Pumpkin Spice Soy Smoothie

Last weekend I posted a recipe for my Strawberry Soy Smoothie, which took many weeks of experimentation to finally get right.  Sadly, strawberries are no longer in season, so I wanted to make a version of my breakfast smoothie that would incorporate more fresh fall flavors.  So, I learned to puree pumpkins and started experimenting again!  Luckily, it turns out that once you have the smoothie base down, it's easy to switch up the ingredients.

In fact, I think the Pumpkin Spice Soy Smoothie really rocks, if I may say so myself!  And low calorie, too!

Pumpkin Spice Soy Smoothie

Ingredients

Pumpkin puree, 1.5 cups (see below for directions)
Pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp
Cinnamon, 1 tsp
Nutmeg, 1 tsp
Bananas, frozen, 2 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long)
Grapes, red seedless, frozen, 2 cups
Tofu, soft, 320 grams
Milk, skim, 1.5 cups (or 3 cups if making a non-caffeinated version)
Tea, brewed, 12 fl oz (or skip or making a non-caffeinated version)
Flax seed, ground, 4 tbsp (or ground nuts)
Stevia, to taste (I use about 1.5 tsp)

Directions

For pumpkin puree: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  Place the whole pie pumpkin in the oven and roast for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.
2. Once cool, remove the stem and cut pumpkin in half, vertically.  (The pre-roasting should make this step a lot easier than cutting a raw pumpkin.)
3. Remove seeds and save for another use (such as roasting them).  Remove the fibers using kitchen scissors.
4. Place the halved pumpkins, flesh side down, on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 25 minutes or until soft.  Let cool completely.
5. Scoop up the roasted flesh and place in food processor.  Process until smooth.

For smoothie:

N.B.: If you have a standard size blender or food processor, it may be necessary to split the ingredients in half and complete the procedure twice.

1. Blend ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Enjoy!

Serving Size: 4 (16 oz) servings

Other Notes:

I prefer to freeze fresh fruits when they are sufficiently ripe and then use them later when I need them to make smoothies, and this eliminates the need for added ice that might dilute the flavor.  However, it is certainly feasible to use the unfrozen version of the fruits and just add a bit of ice to make it cold.

Number of Servings: 4 (16 oz) servings

Printable versions of the recipe: Caffeinated and non-caffeinated.

Strawberry Soy Smoothie

I'm a busy gal, particularly on weekday mornings.  I usually start my day with an early workout at the gym, then I dive head first into rush hour traffic which seems to just get busier and busier by the day (thanks, PA construction!), so I don't really have time to enjoy a leisurely sit-down breakfast before work.  For the past few months, I have been experimenting with a breakfast smoothie I could sip in my car during my morning commute.  My goal:  A smoothie that's tasty, healthy, filling, and gives me just the boost I need in the morning.  Simple enough, eh?

Well, I did a lot of recipe tweaking.  In the process, I made smoothies that were too thick, not thick enough, too bland, too filling, not filling enough...you get the idea.  I started out with strawberries, bananas, milk, and tofu, played around with the relative proportions of each ingredient, and eventually added grapes for its tart sweetness, flax seed meal for its fullness factor, tea for the caffeine boost, and stevia to sweeten the tea-infused drink without adding any calories or causing my blood sugar to go out of whack.

But after much hard work, I think I've finally got it. Introducing...the Strawberry Soy Smoothie:

Strawberry Soy Smoothie

The best part:  A 16-ounce serving (that's 2 cups!) has only 213 calories but it is pretty filling - the 9.6 grams of protein helps a lot - and contains all the Vitamin C you need for the day.  Of course, now that I've got this thing down to a science, strawberries are no longer in season!  Now that fall is in full swing, I have been experimenting with a pumpkin smoothie, and I'm sure there will be post on that soon.  But in the meantime, here's the recipe for the Strawberry Soy Smoothie:

Ingredients

Strawberries, frozen, 2 cups
Bananas, frozen, 2 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long)
Grapes, red seedless, frozen, 2 cups
Tofu, soft, 320 grams
Milk, skim, 1.5 cup
Tea, brewed, 12 fl oz
Flax seed, ground, 4 tbsp
Stevia, to taste (I use about 1 tsp of liquid stevia, but I don't like it too sweet personally)

Directions

Note: If you have a standard size blender or food processor, it may be necessary to split the ingredients in half and complete the procedure twice.

1. Blend ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Enjoy!

Serving Size: 4 (16 oz) servings

Other Notes:

I prefer to freeze fresh fruits when they are sufficiently ripe and then use them later when I need them to make smoothies, and this eliminates the need for added ice that might dilute the flavor.  However, it is certainly feasible to use the unfrozen version of the fruits and just add a bit of ice to make it cold.

Variations:

1. In the fall I sometimes substitute 1 cup of apple cider for the grapes.
2. I have also occasionally substituted ground nut for the flax seed meal with great results.
3. I also make a version of this for lunch or as an afternoon snack that uses twice the amount of milk, which adds 30 calories and 3 grams of protein per serving, and omitting the tea as well as the stevia (without the tea, I find it unnecessary to add the sweetener).  It actually tastes better than the breakfast version with tea, in my opinion!

Number of Servings: 4 (16 oz) servings

For a printable version of the recipe, click here.

And the full list of nutritional facts can be found here.

Spinach and Mushroom Frittata

FamJam in Pittsburgh 2011

Homemade Sunday Brunch

This is the eighth (and last) in a series of posts on my family's first visit to Pittsburgh.  To start from the beginning with Friday's lunch, click here.

After what felt to me like an eating out marathon on Friday and Saturday, I thought it might be nice to stay home for a low-key brunch on Sunday.  Now, what possessed me to think that I could single-handedly prepare brunch for six people after several days of accumulated sleep deprivation and a late night of St. Paddy's Day partying on Saturday, I don't know.  And it turned out not to be a very smart idea after all!

There were definitely a few disasters.  My first ever waffle-making attempt ended up being an epic failure (though I did manage to turn the batter into pancakes - also a first attempt), and my experimental maple leaf-shaped eggs with sausages and veggies were, um, not so maple leaf-shaped (I turned that into an egg scramble instead).  Between trying to cook too many things at once and attempting to clean up all the mess I had made, I didn't have any time to serve the delicious bread from Loafers with fresh-ground peanut butter from Giant Eagle Market District that I had especially purchased for my house guests.

Pretty much my only saving grace was an easy spinach and mushroom frittata that I had made several times in the past with success:

Luckily, my family was patient with me, and everyone was well-fed in the end.  I think they even liked some of my failed experiments!  Note to self: In the future, when preparing a meal for other people, go with what you know to be tried and true.

My family left for Toronto Sunday afternoon.  It was a great visit, and I hope I was able to achieve my objective of impressing them with all the great food that Pittsburgh has to offer, and I certainly hope they'll be back soon for more!

If you've read the entire series, thank you!  Feel free to check out the rest of my blog here.


Recipe courtesy of:
AllRecipes (get the recipe here)

Southwestern Tofu Scramble

Between meals out I managed to cook up a couple of things this week.  One was a Southwestern Tofu Scramble.  I must admit I wasn't really sure about it at first, especially with the inclusion of cumin which I tend to think of as an Indian spice, but the end result was super tasty.  It actually tastes a bit like scrambled eggs, minus the cholesterol.  This is a versatile dish that, as the recipe states, can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Recipe courtesy of:

Eating Well (get the recipe here)