Smooth, Cold and Full of Yum!...Smoothies

Looking for a filling and nutritious snack? A frequent bedtime snack we have here at our house is a smoothie. We've tried a number of flavors, but, by far our favorite is good ol' strawberry!


The children think it's extra special when I serve the smoothies in a "fancy" glass! I think it's true that food presentation adds a lot to taste experience!

Our smoothies tend to be almost the consistency of soft-served ice cream--it is freezing cold and creamy!


Here's my recipe for a strawberry smoothie:


2 cups plain yogurt

1 c frozen strawberries

1 t vanilla

12 drops liquid stevia extract (a natural herbal sweetener--you could use honey or sugar instead), or to taste


Place all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and let sit for a couple minutes to ever-so-slightly thaw the strawberries. With a hand blender, blend the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Serve! (This makes a good breakfast too!)


The fruit you use, and amounts, can be altered. We also like banana smoothies, peach smoothies, blueberry smoothies, and mango smoothies...or a mixture of fruits!


You'll notice I sweeten our smoothies with stevia, a natural herbal sweetener. Whenever I can get away with it, I try to substitute sugar and artificial sweeteners with natural sweeteners like stevia and honey. It is so much better for your health than refined sugar and chemical, artificial sweeteners.

Do YOU have a favorite smoothie flavor? What about a unique add-in to a smoothie? Variety is the spice of life and we'd love to hear about it so we can try it!


Copyright 2008 Domestic Legacies

Eggstraordinary Oatmeal- Pumping Up the Protein in Your Breakfast

While we're building those wonderful legacies in our home, we also have to think about the practical! A must at our house is starting the day off with a good breakfast. But, mornings can sure be busy, so, breakfast needs to be prepared quickly and must stick with us a long time. Breakfast convenience foods, like cold cereal, are typically expensive and are often not too healthy. So, I'm sure you know the one food that comes to the rescue every time in terms of convenience, nutrition and ability to quickly satisfy a hungry crowd around your table...oatmeal!
Oatmeal is cost-effective, cooks quickly, and fills tummies with whole grain goodness. Our family likes oatmeal- there's nothing like a bowl of warm sweet oatmeal with puddles of butter and honey, especially on a cold day! We often top ours with chopped apple, raisins, honey, butter and cinnamon:


photo copyright 2008 Domestic Legacies


The one thing that was lacking, however, in our quick, inexpensive breakfast was protein! I do sometimes cook oatmeal with milk, but was looking for something more when I came across a recipe for breakfast porridge. The recipe was more elaborate than I wanted to prepare most mornings, but it did have a great protein-boosting idea--As soon as the oatmeal is cooked, turn off the heat and whisk in, one at a time, a couple of eggs. (For 1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal I use two eggs.) The heat from the oatmeal perfectly cooks the eggs. (No icky glops of scrambled egg!) The texture is creamy and we don't even notice a difference in taste. So, now in the mornings, our brains are super-charged with a well balanced meal! Our concentration is better, and we can actually make it to lunch without those groans of hunger during school time! If that sounds good to you too, why don't you try it?
Do you like a little variety in your breakfasts? Is there something different your family enjoys on their oatmeal that you'd like to share? Do you have any protein boosting ideas that help make breakfast satisfy hunger longer? We'd love to hear about it! Maybe we'll all be inspired to try something different on our bowl of Quaker in the morning!
Speaking of hearing from you, if you'd like me to notify you when a new post is made here at Domestic Legacies, please email me and I'll add you to the list. It's easy to forget to come back for a visit, and I thought this would be a good way to help you remember! Your email address will ONLY be used for the purpose of notifying you of an update, and, of course, I'd never sell or share your address with anyone! And, if you decide you don't want notices of updates anymore, just e-mail me to let me know, and I'll remove your address from the list! You'll find a link to email me to the right on this page! I hope I'll hear from you soon!


Copyright 2008 Domestic Legacies