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BB Shake

We definitely need to integrate more fruits and vegetables in our diets. I’ve heard the saying that we need to eat “the rainbow” – eat food from all the colors of the rainbow throughout the day.

Let me give you an idea for purple… the BB Shake. I am sorry if I am turning into Rachael Ray naming the inventions I create in the kitchen. To be honest, I do it so I can keep track of them. Because if I’d name everything only by the main ingredients it contains, the picture folder names would be ultra long.

No matter how I name it or you want to call it, this shake is GOOD!!! The B’s come from the Banana and the Blueberries in the recipe. So it’s basically a Banana Blueberry Shake. You can make it vegan or not… just play around with the ingredients and enjoy a great breakfast drink full of antioxidants and potassium.

THE BB SHAKE

1 banana

1 handful of blueberries

¾ cup of pineapple juice

½ cup of yogurt or kefir – I use the plain kind, but vanilla would also work nicely

A big squirt of agave nectar

2-3 cubes of ice

Mix everything in a blender.

If you rather not consume anything dairy… this shake works equally well without the yogurt/kefir. If the shake is too think, add a bit of water or extra juice and it should loosen up.

Tags: agave nectar, banana, blueberry, yogurt

Comments 1 Comment
Categories beverages, breakfast, snacks

Stealth Shake

26 Jun

I’ve been reading a lot about Green Shakes on the media lately… shakes that include a special, very nutritious ingredient to boost the nutritional value of the shake you’re drinking.

I was intrigued to know how this concoction would taste and I decided to give it a try… I added all the ingredients I saw in a TV segment, but I was hesitant. So before I turned on the blender, I added some berries to make sure the taste would be appealing to me.

The result… The Stealth Shake. All the nutrition of the green ingredient and all the fruity taste. A very successful experiment indeed.

STEALTH SHAKE

1 banana, peeled and sliced

1 handful of fresh baby spinach

1 handful of blueberries, washed

2 strawberries, hulled and quartered

1 cup of pineapple juice

A squirt of agave nectar

2-3 ice cubes

Mix everything in a blender for a few minutes and enjoy!!!

Can you see the spinach?? And believe me – you’ll not be able to taste it either!!!! It tasted super fruity and delicious. A shake filled with antioxidants, this is a great way to include spinach into someone’s diet without them even know it…

Tags: agave nectar, banana, blueberry, spinach, strawberry

Comments 4 Comments
Categories beverages, breakfast

Papaya Juice

11 Apr

I learned once you should try not to drink any liquids when eating. In an ideal world, one should wait about 15-20 minutes AFTER having eaten to drink any type of liquid, especially water. The thing is that when we drink while eating we dilute the stomach’s gastric juices and make it harder for our stomach to do its job. Drinking while eating might very well be the reason why some of us feel full and bloated after eating, even after eating something light and healthy.

But there is hope for those of us how sometimes find it hard to eat without a drink besides our plate… we could drink fruit juices that contain enzymes and will actually help us digest the food more easily rather than slow our stomach in its tracks… these juices are:

Apple Juice
Pinneaple Juice
Papaya Juice

And the way to ensure we are indeed taking in these enzymes is by making the juices from scratch. And it’s easier than you might think…

PAPAYA JUICE

½ of a medium-sized papaya – peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

About 3 cups of water

¼ cup brown sugar – more or less depending how sweet your papaya is

Place the papaya pieces, sugar and water in a blender. Blend until all is well combined and smooth. The juice should be light in texture. If you feel it’s like a fruit puree, feel free to add more water little by little.
Pass the juice through a sieve to make sure you get rid of any grittiness in the brown sugar.
Refrigerate well. Drink the juice chilled, within 1-2 days.

If the juice remains longer than 1-2 days in the fridge, it will still be good, but it could gel on you… just blend again with a bit extra water to thin out again.

Tags: papaya

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Categories beverages

Aniette’s Bull

3 Apr

Aniette has been my friend for many years now… since high school, now that I think about it. We might not be in contact very frequently, but when we get together is like time has not passed by. We have been with each other thru many good and not so good times and I am very grateful and fortunate to call her my friend… Aniette is the original creator of the Sweet Red Pepper Dip – she was the one who showed me how to make it after a long guessing session trying to decipher what was the dip made off. Aniette is also fluent in French… ever since high school she was reading full novels in French. I invited her to our little French-speaking soiree, but she was planning a romantic weekend with her husband, so I could not really coax her into coming to my house to just speak French… no contest there.

But even though she was not here in person, she was with us in spirit… because the signature drink I served up at our French get-together was also inspired by Aniette – I had a version of this “bull” at a get-together we had at Chez Aniette a few months back. I almost drank the whole pitcher by myself… I was blown away by how delicious it tasted.

Why call it a “bull”?? I don’t know… Don’t shoot the messenger here, but in Puerto Rico we call a punch, like the kind served at the high school parties you see in the movies, a “bull”, pronounced “bul” – short U and short L. And a punch bowl is called a “bulera”. Hey… I don’t make this stuff up. Besides, this will be a fun anecdote to tell around the “bulera” the next time you’re invited to a party, no??

This is an adaptation of Aniette’s original recipe, because I could not find all the ingredients I wanted for the original version… but the alternate was a hit as well, and so, I still give Aniette full credit.

ANIETTE’S BULL

1 can frozen passion fruit juice concentrate

16oz of guava juice

8oz of grape juice

8 oz of orange juice

1 bottle of Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider – non-alcoholic

Allow the frozen concentrate to thaw out a bit in the fridge.
Mix all the ingredients in a pitcher.
Serve chilled over ice.

Tags: apple cider, grape juice, guava juice, orange juice, passion fruit

Comments 2 Comments
Categories beverages, Puerto Rican delicacies

Frutabomba Milkshake

1 Feb

Until I was in high school, the I knew the fruit you know as papaya only by its Cuban name – Frutabomba.

My dad taught me how to make frutabomba milkshakes, a true Cuban drink delicacy. It’s smooth, creamy and the perfect accompaniment to a Cuban sandwich (made the vegetarian way, of course) or even a TuNo Salad Sandwich. I had it this morning for breakfast.

FRUTABOMBA MILKSHAKE

1/4 medium-sized frutabomba (papaya), peeled and seeded

1 cup milk or soy-milk

1 1/2 tbs brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla powder

pinch of salt

3-4 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Enjoy immediately.

Do not omit the salt… it’s the secret ingredient that makes the milkshake taste awesome. You could substitute the milk for yogurt or kefir, but the taste will not be the same.