Smoothie Tuesday

It’s no secret that smoothie’s are a staple in our house. I’m not a breakfast person (except on weekends or if you want to count brunch) but a smoothie never feels like a heavy meal yet it’s substantial enough to help make it through a morning hike with the pooch.

Last time we visited Ojai, Modern Folk Living’s Wanda Weller Sakai suggested we try Farmer and the Cook restaurant. This quickly became a favorite. Their breakfast/brunch is amazing and their food Organic. More than once we had their Green Smoothie for breakfast. It’s so delicious and while it’s ‘recreated’ here with the ingredients listed on their website, make sure to have the original if you pass through Ojai. It’s a new favorite lunch smoothie in this house for the time being.

Green Spinach Strawberry Smoothie

(Created with ingredients listed on Farmer and Cook website)

1 ½ cups of Apple Juice (ideally home made but if too time consuming find Apple Juice that is 100% juice – no additives and not from concentrate).

1 Frozen Banana

½ Cup Fresh Strawberries

Handful of Fresh Spinach (about 1 ½ cups)

1 tsp. Spirulina

Put all ingredients in a high-powered blender, such as a Vitamix, and blend until smooth.

Fall seems to be taking its sweet time coming to Los Angeles but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the fruits of the season.  Anything with apple works in our home but my daughter is partial to pumpkin flavors so after some trial and error trying to create the perfect Pumpkin Smoothie, we finally came across one that was a winner in our home…

Pumpkin Smoothie

1 ¼ Cup of Almond Milk (or Soy if you are allergic to nuts)

2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend (for this recipe we used the Spice Hunter brand)

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract

2 ½ TBSP. Vanilla Yogurt

½ Cup of Canned Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 Frozen Banana

¼ – ½ tsp. Maple Syrup
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If necessary you can add additional ice for better thickness. If you don’t have the Spice Blend, the mix consists of: Cinnamon, Ginger, Lemon Peel, Nutmeg, Cloves, Cardamom, Star Anise, Fennel and Black Pepper.

Photos: Kelly Norris Sarno