Green Warrior Smoothie

You knew it had to happen.  All of those greens in this week's Crop Share, it was inevitable.  Yes, that's right, ANOTHER green smoothie!  I can't be stopped, I won't be stopped!

So, this morning I rose early to get back into the practice of yoga to start the day, and as I was holding Warrior III, instead of concentrating on my breathing or finding a focal point on my mat...I was thinking about what to put into my blender.  I'm very zen like that.  Thus the name for this smoothie, the Green Warrior, as it was devised whilst in Warrior III.

With the inclusion of celery in this smoothie it has much more of a "green" taste and there's more "substance."  So if you're not a fan of much pulp in your smoothie, just leave the celery out.  And if you're wanting to have less of a "green" flavor, then add more tangelo juice or even throw in a banana or a handful of strawberries.  Or again, just omit the celery.  I threw it in for giggles and I wanted it to actually taste more like veggies rather than a dessert.  Because I'm very into health like that.  Please ignore that wrapper from a completely eaten bar of chocolate.  Our invisible, imaginary bulldog, clearly got into the pantry again.  Darn pooch.

Green Warrior Smoothie

Ingredients:
12 ice cubes, divided
3 gala apples, cored and cubed (no need to peel)
Juice of 2 tangelos
1 rib of celery, ends trimmed and chopped
8 kale leaves, removed from stalks
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use Almond Breeze)

Into your blender, add 6 ice cubes, apples and tangelo juice, and blend until the apples are fully incorporated.  Toss in your celery and again blend until all chunks are gone.  Add kale leaves and lime juice and blend down until only flecks of green remain.  Then finish with almond milk and remaining 6 ice cubes.  Blend until ice is fully crushed.  Serve immediately.

Makes just shy of 3 pints (I serve mine in mason jars).  I drank one and bottled up the other two, so I'll let you know if after a day in the fridge, they're still good tomorrow.

Gettin' All Domestic: Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce

I've always been pretty obsessed with applesauce, and I have this weird thing where I like to eat it  as a side dish to spaghetti.  Like I said, it's weird.  But the when it comes to applesauce devotion, the Mister takes the cake in this house.  When he was little, his food allergies were way more numerous, so there wasn't a whole lot he could actually eat.  But, as luck would have it, one of his babysitters made her own pink, cinnamon applesauce and not only was it safe for mini-Mister to eat, it became his favorite treat.  D'awwww.  So since I first heard this story, I've been planning on giving a go at homemade applesauce.  That was 3 years ago.  Then this week rolls around with so many apples in the Crop Share, and Valerie is sitting across from me in the office telling me all about the homemade applesauce she makes all the time in the Fall.  Okay, no more excuses, the time has come!  So I got the run down from her and pledged to spend part of my day off making applesauce magic.

Did I make applesauce magic?  Oh yes I did!!  Now all I need to do is wake up the sleepy night-shift working Mister to see if it meets his high standards of approval.  And while he sleeps, I've been daydreaming about using some of this homemade applesauce in some Dairy, Egg & Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies tomorrow!  Stay tuned for that recipe...and for the Mister's review of the applesauce.

One added bonus of this recipe is that I tried to rely mostly on the natural sweetness of the apples, especially since I tossed some Honeycrisp in there, and then the only extra sweetener I added was local honey.

**Update: The Mister has awoken and gives this applesauce two thumbs up! :D **

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce

Ingredients:

8 apples, peeled, cored and cubed (I used a mixture of Honeycrisp, Smokehouse, Gala and Jonagold apples)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup local honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a Dutch oven add in cubed apples, water, honey and cinnamon.  Give it a few stirs to evenly coat everything and then cover the pot and place it into the oven at 350 for about an hour.  You'll want to check it a few times and stir it just to make sure the apples on the bottom aren't scorching.

After an hour has passed, checked the apples and if they're looking nice and saucy, remove from oven and give it a good whisk just to break up some of the larger chunks and make sure that the honey and cinnamon are well blended throughout.  Taste and adjust with additional honey or cinnamon if you need it (mine was perfectly sweet with no addition needed).

Serve warm or allow to cool before placing in an air tight jar for use over the next few days.  My batch made a whole quart plus about a half-cup extra.

Apple Cartwheels

While we are still getting over the shock of having apples so soon, it's great to dive in and start making delicious snacks that make Fall our favorite season. This recipe combines all things comfort. It's great for the kids, but don't let them have all the fun! 

Ingredients:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1-1/2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons raisins
4 medium apples, cored

To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Apple-Cartwheels