Thursday, March 26, 2009

money savin' smoothies and more



I love to make smoothies. Last night I used milk, frozen berries and honey for a night time snack for my family. Something else I like to do is when my bananas start to go bad I freeze them. they make delicious banana smoothies- just think what else you could add to this- chocolate syrup, honey, cinnamon, milk, yogurt, kefir, coconut, peanut butter, jelly.. the list goes on. Suzanne from Hillbilly Housewife has a very good post about adding greens to smoothies: Here
I like to hide stuff in spaghetti sauce. I add spinach, leftover cooked meats, carrots etc. in the blender and dump in a can of pasta sauce. Blend all together, then heat and serve over whole wheat pasta or brown rice for a healthy meal.
God has given us such a bounty! Let's be creative in using our leftovers. We are blessed to even have leftovers!

3 comments:

  1. Hi, I love smoothies. I used to take one to work with me and load it with flax and blueberries. Leftovers always taste better the next day! especially spaghetti! yum!
    Debylin

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love smoothies too! I love your idea about spaghetti sauce :) I do the same but I don't bother with the blender. I just tell my kids it's "Spaghetti Sauce"....or if I am feeling creative I tell them "It's Primavera" grinz. I love a good chunky sauce and don't forget the mushrooms :) We did mushroom picking last year and it was great. I still have some left in baggies that I dried..and I need just a few soaked in water or just thrown into the sauce to rehydrate slowly (helps thicken the sauce too). They are just the white cap parasols you find all over in your yard and stuff..but highly edible and easy to cultivate. (Just soak fresh picked overnight...pour the water over an area in the shade, preferably near some leaf fall and stuff (they love a good mulching in the shade!) Every time I picked, I re-spored the ground..and moved the spot a couple of times so the ground doesn't wear out in any one spot. Its one of my little extra things I do. I pick raspberries where I can and I better get to some blueberries this year before the bears do. There is a particularly good spot I've been waiting on, but everytime I have planned a trip..something has happened and by the time I get there they are picked down to the green hard ones. (silly bears..)..haven't been to the fields in Arctic Valley yet. It's always pouring rain by the time I want to go. (we hike there every year before rainy season, and pick a TON of wild honeysuckle while it is still blossoming. I actually put honeysuckle in cake and everything and it tastes yummy. I deep friend squash blossoms one year while in Minnesota..if I am lucky enough to get a good crop this year..yummmy...(I rolled them in cinnamon and sugar then...but they are good spicy, salty or sweet. So even using your "left overs" that are still in the garden..those long lasting fast spreading squashes make great treats. I also make boats out of Zucchinni that are too big to do much with. I make Zuchinni Parmesan instead of Eggplant (I used to love that odd fruit but now I find it a little odd tasting..and the texture doesn't do much for me. I find Zuchinni is the best that way..it gets spongy but not squishy if you don't bake too long..or put too much sauce! Will have to watch here for more ideas..always looking to save on groceries..and left overs are only a meal we made that isn't quite over yet..so we call them "generational". 1st generation chicken and rice becomes second gen. chicken and rice soup, or alfedo, or whatever. I also make a mean Parmesan chicken and after Easter of course theirs club melts and all that. Oh, and I do believe I feel a chef salad coming on soon..though trying to get my 9yr old to eat lettuce is like pulling teeth. Can I help it if Spinach is soo expensive? (He'll eat raw spinanch..but my 6yr old seems to have a hard time with that much iron. So, we have to be careful. I hear tell its a good idea to mix mandarins in to the salad because it helps that a little. She's not crazy on those either though..as she is sensitive to citric acid more than the rest of us. (She gets canker sores from it). We make "spaghetti pie" with the leftovers...hmm sounds good..had alfredo tonight..hubby cooked. (He has been a pro-cook so sometimes its just better to get out of the way..he can make sauce with no lumps too..and from powdered milk..and NO lumps...grinz. Gotta love a guy that can make a no-lump white sauce..from oil, pancake mix (as we ran out of flour) and powdered milk :) :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. gonna cross post this to my blog..haven't posted to it since December 2006..might be time to update. I've been out of the loop for a bit! (I mean my post..will send them to yours..as the smoothie thing is a good idea, and that's part of what I wanted my blog to be about then I had to start working again so got out of the loop....sigh..time is such a human made concept..wish we could go along where we just followed the shadows..doesn't work that way too well now huh?

    ReplyDelete