PIna Colada Oatmeal Smoothie

Last night as I was making a Green Cleanse for today, I was thinking about something different for breakfast. If you choose not to blend the crap out of it, it can be an overnight Oatmeal. I made a drink. Even though I make all these drinks, I still like easy. Long drinks are not my style. Taking an hour just to drink your breakfast is not my style.

This smoothie just jumped out at me. Probably because it has been raining all week. We are at unseasonable cold weather. Will it ever get warm. Today is May, I have flowers, but I am not buying anything until is warms up significantly. My Mother is suppose to come home from Florida this weekend. She is just going to go into shock. It will feel like the Artic Circle to her.

Pina Colada Oatmeal Smoothie
slightly from oatgasm.blogspot.com
Ingredients
1/2 cup Almond or Coconut Milk
1 tablespoon Chia Seeds
1/2 cup Pineapple chucks and juice
1/2 cup Oatmeal
1 Banana
1 squirt Agave Nectar
3 tablespoons shredded coconut

Directions
The NIGHT BEFORE, Place milk and chia seeds in high power mixer. Let set for 5 minutes. Mix for a moment. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on high for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Place in glass or cup and cover. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

** If you want a more oatmeal feel to this, DO NOT place the oatmeal in the blender. Mix the rest of the ingredients, when done, add your oatmeal. Stir until completely mixed in. **

In the morning, you can eat or drink this cold or warm in microwave to desired temperature.

Breakfast at work this morning.

This is an awesome way to start my day

These are all easy ingredients that I have on hand

Sorry, the Chia Seeds did not make the main photo...

I had my milk and pineapple in the Vitamix, waiting for seeds

The seeds are IN. I stirred them in so that they could start to thicken

I should have used a larger to go mug. 

Another story of my life.

 Oatmeal Smoothie, Green Cleanse, Kombucha.

I will post a recipe for my tea. Next week, my second batch will be ready

Including a large cup of Tea, this is the start of my morning.

Have a great day. Tell me what you think of the Oatmeal.

Pineapple Bundt Cake

OMG ... this cake is heavenly. If you like Pineapple upside down cake, you will SO love this cake even more. Holy Cow, to quote Harry Carey. (Cubs announcer).

And It is EASY.. A level one baker could wipe this up. You would be so proud of yourself. An accomplished baker would appreciate a delicious and easy recipe. NO one would even know how easy this cake is. I am so glad I found this recipe.

Pineapple Bundt Cake
recipe adapted from Dole.com
Ingredients
1 can (20 oz) Crushed Pineapple
1 box Yellow Cake mix
1 pkg Jello Pudding mix
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon butter, melted
GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bundt with cooking spray. Set aside

Drain pineapple in a bowl. Measure out 3/4 cup juice to use for the cake. Set aside remaining pineapple juice. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the cake mix, pineapple juice, pudding mix eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Beat on high for 2 minutes.

Fold in crushed pineapple into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in oven. This is a VERY moist cake. I bake this cake for 40 minutes. It really needs to be that long. Your cake will be slightly brown on top.

While the cake is baking, combine the remaining pineapple juice, 1 cup powdered sugar and melted butter together. Remove cake from the oven. Poke holes into the cake with a skewer. all around the cake. Gently pour the soaking mixture over the warm cake. Allow the cake to totally cool before removing from the pan.

Once totally cooled, with a serving platter, flip your cake upside down. Remove pan. Cool for another 20 minutes. Make your glaze. And drizzle over the cake.

Basic ingredients for an amazing cake

Totally drain the pineapple. You will need all of the juice

Fold in the Pineapple into the batter

This bundt pan is completely full

Remaining Pineapple Juice, Powdered Sugar, and melted Butter 

This will send your cake over the top

Poked and Pouring on the filling

The finished product BEFORE the glaze

This puppy was glazed. 

If you want less, glaze, make half as much. 

An Easter treat for a customer

A cake treat for my Husband. HE LOVED it.

Pina Colada Protein Smoothie

I SO went outside of the box..

This Protein Drink was delicious and so healthy for you. NO powders to fluff this up. Eliminate the crap people, lets move on and drink healthy. 

Chickpeas, or Garbanzo beans whatever you want to call them, they are loaded with protein and fiber. You will feel full for hours with feeling fat. I am so glad I stumbled upon this recipe. As with any smoothie recipe, modify to your liking. I like coconut and pineapples, you may not. use frozen berries, mangos, whatever is to your liking. With using the chick peas, this smoothie was thick. I also added Agave Nectar. (NOT photograph), I felt this recipe needed to be sweeter. Use Honey or Nothing. It is up to you. You can always add more milk to make this drink more liquidy. Up to YOU.

Pina Colada Protein Smoothie

The SNOW is finally gone. The flowers are just starting to bud. 

I am celebrating with a summer drink

Pina Colada Protein Smoothie

modified from thesmoothielover.com

Ingredients

1 cup Almond Milk

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup chick peas

1 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1-2 cups of ice

1-2 squirts of Agave Nectar (optional)

Directions

Add all ingredients into Vitamix or high power blender, and mix until smooth. Drink up

These are not complicated ingredients. 

The Chick peas are near the kidney beans or black beans in the grocery store

My Husband and I really enjoyed these smoothies.

HE had NO idea there were beans in his fruit smoothie. 

I am just making him Healthier.

