Veggie Hide & Seek

(photo credit)

There's a lot of chatter on the blogs I follow about eating more veggies.  I guess the glut of nutritionally based New Years Resolutions has brought on a demand for ideas.  So, I thought I'd link you up with some of my favorite ways to pack veggies into our diet.

I enjoy hiding veggies (namely pureed squashes) in my baked items.  From Blueberry Bread to Chocolate cake, mild squashes can replace some of the fat calories of oil and eggs and nobody will ever know!

I also pump my Marinara with pureed squashes, carrots and other veggies.  I usually leave peppers and onions in chunks, but if you need to hide those too, just hit it with your wand mixer and blend it all together.

Soups are a great place to pile in the veggies and when the weather turns warmer, I've even been known to sneak some veggies in the smoothies.

Looking for more creative ways to add veggies to your menu?  Check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life as Mom.

Limeade

I love spring. I love the bright colors as flowers and trees burst into bloom. Right now our yard is full of yellow as the forsythia and the daffodils are making their appearance for the season. I also love the hints of summer that make their way into spring.
Limeade is one of my favorite summer drinks. I usually have a stash of the frozen stuff around, but this evening I wanted limeade with dinner and it's too early in the season for the frozen stash. So - a cooking I will go. Or more appropriately, a mixing.
I had a bottle of key lime juice in my fridge. I knew it would need sugar and water and little more. Since I'm not a fan of getting sugar to dissolve in cold water, I made a syrup from the lime and sugar, then added the cold water. The result, a refreshing limeade that's not too strong and not too tart. I'm looking forward to blending fresh strawberries and cherries with it when their seasons come around!

Limeade

2 cups Granulated Sugar
1 cup Lime Juice
1 gallon of Water

1. Combine the lime juice and sugar in a saucepan over low heat just until the sugar melts.
2. Mix with water.
3. Add ice if desired and enjoy.

Yogurt 1.1 & HV Peach Smoothie

We guzzled through the first batch of yogurt, Yogurt 1.o, that I made and it was delicious!  A lot of it ended up in Strawberry Banana Smoothies which were wonderful!  Yogurt 1.0 yielded two large jars and one small jar.  I had stashed the small jar in the back of the fridge so that it would be there when I was ready to make the next batch of yogurt - Yogurt 1.1.  So this morning in my whirlwind of multitasking I went to the fridge for my stashed starter only to find that HandyMan had busted into it for his breakfast!  Fortunately, there was enough left to do a quart batch.  I made it with whole milk again because I was testing to see if the cultures in Yogurt 1.o would in fact produce another batch of equally thick, yummy yogurt.  So I mixed up Yogurt 1.1, let it spend the day in it's happy warm place and it is a complete success!

In working our way through Yogurt 1.1 and the freezing of pureed yellow squash for my Hidden Veggies recipes, I decided to get creative with my smoothies.  I added a 1/4 cup cube of frozen yellow squash puree for added nutrition and you can't taste it at all.  HandyMan is on to me and will commonly ask "What'd you sneak in this?", to which I will promptly reply "You tell me."    So mix this up and see if your family can tell that you're sneaking them some veggies!

Hidden Veggie Smoothies

Ingredients

1 Banana

1 Peach or 1 cup Strawberries

1/2 cup Plain Yogurt

1/4 cup Pureed Yellow Squash

Directions:

Using a blender or a cup and an immersion blender, blend all ingredients until smooth.  Makes 2 servings.



Click Here for a printable version of this recipe.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

So, what does one do with a half gallon of fresh yogurt (see yesterday's post)?  I started off with a Strawberry-Banana smoothie that was great!

Ingredients:


2 Bananas

1 cup of Sliced Strawberries

1/2 cup homemade yogurt*

Place ingredients in your blender or a large cup to blend with an imersion blender.

Blend until smooth and enjoy!  Makes two servings.



(Ok, so I enjoyed before I took the picture!  It was a crazy morning!)