Hope all of your weekends were good! Mine was spent relaxing (surprise there eh?). My brother and his friend came down from Toronto, and spent a few days here. I spent a good part of my time with them. The rest of my weekend however was spent doing some biking, writing, and reading (my current read is Anthony Kiedis' biography, it is absolutely amazing!), and then we watched the whole season of The Walking Dead, love, love, love that show. They left late Saturday evening, and I pretty much fell asleep right after they left.
This morning I woke up and was really looking forward to the day. I'm not sure why I was looking so forward to this day, but I was in a really good mood and couldn't wait to get my day on the road. I went and woke my mom up... okay not really waking her up, but I said "time to do the groceries?" She said no, so I decided to lie in bed with her for a bit. After taking another little nap it was time for breakfast. I couldn't wait to gobble this breakfast down.
Yesterday morning, I received my daily blog email from Angela and came across a smoothie recipe that really caught my eye: Strawberry Cherry Basil smoothie. I thought the flavours were very interesting, and decided I would make that. My mom and I bought a basil plant last weekend, so I definitely have a large supply of basil on hand, and decided I would try my hand at this smoothie. I have to say, I was a bit skeptical of not adding a banana to this smoothie, since banana's are a must in my smoothie, but it was perfect as is. I have to say, this would be among my top five favourite smoothies. I didn't have strawberries on me, so I used raspberries and it was just divine. I loved it, and the subtle basil flavour (even though it's a 1/4 cup, it may seem like a lot of basil but trust me, and her that it works).
I went to do my groceries this morning and made sure to pick up strawberries so that I could try this smoothie with strawberries and compare which one I like more. I have a feeling the raspberry one is going to be a winner, since I prefer raspberries to strawberries, but you never know. We shall see when I make the smoothie! But, I definitely think this is a beverage you need to try for yourself!
Raspberry Cherry Basil Smoothie
Recipe adapted from here
How gorgeous is that colour?
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup (or a bit less) loosely packed basil
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup pitted and frozen cherries
- 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
While we're on the topic of smoothies, I made a delicious smoothie for breakfast Friday morning. I had finished my workout and decided I didn't want a heavy breakfast so I made a beverage. I loved this smoothie, and at the time I thought it was one of the best smoothies I had in a while (which still remains true), but I definitely loved the Raspberry Cherry Basil smoothie a whole lot. What I really like about this smoothie is the ginger. I absolutely love ginger, especially when its freshly grated. If you're not a huge fan of smoothie I wouldn't suggest putting 1 tbsp since some people (my mother being one of them) find the flavour of ginger very powerful. Ginger is like cinnamon to me, I like it so that it's very noticeable, and always seem to double the original amount, or if there isn't any I will add it to a recipe and make it well known. The ginger and peach pairing is definitely a great mix, they go together like peanut butter and jelly. This smoothie is definitely refreshing and perfect for a warm day, even though there wasn't any protein powder (as I've run out) the addition of the flaxseeds definitely held me over until lunch.
Ingredients:
- 1 peach, chopped to make it easier on the blender
- 1 large banana, frozen
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
Yes, I am still on my couscous phase. Seriously, I've been having it almost once a day for the past two weeks (and no I have not been posting all these recipes because I'm sure you guys would get sick of seeing them haha). I thought I would share this one, because as simple as it is, it was wonderful and super filling. I loved it, and regardless of me not eating this delicious, greasy, cheesy, meaty looking pizza my dinner was fantastic and healthy so I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything.
Vegetable Couscous Salad
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup couscous
- 1/3 cup water + dash of salt
- 1 corn on the cob, corn removed
- 2 green onion stalks, chopped
- Sweet red peppers, to taste
- Nappa cabbage, roughly chopped
- Sea salt and pepper
- Reduced salt soy sauce
Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add your corn, cook as you normally would. I let mine come to a complete boil, and I cook it for seven minutes. Set aside until cool enough to easily handle. Once it has cooled, remove corn.
In a small pot over medium heat, add your couscous, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes, until all the water has dissolved. Fluff with a fork. I then added all my ingredients into the pot so I didn't get any other dishes dirty.
I then topped with sea salt, pepper and soy sauce, and devoured.
How did you spend your weekend?
Yes I'm totally agree with you these recipes are just perfect to prepare for breakfast. Keep up the good work and also keep posting.
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