Dark Chocolate Shakes

What can I say about a chocolate shake except that it is awesome! Made with honey instead of refined sugar, you can feel a little less guilty about sipping one of these! Enjoy!

Ingredients

* 4 cups milk, soy milk, rice milk or nut milk
* 2 cups ice
* ⅓ cup honey
* ⅓ cup dark cocoa
* 1 teaspoon nama shoyu or soy sauce
* 2 teaspoons vanilla
* Dark chocolate bar with or without nuts

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender, preferably a Vita-Mix.

2. Shave off chocolate as a garnish, and sprinkle on top of shake.

Enjoy!

Direct recipe link: http://keyingredient.com/recipes/320792/

Purple Fruit and Veggie Popsicles

I really, really, really just can't get enough of fruit and veggies Popsicles. We made these with lettuce...

...and blueberries...

...added some sweetener, vanilla, and salt, poured the mix in Popsicle makers...

...and Wha-lah! Purple Popsicles you won't say no to!

Ingredients

* 2 cups water
* 2 cups blueberries, fresh, or frozen and thawed
* 2 cups lettuce
* ½ cup honey
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* ⅛ teaspoon salt

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a blender, pour into Popsicle molds, and freeze for at least four hours, or until completely solid.

Direct recipe link: http://keyingredient.com/recipes/311891/

P.S. Don't forget to make extra mix for smoothies!

Pink Fruit and Veggie Popsicles

As promised, I am blogging a second attempt at fruit and veggie Popsicles (And just for your info, I didn't know that the word "Popsicle" was capitalized, but that is what my spell-checker tells me.) These were just as good as the Orange fruit and veggie Popsicles, but because my boys don't have any pink clothes or props, I used my 8-year-old daughter as the model...

So have you thought of any fun fruit and veggie combos to make pretty Popsicles? I thought of a new one today....a Brown Popsicle, using cocoa powder and green leaf lettuce or spinach. Probably replacing the water with milk would be a good idea, too. Let me know if you come up with any other color combinations and I hope your kids enjoy these, too!

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup peeled, shredded zucchini
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch salt

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a blender (I love the Vita-Mix) and blend until smooth. Pour into Popsicle makers, then freeze for at least four hours, or until completely frozen. To remove from Popsicle makers, run cool water over them for a few seconds.

Orange Fruit and Veggie Popsicles

I am totally obsessed with the idea of fruit and veggie Popsicles! I know humankind has thought of this before, but I personally came up with the idea for our family when I was cleaning out my food storage room. I came across some old Popsicle makers I had bought from a school girl selling things door-to-door so her school could get some kind of grant, and...since I'm ALWAYS trying to find ways to get vegetables into my kids, the idea occurred to me that I could use my Vita-Mix to blend up raw fruits and veggies and freeze them into Popsicles. THEN....my mind went into over-drive and I thought how fun it would be to come up with recipes to make tons of different colors of Popsicles. My first attempt was, as the title states, orange fruit and veggie Popsicles. We used strawberries (these are from our garden)...

...baby carrots...

...and fresh-squeezed orange and lime juice...

...along with some honey, a dash of salt and a cap-full of vanilla. After filling up the Popsicle makers, I had enough leftover for a refreshing drink...

Actually, I added ice to this and watered it down about 50 percent. I felt so healthy drinking strawberries, fresh citrus juice, and carrots! Delicious. So here's how you do it...(But don't leave after checking out the recipe, because I have some amazing suggestions for Popsicles of every color of the rainbow and more cute pictures of my kids!)

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup shredded carrots
The juice of 2 oranges
The juice of 3 limes
1 cup water
1/4 cup cup honey
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a blender, preferably a Vita-Mix, pour into Popsicle makers and freeze for at least four hours, or until completely frozen.

To remove from Popsicle makers, run cool water over them for a few seconds until they can be easily removed.

Okay, so here are some fruit and veggie combos my kids and I came up with to make all kinds of different colors. If you are too chicken to try them, don't worry, I will, and I'll blog about it. Good luck and I'd love it if you'd let me know what YOU come up with!

Red: tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, red grapes

Purple: red leaf lettuce, blueberries, blackberries

Yellow: bananas, yellow bell peppers, corn, lemons, squash

Pink: strawberries, celery, peeled zucchini

Light Green: white grapes, celery, ice berg lettuce

Medium Green: Kiwis, green leaf lettuce, spinach

Dark Green: blackberries, cucumbers, green leaf lettuce, spinach

Oat Milk Strawberry Smoothies

My 15-year-old daughter has recently decided to try a vegan diet, so she's been poring over internet sites to gain information. In her searches for a milk substitute, she came across oat milk and I had to give it a try. I love making my own milks using nuts or rice, but I had never heard of using oats as a base. While I love nut milk with a passion, it's time-consuming to make and takes a lot of exertion to squeeze the milk through the bag and sometimes I just can't seem to get up the gumption to make it. The oat milk recipe we found calls for, among other things, cooked oats and a banana, and does not require a nut bag, so it seemed perfect.

After our milk was blended, we poured it in a glass, added ice, and tasted it...

It was creamy and oaty and I knew it would make a great base for smoothies and other products which call for milk. So.... I threw in some frozen strawberries, added some sweetener, and we drank delicious strawberry smoothies in the kitchen...

...while my mother tried to convince my brother to shave his beard.

We will definitely be making this again. Thanks for listening.