Green Cleanse -3

Hmmm, what to do. When did I run out of green apples and not tell anyone. WAIT, that would be Me..  and I remember nothing unless it is written down. So, I stood with the refrigerator door open, contemplating what to make. Grab the spinach, found a lime and what else. Open the freezer, there was a bag of frozen pineapple I had cut up. I am finding bargain fruits and vegetables and freezing them for a later day. Perfect. Since I am a coconut lover, I wanted something a bit tropical without a bunch of calories.

Look at this drink. 

Green, Clean and Looking like a Shake

Not some watery drink for me.

There are tons of Green Cleanse combinations. I can go on forever. (Hopefully, I will also feature other recipes.) I have made some new cookies and bars for trays. The new recipes have been hits and not totallty healthy....

Green Cleanse - 3

adapted by ME

Ingredients

1 cup Water

1/2 - 1 cup Frozen Pineapple

1-2 cups Fresh Spinach

Juice of 1/2 Lime

1/2 cup shredded Coconut

ICE

Directions

Add all ingredients into a blender in the order listed. Blend until smooth

I was to unsure about this Drink. Try things People. 

Live outside of a box. There is always a bomb once in awhile.

I went out on a limb and made a delicious drink

This made a Very large one drink. Could also be 2 average drinks

Rich, Thick and Smooth. 

Keep it Clean Folks, Keep it Clean

Hummingbird Cheesecakes

Hummingbird Cake. To coconut or not to coconut, that really is the question. My Mother has made Hummingbird Cake with Coconut from a Southern Living recipe for as long as I can remember. It was always perfect for a party. A three layer cake that tasted FABULOUS. Kind of like a crowning glory. Perfect in presentation. The cake could even be made the day before. If you had any problems, you put the cream cheese frosting on it, coated the sides with coconut or crushed pecans, and no one knew the difference.

So when I came across this recipe, I thought, nuggets of springtime love. 

Perfect for a shower or party

Hummingbird Cheesecakes
Adapted from mangoandpalmtrees.com
Make 5 dozen Mini muffins

Ingredients
Cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pureed pineapple
1/2 cup pureed bananas
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts

Cheesecake
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt

Directions
Place a shallow roasting pan or baking sheet in the center of the oven's bottom rack, and pour enough hot water into the pan to come up 2 inches up the sides. (THIS keeps the cheesecakes from drying out or over browning.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the Hummingbird Cake batter, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, cinnamon in a mixing bowl and whisked together until evenly combined. Add the eggs and oil to the dry mixture. Stir until just combined. Add the vanilla, pineapple, bananas and nuts for the mixture. Stir to combine.

To make the Cheesecake batter, place cream cheese in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment. Beat until smooth. Add the sugar, beat at medium speed for 3 minutes. Turn to low, and add the eggs one at a time. Add Sour cream or yogurt, the lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt. Increase speed to medium and blend for 3 minutes.

Line a mini muffin pan with liners. In the bottom of each cup, place 1 teaspoon of Hummingbird cake batter. Top with 2 teaspoons of cheesecake batter. DO NOT SWIRL.

Bake the cheesecakes for 15 minutes . Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 more minutes. Then transfer the cheesecakes to a cooling rack.

Allow cheesecakes to cool completely. Garnish with a squirt of frosting, coconut, or nuts. Serve.

This was the first layer of the cake, placed in the mini muffin pans.

The roasting pan with the water underneath really was important. NONE of the cakes cracked.

Plain guy ~~ there is no Coconut in him

Shot of frosting on top

 I really liked these. Very light, perfect for Spring.

Tropical Smoothie

Next week, my Husband and I are going on vacation. We will be going to FLA to visit my Mother. She  spends her winters in the Naples area. It is a beautiful place to visit. My Mom is literally on the beach. I am hopeful to see my Sister and her family. She lives on the other coast. It is a great break from everything going on around here. I can sit on the beach and do NOTHING. (right) There are people from our hometown and the surrounding area there to see. The people that are in her building are mostly from the Midwest. Great group of people to hang out with.

This beach is where a large amount of my shells have come from. We like going on morning walks and finding shells. It is also a bit of exercise to start the day. Then my day will consist of sunning, eating, reading, cocktails and telling stories. LOVE IT. In any order.

In order to go on vacation, I really needed a pedicure. My Husband actually caught the hint, and He gave me this for Valentine's Day.

Thank you Tiffany from Divas. You are the bomb. Best Pedicure I have ever had.

I am also starting to clean out my refrigerator to get ready for vacation. There sat a VERY overripe Pineapple and two wrinkly Mango's. I was worried that everything was garbage, but I lucked out. This recipe would have to be adjusted with a sweetener due to the ripeness of your fruit.

This was one of the best tasting smoothies I have ever drank. It was like a tropical vacation in a glass. It is almost like being in FLORIDA. Ok, probably not, but it did taste good.

Tropical Smoothie

Ingredients
2 very ripe mangos
1 very ripe whole pineapple
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
3 cups almond milk
ice

Directions
Set up blender. Remove pit and skin from Mango's and place in blender. Remove top, remove skin and core from the Pineapple and place chunks in blender. Add 1 scoop of  Vanilla Protein powder and add the 3 cups of Almond Milk. Blend.

If  you would like to add ice, be my guest.

Fabulous, the only calories came from the powder and milk. 

Make your own smoothies, forget the mixes. This was easy and tasted amazing.