Goji-Bali Dreaming On Such A Winter's Day...

With my sincerest apologies to the Mamas & Papas, and mad props to the Live Green Smoothie Diet and it's creator and online friend of mine, Angela, I have to blog.

I've been a subscriber to the LGSD daily recipe since September. I haven't made every one of the recipes that has crossed my email box, nor have I even attemtped. But the recipe from the 7th of January really spoke to me. What's not to love about young coconut? I'm willing to bet that most people in my neck of the woods haven't seen a young coconut nor even tasted one. And they are HEAVENLY. Even if you don't believe in an afterlife, the young cocount would make you a believer in the divine. SRSLY. It's just that good. And when you crack the top off of one, squeeze some fresh lime juice inside and then stick a straw in it? ZOMG. Yeah. Then you take the metal spoon and scoop the flesh out and eat it.

I've been to Bali *twice* and both times I've nearly made myself sick on this particular delicacy. And since we're experiencing icky weather - snow flurries predicted in Central Florida?!11!? - I really was delighted to see something that reminded me of my Favorite Place on Earth. I may live in a suburb north of the Happiest Place on Earth (East), but Bali is *my* happy place. I fully intend to expat and retire there in 30 years or so.

But all of that won't tell you about my Smoothie this morning. Inspired by the LGSD recipe but lacking some of the essential ingredients (clementines/oranges/banana)... Well, I *do* have Tangerines, but I'm not venturing outside in the dreary, cold rain to get one. I crafted my own Smoothie. Here's the recipe:

• 1 young coconut - water and guts
• 1 lime, peel removed and juiced
• 1" fresh ginger root, peeled and juiced
• 1/4" fresh turmeric, juiced
• 1.5 cups fresh papaya, seeded and peeled
• 2 Tbsp. organic Goji berries
• 1 cup frozen mango
• 1 cup ice

Blitz this in your favorite blender/smoothie machine/Blendtec (jealous me if you have one) and enjoy.

Some notes for this recipe:

1. Lime MUST have the peel removed so it's not bitter.
2. Juice the lime, ginger, and turmeric together into a cup and then add to the blender.

The mommy & daughter smoothies:

This is so very good and not overly cold even though it's got frozen fruit and ice in it. It's nice and thick like a milkshake, but no dairy at all. It also gets "things" moving along nicely. Speaking of which...

My middle child is so... anal... that on xrays, she's backed up all the way to her stomach just about. Miralax can only go so far with her... So I'm trying this smoothie on her to see if that's a more gentle way of getting things to "move on". Of my three children, the younger two give this smoothie 2 thumbs up out of 3.

JenQu's Fabulous Mac'n'Cheese

For real, this is the most amazing mac I've ever eaten. I've never made "real" mac'n'cheese from anything other than a box before. And according to my kids, Annie's organic mac is "nasty".

Me: But it's ORGANIC, kids! It's GOOD for you.

Them: MOM IT'S GROSS!!11!!

I figured I had to do something about the mac problem. So while cruising one of my favorite Delphi mZinga forums I noticed that JenQu's mac'n'cheese (option 1) was considered somewhat legendary and decided that if I had to make mac for real, I'd try her recipe. I let the kids pick the pasta (mini shells) and off we went to make the mac that is a meal.

The only modifications to the recipe were:

• Shredded Cheese - I ended up using 8 oz each sharp and mild cheddar rather than 2 cups. MMMM Cheesy.


• Parmesan Cheese - Locatelli mmmmmmm nice bite!


• Breadcrumbs - I didn't realize we were out of these until we got home and so I had to use stale stuffing cubes that were pulverized.

Even though the recipe was modified slightly, it was still a winner.

Recipe follows for those of you who don't want to click the link above.

