.

As a salad dressing I would use any kind of Balsamic vinegrette dressing you have on hand but I made my own using equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar, some Italian seasoning, garlic powder and a pinch of sugar.

It’s a wonderfully crisp fresh tasting salad. And would be fantastic for someone like my mom who is allergic to lettuce but eats it anyways because she likes salad.

To be honest I’m not a fan of Spring. I love winter with snow to ski and snowshoe on. I like autumn when the air is so crisp. I tolerate the heat of Summer. It’s not that I hate Spring. Spring has many beautiful lovely days, gorgeous colours, and a sense of starting over again. What I can’t stand is the rain. I guess Fall gets some of this cold miserable rain too, but I seem to notice it more.

It has been one of those cold rainy spells here in New Hampshire.  Cooper comes in looking like he belongs in a reggae band. I’m taking advantage to actually rest my body after a 20 mile race.

So I decided to make my favorite summer Salsa, Avocado Corn Salsa, to remind me of the good times and sunny days ahead.

The first part of my post should really be entitled “everything I know about preparing avocado”. Which I admit isn’t much.

First make sure the Avocado is ripe. In Haas avocado this means that the fruit is almost black. Not having grown up in an avocado eating family I didn’t realize that the first time I tried to make this recipe.

Slice the avocado in two and split the fruit. The Pit will stay on one side of the split. If the pit is round you can take a knife and stick it in the pit (as above). Rotate the pit using the knife and it should come out cleanly (as below).

Then comes my favorite avocado tip, as taught to me by my father-in-law. Dice the avocado, while the flesh is still in the skin.

The diced flesh can then be easily scooped out of the skin. And added to the bowl.

A side note, I love how the avocado flesh just oozes in that picture. It looks kinda creamy. And Avocado is full of Omega-3 fatty acids. Which are some of the “good” fats.

Add diced red onion, cilantro, and tomato (you could even add red pepper). I used a can of corn in this recipe, but you could used cooked fresh or thawed frozen.

And don’t forget the garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon and lime juices.

I’m a fan of pretty bland food, so I generally just use red pepper flakes in my salsa. I suppose you could use jalapenos, but I experimented with that once. As a contact lens wearer I would strongly advise against repeating my experiment.

I’m not sure where I heard this tip, so it may be an old wives tale, but apparently if you put the Avocado pits back into the salsa/guacamole you have just made it keeps the avocados green. This prevents a nasty looking brown mess.

Once the salsa is combined to liking, allow to sit for at least an hour to allow flavours to blend.

Ingredients

• 4 whole Avocados
• 1 can Corn Kernels
• 2 whole Roma Tomatoes
• ½ whole Large Red Onion
• ½ cups Chopped Fresh Cilantro
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Pepper

Preparation Instructions

1. Cut the Avocado in half. Remove the pit. Dice the avocado flesh while still held in place by avocado skin. Scoop out diced avocado and place in bowl.

2. Dice tomatoes and red onion, chop Cilantro, mince garlic. Add to avocado bowl.

3. Drain corn, add to mixture.

4. Add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper (to taste), lemon juice, lime juice and olive oil.

5. Mix and put aside for at least an hour to allow flavours to blend.

Enjoy! Let me know what you think of it if you try it.

Once upon a time a young woman lived in the city. She ran on sidewalk, she walked to the store and she dined with her friends several times a week. Some of her friends were vegetarians so it was not unusual for the meals created to be vegetarian. And to this day the young woman still loves vegetarian food, despite the fact that the man she loves would never touch it. The end.

I went to the farmer’s market on Saturday. I came home with some amazing cucumbers and tomatoes that I couldn’t wait to eat. I came up with an amazing wrap sandwich to get the vegetables into my belly. I am now addicted.  I’m serious, I have had at least one every day for the last four days. At least it’s healthy.

So take a wrap (not only am I eating lots of veggies but on wheat wraps) and put some hummus on it. I’m partial to the garlic lover’s hummus, but any will do.

Sprinkle on some crumbled Feta.

Throw on some slivers or slices of cucumbers.

And some slices of tomatoes.

And as a final (optional) touch a little bit of tzatziki sauce. Because this wrap can use some yogurt, dill and even more cucumber.

And that’s it. Wrap it up and devour the tastes of fresh summer food.

In summary, the ingredients:

• Wraps
• Hummus
• Crumbled Feta Cheese
• Cucumber
• Tomato
• Tzatziki sauce (optional)

I first saw this idea here who found it here who got it from this russian livejournal. So it’s making it’s rounds on the internet I wish I still babysat or had a niece or nephew because I think little kids would love this quick and easy meal. OK, perhaps not as quick and easy as spaghetti with sliced up hot dogs but a fun way to get the kids to eat dinner.

