RECIPE: Strawberry Mango Smoothie ... With Avocado and Spinach!

Conrad isn't completely sold on the idea of "drinking vegetables" mixed with fruit, so I took yesterday's recipe and added avocado and spinach and drank it myself. It was awesome! Smooth, rich, creamy, nutritious ... green ... what more could one ask for!


STRAWBERRY MANGO SMOOTHIE WITH AVOCADO AND SPINACH

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup ZOI vanilla Greek Yogurt
6-8 fresh Strawberries (I used fresh)
1/2 cup chunks of Mango (I used frozen)
1/4 Avocado
2 cups fresh Spinach
1 teaspoon Agave
6 ice cubes

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy.
2. Pour. Serve. Enjoy!

RECIPE: Paleo B.E.A.T. Breakfast Sandwich

I realize this isn't a new recipe to most people, but I have never had avocado on a breakfast sandwich before. What makes this one different is that it's made on Paleo bread and Paleo mayonnaise!

INGREDIENTS:
4 slices Paleo Bread
2 eggs
1 slices thick cut bacon
1/2 avocado
1 roma tomato
Paleo Mayonnaise
Cheese. (Optional) I used Trader Joe's English Cheddar with caramelized onions.

Directions:
1. Cut bacon strips in half, then cook bacon.
2. While bacon is cooking, rinse and slice tomato and avocado.
3. Remove bacon from pan, draining most of the bacon fat into a jar to reserve for other recipes.
4. Fry eggs over a medium-low heat to prevent burning. After you flip the egg, sprinkle cheese onto the egg and place bacon on top.
5. Apply mayonnaise on bread, and arrange tomato slices and avocado.
6. Once eggs are thoroughly cooked, remove from pan and place on bread.
7. Close sandwich. Plate. Eat! (We enjoyed ours with a few strawberries, blackberries, and a slice or two of apple.

RECIPE: Paleo Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate pudding? Seriously? Yes! Seriously, and seriously GOOD! I actually found a recipe for chocolate pudding on cfscceat.blogspot.com (adapted from Natural Noshing.com) today and I had all the ingredients, so I HAD to try it. The ingredients intrigued me a bit ... cocoa powder, almond milk, vanilla, honey, even cinnamon I can imagine, but not avocados! Funny thing is, I did not taste the avocado one bit, and neither did Conrad! Heck, I didn't even tell him what the ingredients were and he didn't ask! He has a discerning palate, so I figured he'd say something if he detected anything unusual.

INGREDIENTS:
2 avocados
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 banana (not too ripe or it will overpower the chocolate)
1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch sea salt (I used fine crystals instead of the coarse salt the photo shows below. I caught that before I made that mistake!!)
Cocoa nibs as a garnish (walnuts would be good, too!)

Be sure to use fine crystals rather than coarse salt as seen below:

DIRECTIONS:

Put all ingredients except cocoa nibs in a blender or food processor. Blend well for about a minute. The mixture should be well blended, smooth and creamy. Mine was a little too thick, so I added a little more almond milk.

Spoon into serving dishes.

Garnish with cocoa nibs, and refrigerate for 15 - 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

RECIPE: A Very Healthy Salad

I have to admit, since we are between Christmas and New years, I feel like I haven't had enough vegetables, so tonight I decided to make a big healthy salad. I will be experimenting quite a bit, so keep watching to see what crazy concoctions I come up with!
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups fresh spring salad mix
1 red ripe tomato
1 avocado
1/4 jicama
1/4 cucumber
2 ounces bleu cheese crumbles
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place lettuce in a large salad bowl. Cut tomato, avocado, cucumber and jicama into small pieces and add to greens. Throw in bleu cheese crumbles.

DRESSING:
3/4 cup pure virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil (It would be very easy to use Wildtree Basil Pesto instead!)
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Pour in 1/8 cup dressing and toss. Add more as desired. Toss, plate and enjoy!

If you're wanting to try this as a main course it would be excellent with some grilled chicken or steak thrown on top!
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