Mac and Cheese

• 1 lb macaroni


• 8 oz cream cheese


• 2 cups shredded cheddar


• 1 cup milk or cream


• ½ cup bread crumbs


• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese


• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper


• 1 tbls butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Lightly butter 2 or 3 quart baking dish or pan (I use a long rectangular one..more crust!) Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted water cook the noodles until al dente, barely cooked, about 8 minutes. Drain and return to the empty pot. Mix with cream cheese until it is melted and getting nice and gooey. Stir in the cheddar and milk or cream. Transfer to the buttered baking dish (or pan, like I use) In a small bowl combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan and cayenne. Sprinkle over the macaroni and dot woth the butter. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 40 minutes!

"Erstwhile Apple Pie"

Here's the recipe:

To get started, you need:

2 cups water
1/4 c. golden raisins/cherries
2 T unsalted butter
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 cup old-fashioned (5 minute) oats
1 sweet and crunchy apple

Bring water to a boil. Add raisin/cherry mixture, butter and PPS. Boil until raisins/cherries are plumped up. Dump in the oats and boil for 5 minutes. Stir frequently so it doesn't stick. After 5 minutes, remove from heat.

While oats are resting, slice the apple extremely thinly. Like so thin you could read through the slices. In a bowl, layer the apples and oatmeal (three layers of oatmeal should do it) and then arrange slices of apple on top.

Eat while still warm.

I haven't figured out how many WW points this is, but it's a nice alternative to pastry and it's actually GOOD for you. I suppose you could forego the butter if you really had to, but it makes it nice. I think that this recipe would actually serve two people, but I was HUNGRY. I hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours, so you can imagine.

Tofu-winkies

With apologies to The Vegan Lunchbox...

I had to try the Vegan Twinkies, not because I'm particularly veggie-inclined, but rather because they sounded interesting. I love a good recipe and I could care less what the philosophy behind it is. I'm a foodie. I admit it. So I downloaded the original recipe and went on a search for the ingredients I'd never seen before. Barley Malt Powder, anyone? I never could find the barley malt powder - not even at Whole Foods Market (which really ought to be called Whole Fools Market). I bought the Twinkie Pan at Bed Bath & Beyond and then promptly forgot to make the twinkies.

Me being the girl that I am, when I finally got around to actually making the twinkies, I had to experiment with the recipe before even trying the original. What can I say, it's a failing of mine to be insatiably curious about what things would taste like if...

So I used organic whole wheat flour in place of regular flour and replaced 30% of the total amount of flour with soy flour. I wanted them to be reaaaaaaaaaaaly healthy. And since I never was able to find barley malt POWDER, I used Malted Barley syrup. I think it came out ok. Here they are in all their radiant sinsoyful goodness:

They are a nice golden brown and so tasty. The filling came out great but I didn't fill them near as much as a regular twinkie would have been. Couldn't bring myself to do it.

The verdict on taste? Five out of five mouths agree that these things rock. From 13 months to 34 years old, everyone in the house (except the cat who didn't get any) loves them. They taste like food. Not like a vapid sweet thing that has no nutritional value. My husband - The Prince Consort - thinks they taste like an Indonesian cake desert thingy. So it's all good!

Dim Sum For Dummies

I love Dim Sum. So do the kids. Another thing I love is Smuckers Uncrustables. I've had a theory rolling around in my head for a while that given the right conditions and equipment, I could reproduce a reasonable facsimile of the aforementioned Uncrustables.

Well, my theory has been proven sound. I present for your viewing pleasure:

PB&J Potstickers

These were insanely easy to make and pretty tasty to boot. How to do this at home? Read on!

Ingredients:

• Sandwich bread of your choosing. Just make sure it's SOFT.
• Creamy Peanut (or other nut) Butter.
• Spreadable Fruit (I like Cascadian Farms Strawberry)

Equipment:

• Rolling pin
• Spreader
• Dumpling Press
• Round template/biscuit/cookie cutter

How to:

Cut out round shape from slice of bread:

Roll very thin with rolling pin:

Place on dumpling press & spread 1 tsp each of PB&J in exact center of bread:

Fold over dumpling press and press down to make a seal:

End Result:

Place in zip top bag in fridge or freezer until needed.