Nutella and Strawberry Smoothie with Spinach

I used Nutella in this smoothie and the flavour didn’t really come through. If you don’t care about calories, go ahead and add 2 tablespoons instead. I think that might do the trick. But next time I’ll probably just use cocoa. I don’t like the idea of adding 180 calories (2 tablespoons) worth of Nutella. This smoothie was still delicious!

You can use frozen fruit if you like.

1 smoothie

Ingredients

1 medium banana

1 cup fresh strawberries

1 heaping tablespoon Nutella

1 handful fresh spinach

1 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened)

Directions

Place all ingredients into the blender and puree until smooth.

Apple, Mango, Kiwi Smoothie with Spinach

You can make smoothies out of whatever you find your fruit bowl. This time I grabbed a kiwi and a mango. My 2 year old wanted an apple so I gave her half and put the other half in the smoothie. I added a handful of spinach as well. My 4 1/2 year old loved this one. It wasn't sweet and it wasn't sour, it was just right. It helps if your mango is sweet of course, and your apple should be a sweeter variety as well. If you want a sour smoothie, use a granny smith.

1 smoothie

Ingredients
1/2 a medium apple (I left the skin on but removed the seeds)
1 kiwi, peeled
1/2 a medium mango, peeled
1 handful of spinach
1/2 cup almond milk (I'm still using that carton of coconut flavour)

Directions
Place all the ingredients into the blender and puree until smooth. This was a thick smoothie, you could add a little more milk if you want it runier.

Veal and Zucchini Mini Burgers

You wouldn't believe how much flavour you can add to your ground meat just by adding a packet of onion soup mix! I used Lipton brand. I'm not sure if other brands use such large pieces of dehydrated onion. And of course, I added veggies to these mini burgers. I served them on lettuce but you can find slider buns all over the place these days. Only 4 ingredients in this recipe. It doesn't get any easier! And whatever you do, you should know that adding salt to this recipe would be a bad idea. Onion soup mix has more than enough of it.

12 mini burgers

Ingredients
1lb lean ground veal (or beef)
1 packet dried onion soup mix
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
1 zucchini, grated and gently squeezed

Directions
Use your hands to combine all of the ingredients well. Shape into 12 balls and flatten them to about 1/2". They'll get fatter and shrink while they cook.

Heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat (closer to medium) and add a bit of cooking spray (or oil if you wish).

Place the little burgers into the pan (maybe 6 at a time depending on the size of your pan) and cook for about 5 minutes per side or until golden and cooked through.

I served mine on lettuce with some tzatziki (that I found in the fridge), avocado and tomato.

Banana Pistachio Smoothie

The first time I ever had this Banana Pistachio Smoothie was also the first time I went for dinner at my husband's place. Of course, he wasn't my husband at the time, but he made this for us that night. He also ate a lot of pickled garlic, which I thought was kind of weird, but as it turns out the stuff is delicious! Sometimes we add a spoon of honey, but the bananas are usually sweet enough if they're ripe.

Here's my husband's cup with his ice cream on top.

1 smoothie

Ingredients
2 small bananas (frozen if you like)
1/2 cup 2% milk
15 shelled pistachios (mine were salted)
1 teaspoon honey (optional)

Directions
Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a glass. If you're like my husband, you'll put a scoop of ice cream in.