So far this week, I've stayed off the caffeine pills and caffeinated tea, and I've stayed off the cacao, and I've slept at least more than I had been, and gobbled down meds like a good girl. But I still wanted my snowy spirulina lunch, and I discovered that it could be just as delicious without the cacao!
1/3 cup nut milk (I used unsweetened Almond Breeze)--just enough to spin the blades
1 cup fresh local snow (I'm going to have to start thinking of alternatives)
1 spoonful spirulina
1 teaspoon lucuma
1/2-1 teaspoon mint extract
stevia and xylitol to taste
1 pinch lecithin granules and/or 1/2 teaspoon xanthan or guar gum
Blend until smooth in a high speed blender.
Mint ice cream! OK, maybe not quite, as there's no fat in there. You don't miss it, though. Definitely mint sorbet--refreshing, a little sweet, delightful.
NB I know that this is very light on calories. However, it's also very easy to make into a more substantial offering. You could use full-fat coconut cream instead of unsweetened almond breeze. You could add some melted coconut oil, which would make it more ice-cream-like and creamy in general, and would add good nutrition too. You could triple the amount of lucuma, and add some tocotrienols, which are also creamy. You could even add some flax seeds, although you should make sure to blend very well so that they're not gritty. Carob powder? Carob goes beautifully with mint. Protein powder? Sure. I feel spirulina offers a good dose of protein, but doubling up would be good too. And you could substitute some of the snow with frozen nut milk.
One of the things I love about smoothie-type recipes is how infinitely elastic and versatile they are--so easy to make your own.
On a very different note, RIP Adrienne Rich, role model and inspiration for poets, especially women poets, for over half a century.
You are the only person I've ever seen use "snow" as a recipe ingredient. I love it. :)
ReplyDeletebitt pointed out that using snow was making the most of the local food available--I loved that!
Deletelove
Ela
sorry your source of snow is disappearing. i've heard tales of kids saving snowballs in their freezer for a summer snowball fight, perhaps you could try that? ;-) if you figure out a snow alternative, let me know. i don't think i'll see snow for awhile. i did get some spirulina, so i could try something similar.
ReplyDeleteWow, I never heard of freezing snowballs before!
DeleteI definitely have some ideas for alternatives--one would be simply to crush some ice. Another would be to freeze stevia-sweetened herbal tea blended with some xanthan or guar gum, which inhibits crystallization--or even salt might work. I'll experiment and let you know.
Glad you got some spirulina!
love
Ela
I think it's so cool (ha ha, I guess it really is "cool") that you make smoothies with snow. My mom used to collect the snow for us to have snow ice cream when I was a kid. We would also use it to cool molasses candy.
ReplyDeleteWe actually didn't get much snow this year, or at least the nice fluffy stuff. The kids didn't get to play in it and there weren't any snow days off from school. At least my son will start his summer vacation earlier this year.
I hate to admit that I wasn't familiar with Adrienne Rich, so I Googled her. She was quite a powerful poet. I can see why you found her to be a role model.
Thanks, Shannonmarie--and thanks for the chuckle with your "cool" pun. I love that snow ice cream was part of your childhood.
DeleteI'm a little embarrassed to have read so little of Adrienne Rich yet, as we have some things in common. But it'll be something to catch up on.
love
Ela
Thank you :)
ReplyDelete