FROZEN/COOKED/FROZEN FRUIT SMOOTHIES

I am a real morning person. Even if I go to bed late the night before, it is unlikely that I will sleep past 8 am. This may be because of certain circadian rhythms at work within, or light glaring through the windows, or maybe, just maybe, it is because a small girl and a small boy live in my house. :) The point is, I have never minded getting up in the mornings, however, I don't always feel like eating a whole lot right away. I know, in an earlier post I wrote that I lie awake in bed dreaming of my morning oatmeal, which is true some of the time, but that does seem more a winter breakfast than one for July and August.

I used to make smoothies for breakfast all the time. I remember the last one I made before my OAS diagnosis...it was beautiful. Fresh berries and orange juice, what could be nicer than that? Ugh! I coughed for an hour and had a terrible earache. Not to mention the burning down my throat and the stomachache.

So I didn't have a smoothie for about two years. Then while having a discussion with a friend about this (she happens to be a food genius), the following recipe emerged. This recipe is only good if you can tolerate orange juice. For some reason, I can usually only tolerate Tropicana Tangerine/Orange, and some of the V8 Fusion concoctions.

FROZEN/COOKED/FROZEN FRUIT SMOOTHIES

1/2 bag of frozen mixed berries (Costco has big bags, so I am suggesting half of one of these huge bags)
1/2 - 1 cup of water
1 cup of orange juice

Here's what I have done: take the frozen berries and put them in a large pot. Turn the heat on high. Add water. Boil the blazes out of the berries. For me, this meant letting them boil for at least 20 minutes. Let them cool for a bit.  Then take a ladle and place all the boiled berries and associated liquid into an ice cube tray. You will need several trays. Freeze them.

The next morning, you will be all bright-eyed and excited about trying to make a smoothie. Take the ice cube trays out of the freezer and let them sit for a few minutes - the frozen berry cubes are difficult to get out of the trays without waiting a bit. You will still probably need a knife to pry them out of there. When they are ready, take five berry cubes out and place them in the blender. Add one cup of orange juice, hit puree, and find something else to do while the noise drives you crazy. Make sure all the berry cubes are mixed, and voila! You have a beautiful fruit smoothie!

A few words of caution: the boiled berry mixture and the berry cubes stain terribly, so make sure you wear an apron while doing the boiling, and wash your hands after handling the cubes. Wipe up any spills immediately, because they will stain your countertop.

I also tried this using water and adding vanilla whey powder, hoping to get a little protein out of this experiment. It was disgusting. Don't do it.

Enjoy. :)

CNN Report

Now CNN knows about this!

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-04-08/health/oral.allergy.syndrome_1_allergy-shots-pollen-allergies-oral-allergy-syndrome?_s=PM%3AHEALTH

Chicago Eggs with Garden Tomatoes and Basil

I don't know about anyone else, but I sometimes have a hard time in restaurants. Ordering can be impossible at times. I recently took a trip with the family to Chicago, and we were staying in a lovely hotel, the kind where my kids, who are generally pretty well behaved, seemed like barbarians. :) I worried about the menu at the hotel restaurant before I even saw it. I thought it was going to be very fancy, with all sorts of items on it that I either had no desire to eat, or was allergic to. So you can imagine how happy I was to see that it was the opposite: many possible options were available. The first morning, I decided to not experiment and go with pancakes. They were deilcious but I couldn't help but notice what my husband was eating...eggs with grape tomatoes and fresh basil, with mozzerella cheese. I was instantly jealous...I am allergic to the tomatoes and the fresh basil. However, as these two dangerous foods were embedded amongst well-cooked scrambled eggs, I decided to give it a small try, and if I wasn't feeling well afterwards, I would just suck it up and carry on. Well, not only did I not suffer any sort of reaction, they were the best eggs I have ever had. Ever. I ordered this for my breakfast the next three mornings. Now, the serving size I received at the restaurant was huge, it had to have been at least five eggs. I don't recommend doing that, especially if cholesterol is a problem for you. Here is my made-up version of the restaurant meal.

CHICAGO EGGS WITH GARDEN TOMATOES AND BASIL

2 eggs

1/3 cup of milk

8 grape tomatoes, cut in half

Fresh basil cut lengthwise

1/4 cup of shredded mozzerella cheese

Mix up the eggs and milk. Add tomatoes and basil and mix everything together.

Pour egg mixture in a small saucepan...scramble them!

When the scrambling is ALMOST done, sprinkle the cheese evenly over the eggs and mix it all up nicely, allowing the cheese to melt.

This is unbelievably delicious...have a great morning!