Green Smoothie Trend

It has been recommended to me as of late that I should avoid canned foods. Not that I eat a ton of canned foods, but the comment was made by a well intentioned person worried about my nickle intake (!). I've actually thought about this quite a bit since the discussion. I actually think that it would be really great to eat only all natural foods, etc. But the reality is, I don't have the time. I had a friend who ate no processed food (all raw) for a number of years. It would take at least an hour a day to prep food. And, guess what? He got a full time job, and....that was the end of that (to some extent). I've been reading about "going raw", and I keep reading that it takes a lot of time and it's a huge adjustment. My friends who have also considered going "raw" have had the same comment: it just takes too much time. (On a more positive note, I've read and heard that everyone seems to loose a lot of weight, gain a little back, but then stay low. Not that I'm worried about weight. It's just an interesting little comment I've heard here and there...) All of that to say, I've been intrigued by the "green smoothie" trend. I was hesitant to try it, but finally decided to after going on a great run. I followed instructions given from a friend and created a FAST, GREAT smoothie recipe, and was thrilled to find IT. WAS. AWESOME. The recipe is below:

Spinach-Strawberry-I'm-Running-Late-For-Work-Smoothie

• 1 large handful of spinach


• 4 strawberries


• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of frozen pineapple (make sure it's frozen--this makes it so you don't have to add ice.)


• 1/2 cup of greek yogurt (added simply because I'm a fan and it has a ton of protein)

Instructions: Put in blender. Blend. Add some water if it's too thick, and blend again. (Oh--blend on the highest level possible and until it's as smooth as possible...) Enjoy.

Clean up: Add HOT water and dish soap to blender. BLEND. Rinse.

Now this is something I have time for. AND, it tastes like a yummy Jamba Juice! Don't worry about measuring out exact ingredients. It doesn't matter. Just try it! You'll love it!

FAL-AWESOME Israeli Food Recipes

A few of my friends from Israel have been looking for the recipes that the BYU Jerusalem center uses for the students. I happened to have saved the recipe sheet from the Enrichment class where they taught us what they did. So, to the benefit of all, I am adding the recipes to this blog. If you ever had the opportunity to attend a semester abroad there, you'll know that these are great recipes. If you haven't, then you should just know and trust that these are great recipes.

Yasser's AMAZING Donuts

1 ½ c milk (scalded)

½ c. sugar

½ c. butter or margarine

2 tsp. salt

½ c. lukewarm water with 2 Tbs. dry yeast dissolved in it

2 eggs, beaten

6 ½ c flour

Directions:

Add the sugar, butter/margarine, and salt to the milk. Then add the ingredients in the following order to a mixing bowl: the water/yeast combo, eggs, milk mixture, and HALF of the flour. Mix on low speed, and then put in the rest of the flour until it’s not too sticky. Grease a pan and let the dough raise until it doubles in size. Roll out the dough to 1/3 inch and cut into circles, allowing them to then raise again. Deep fry at 190 F, and then sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, or icing. If you do this right, then you'll find everyone sneaking into the kitchen for seconds like we did for Yasser's doughnuts. Of course, he was always yelling at us when we did so, but if you got out with a second one it was worth it...

Falafel

2 lbs. Chickpea (garbanzo beans) which should be soaked for 24 hours, drained, and then ground up

1 bunch parsley

2-3 green chilies (hot)

4 heads onion

1 clove garlic

1 Tbs. Cumin

1 Tbs. Falafel spice (try searching on-line for this. I haven't figured out exactly what spices they used in Israel, but you should probably know that most of the online recipes don't call for "falafel spice" and instead use only just the remaining recipes listed here.)

1 Tbs. Baking soda

Notes: the first time the chickpeas are ground, you grind just the chickpeas. The second time, you grind it you should add in the parsley, onion, garlic, and chili. After this, you mix in the cumin, falafel spice, and baking soda. Fry at 190 F. Serve with Pita, cut up cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, French fries, pickles, and (if desired) hot sauce.

Humus

Soak chickpeas (garbanzo beans) for 24 hours, drain, and then boil.

Add 1 tsp. Baking soda to shorten the boiling time. Mash, and add sesame sauce.

Sesame Sauce

½ C. sesame oil

½ C. lemon juice

3 cloves garlic-crushed

Sale and cumin to taste

Serve with parsley, paprika, and pita

Eggplant salad

Wash eggplant, poke holes with fork, and broil in oven until soft. Remove skin, cut up and add sesame sauce.

Cucumber with Lebon (Yogurt)

3 Med cucumbers peeled and finely chopped

2 C. Yogurt

2 tsp. salt

2 clove garlic

1 tsp dry mint0crushed

Add all ingredients to cucumbers. (Note: the instructions I received don’t suggest that the garlic is crushed, but I would assume this is the case)

Bakdonsia

1 c. parsley finely chopped

1 tomato finely chopped

Add sesame sauce

Tabouleh-Lebanon, Syria, Jordan Favorite

1 c crushed wheat (wash, soak till soft, drain, squeeze out water)

1 ½ c parsley finely chopped

½ c mint finely chopped (must be fresh)

2 med tomatoes finely chopped

½ c lemon juice

1//2 c olive oil

Add all together, salt and pepper to taste.