What you will need:

• Spaghetti:I think I used thin spaghetti. I would recommend using a spaghetti that’s tough enough to not break when you pierce the hot dog pieces. I bet whole wheat spaghetti would work too.

• Hot Dogs: I used turkey hot dogs but I’m sure any kind of hot dog/soy dog would do.

Slice up hotdogs in bite sized pieces.

Stab spaghetti noodles through hot dog pieces. It’s hard to get a specific pattern on both sides, I gave up pretty quickly on getting the spaghetti to be perpendicular to the hot dog piece.

In a pot of boiling water, follow the spaghetti’s directions for cooking the spaghetti A La Dente. Gently drain water and voila.

A masterpiece that can be eaten with or without a sauce. Although I would recommend that the initial presentation be without sauce.Perhaps someone will come up with a creepy name for the dish and it will become a halloween favorite.

This is one of my favorite meals to make with ground turkey. But you can use ground beef instead. For the breadcrumbs I crushed wheat chex because it was all I could find in the house.

1.3 lbs Ground Turkey (or Beef)
1 Large Egg Beaten
1/2 cup Bread Crumbs
1/2 cup Chopped Onion
2 Tbs Yellow Mustard
2 tsp Italian Seasoning, dried
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Garlic powder

Filling:
10oz Frozen Shredded Spinach, Thawed and drained
1/2 cup Fat free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded (may be low fat cheese)

Topping:
1/4 cup Tomato Salsa

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with nonfat cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, and onion. Add mustard, italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder and mix well.

3. Place half the meat mixture in prepared pan. Make a shallow well down the length of the meat.

4. Defrost Spinach and drain well. In medium bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella, mix well. Place in well.

5. Cover with remaining meat mixture; pinch sides of meat together to seal well.
6. Cook at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. If liquid from vegetables seeps out of stuffing, that`s OK, just drain it off. Let rest for 10 minutes, top with salsa (it covers up the odd colour of the cooked ground turkey), slice and serve.

I made banana bread today from a modified version of the 18 serving version of this recipe on Allrecipes.com.  If you have bananas that you are looking to mash and make banana bread out of I would recommend mashing your bananas and measuring how many cups of mashed banana you have.  Then find a serving size that works well with the quantity of banana.  You can add walnuts or chocolate chips to this bread to mix it up.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup margarine or softened butter
• 1-1/2 cups mashed bananas
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter or margarine. Beat the egg slightly, and mix into the creamed mixture with the bananas. Mix in sifted ingredients until just combined. Stir in milk. Stir in nuts or chocolate chips if you use them Spread batter into one greased and floured 9×5 inch loaf pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until top is brown and cracks along the top.

This is one of my new favorite dishes, I’m excited for the excesses in the garden this summer of eggplant, tomato, zucchini and summer squash because it will be delectable with cheese and portobello mushroom.  Be sure to save this recipe if you are vegetarian or seasonally vegetarian like I sometime am.  I was quite proud of myself for making most of this recipe with organic vegetables, although at this time of the year they weren’t grown locally.

I found this recipe in the local supermarket, Hannaford’s, monthly Fresh publication.  They recommend several of their store brand olive oils and cheeses and suggest that the dish be served on a orzo pasta.  I like it as is.

Vegetable Gratin
*1 eggplant (about 1 lb.), ends trimmed & sliced into 1/8″ to 1/4″ slices
*1 Tbsp. Olive oil mixed with basil (divided)
*1 large sweet onion, finely chopped, divided
*2 large portabella mushrooms sliced into 1/8″ to 1/4″ slices
*1 cup shredded Asiago cheese
*2 medium zucchini (about 1 lb.) ends trimmed and sliced into 1/8″ to 1/4″ slices (I like to use one zucchini and one summer squash)
*1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
*1 Tbsp. Dipping oil optionally seasoned with garlic
*3/4 cup bread crumbs, divided
*3 large tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lb.), cored and sliced into 1/8″ to 1/4″ slices

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13 inch baking pan with vegetable spray.
2. Cover bottom of dish with eggplant slices and drizzle with 2 tsp. Basil Oil. Sprinkle half the chopped onion over the eggplant.
3. Layer mushrooms on top of onions, sprinkle on Asiago cheese, and drizzle with remaining 1 tsp. Basil Oil. Layer on zucchini and top with remaining chopped onion.
4. In a small bowl, mix Parmigiano with Garlic Oil and 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs. Sprinkle over onions.
5. Finally, layer tomatoes on top and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup bread crumbs.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, until vegetables are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Turn on broiler and broil 2 to 3 minutes or until top crumbs are lightly browned – watch carefully to make sure gratin doesn’t burn.