Watermelon-Mango Smoothies

I've been lamenting the loss of summertime. I love all the food varieties that come with that season. The fresh fruits and the cold beverages. We ate a lot of watermelon during the summer, and I began freezing chunks of watermelon to save for smoothies. All you have to do is cut the watermelon into bite size chunks and spread evenly on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for a few hours. Once frozen, you can transfer the chunks to a freezer ziploc bag. Now you will always have some watermelon on hand when your need for a smoothie arrives.

You will find lots of watermelon smoothie recipes online. We came up with one that is versatile and can be changed up with a variety of fruits.

Watermelon-Mango Smoothies
2-3 cups fresh-squeezed lemonade, or a bottled one such as Simply Lemonade
2-4 cups frozen watermelon chunks
1 cup frozen mango chunks

optional add ins: fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and honey for sweetener.

Blend until no more chunks remain. Pour into chilled mason jars. Enjoy!

Serves 4-6 people.

Bento lunches from the school year

 chocolate zucchini bread, carrot sticks, gold fish, grapes, and a hard-boiled egg

 Halloween Bento: hard boiled egg sharing a cup with a wax-encased cheese, cucumbers, fall trail mix, mini cupcake

 Snack Bento: multi-grain crackers, laughing cow wedge

 hard boiled egg, veggie straws, trail mix with chocolate piece on top, clementine orange, and carrot sticks

 Picnik Bento: blueberries, grape tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cheese stick, hard boiled egg, veggie straws

 Picnik Lunch Smorgasbord: clementines, veggie chips, carrots, strawberries, cucumbers, animal crackers, and pistachios

 carrots, Apple-Cinnamon straws, giant strawberry, and 2 small hard boiled eggs with s&p.

carrots, pb and honey sandwich cut in puzzle shapes, applesauce, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookie cut in half.

MPM: week of May 14th

I'm in a breakfast-y mood this week...

MONDAY

Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes :: fresh-squeezed orange juice

TUESDAY

Spinach and Bowtie Pasta Salad with Grilled Chicken :: watermelon :: strawberry shortcake

WEDNESDAY

French Toast :: maple and sage sausage

THURSDAY

Walking Tacos

FRIDAY

Pizza Night :: Pizza Hut Original Pan Pizza (copycat recipe)

SATURDAY

Green Smoothies :: avocado toast

SUNDAY

Breakfast Burritos (give or take a few ingredients....)

Frozen Banana Bites

Have you ever had a frozen banana? They are really, really good. A frozen banana can be blended and refrozen and it will taste pretty much just like ice cream. I don't eat ice cream anymore, but was craving ice cream and chocolate. So, I combined the two. First, we cut a few bananas in 1-inch pieces. It doesn't have to be perfect. We placed them on some parchment paper on a cookie sheet and froze them in the freezer for a few hours.

 When the bananas were frozen, we melted our chocolate. You can pretty much use any kind of chocolate you have lying around. The healthier and more natural your chocolate is, the healthier your treat. I used a combination of semi-sweet chocolate chips and some natural white chips from a health food store. I don't know how much healthier exactly they were, but it made me feel better, alright? Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until the chocolate is smooth.

 Remove banana bites from the freezer and dip each bite in your melted chocolate. Place chocolate-covered banana bites back on your parchment covered cookie sheet and refreeze for a few hours. Later, you will have an awesome ice cream-like treat. These babies are addictive and so delicious.

Enjoy!

for breakfast

I have been eating this nearly everyday for breakfast for the last week or so. It's my go to comfort food. You see, a large portion of my childhood was spent living in Somis, California and we had avocado trees galore. I hated the food my mom made us eat back then, but now it's like a treat to me.

I've always heard that avocados are very high in fat, but it was the good kind of fat. Then I heard that since the avocado is shaped kind of like a uterus, that means that it is beneficial to the woman's reproductive system. Sounds good to me, but you can read this very informative website all about the health benefits of avocados if you are interested.

I might eat a grapefruit along with this if I feel like it, but this usually does the job. What's your go to breakfast?

Avocado on Toast with S&P

2 slices Whole-Grain bread, toasted (we like Dave's Killer Bread)

1/2 of a ripe avocado, pit removed and skin peeled off 

Salt & Pepper

juice from lemon (optional)

While bread is toasting, slice avocado down the center, lengthwise. The centers will pull apart by gently twisting the two halves opposite one another. Remove pit and skin from one of the halves. Refrigerate the unused portion immediately, up to 2 days. Some browing is normal. Slice avocado thinly, or mash in a small bowl. Place on top of toast and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. We use coarse ground pepper and sea salt. Sometimes I squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on top. You may or may not find that appalling. Enjoy!