Day 16: The Incredible Purple Smoothie

Years ago when The Husband and I were living in New York, our friend Stacy gave us the recipe to her aunt's favorite smoothie. Stacy said that her aunt drank one every day and attributed her good health to this magic purple elixir. Stacy also mentioned that her aunt, every now and then, would change the recipe but none of her alterations proved as good as the original, which is mainly a mix of berries, banana, yogurt, soy milk, peanut butter, and a spoonful of flax-seed meal for a happy colon. We started making them and the darn thing has insinuated itself into the very core of our beings. Isabella and Finn both like it and it's getting to the point, as they grow and consume ever larger quantities of food, where a full blender's worth of smoothie barely covers the four of us for breakfast. Time to get a Vita-Prep! I'm fairly certain The Husband could make this smoothie blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back hopping up and down on a bare foot.

Obviously, YUMMY.

The recipe will follow shortly. . . and here it is!

Stacy's Aunt's All-Purpose Berry Smoothie (as remembered by The Husband)

1 sliced frozen banana (i.e. slice them, freeze on a sheet tray, portion into Ziploc bags)
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
6 or 7 frozen strawberries
2 tablespoons flax-seed meal
2 tablespoons protein powder
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 cup soy milk, or more if you like it thinner

1. Blend in a blender. Serve.
2. Lick your lips and smack them together noisily.

After smoothies, we trekked over to the Green City Market, which bills itself as the only sustainable farmers' market in the United States. We go on Saturdays, as early as we can, and enjoy jockeying for organic Japanese eggplant with a cardboard-box wielding local chef (this really happened today!); some of them even shop the market in their baggy chef pants! Our usual routine involves stopping at the Bennison's Bakery tent for a scone (the extremely awesome half whole-wheat, dried fuit studded glazed scone), picking up a free cup of Intelligensia coffee as we validate our parking-lot ticket, and wandering around sampling everyone's blueberries until we find the sweetest ones. (Today's winner was Ellis Farms from Michigan; we bought a five-pound box for $18.) I thought these fall squashes looked pretty. If you look closely, you can see Isabella's tiny hand.


Dinner was:
-- One grilled New York strip, crusted deliciously with McCormick's "Montreal Steak" seasoning, which is great!
-- Those potatoes, again. Recipe to follow shortly.
-- Heirloom tomatoes. I think The Husband drizzled balsamic vinegar over them.
-- Corn, the pride of the prairie.

All, YUMMY.