I haven’t posted a smoothie to The Lovely Pantry in a while. My first (and only) smoothie post thus far was the Banana Nutmeg Smoothie. I think its safe to say that every smoothie that I make will have a banana in it. Everything else is purely optional. For the past week, I’ve been eating soft foods and so smoothies almost became mandatory – which is great. I’ve been whipping up smoothies for me and the kids, and even allowing them to choose some of the ingredients. Great!
Banana Berry Smoothie
I generally keep smoothies pretty simple. Occasionally, I’ll add vegetables or a flavoured protein powder (if I’m making just for me).
Frozen berries are always in my freezer specifically for smoothies. That way I have them on hand throughout the year and also I don’t have to add ice. I’ll use frozen bananas too if I don’t have fresh on hand. Whatever works, right?
My cousin told me that she adds spinach to her smoothies. I’ve been putting it in my smoothies ever since. You don’t even know it’s there. But I let my son put it in the blender so that he knows there is goodness his smoothie.
Spinach - the ingredient you don't realize is even there...
Into the blender they go
And here you have a healthy and refreshing breakfast drink!
Banana Berry Smoothie
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Take good care of yourselves 🙂
Some recipes show up when they are most needed. If ever there were a time that I needed something to comfort me and make me feel better, now would be it. Last week was a rough week. Between eye infections, visits to the doctor, a trip to the hospital and a root canal, I’d say the members of my family have been pretty active. I think this is the first time in my young family’s history where we’ve all been hit with “something” in such a short space of time. It was a lot to deal with but I sure hope we are finished. Mama’s got things to do.
To put everyone at ease, we are all doing much better now. Apparently we bounce back very well. I was the one who ended up at the hospital after picking a strange infection after frolicking in a pool. The following day I went in for a root canal. I’m still eating soft foods for now. Which of course sent me looking for recipes – ah! the silver lining! Today’s recipe is from Everyday Food, Issue 89. It was just perfect. I’ve made it twice so far and plan to make it again this week.
These are not the dumplings my mother makes! I’ve never had dumplings like this before. They were so good! Making them was fun too. Scoop with two spoons and drop in the broth. Its way better than rolling the flour in your hands and getting all messy. 🙂
Today is Valentine’s Day and although I don’t celebrate it, I thought it would be awesome if I made something I’ve been wanting to make for a while now. A friend of mine made it and it was really nice and ever since, I keep seeing the recipe everywhere. It was a sign! So I did it. And it was FABULOUS. I swear, I ate my cupcakes in moderation. I will not swear the same for the frosting! My daughter ate the frosting and half a cupcake. She then refused to eat any other cupcake without frosting. Major meltdown if her frosting had no sprinkles. MAJOR.
Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
I’ll say this now – I will likely make these Red Velvet darlings once per year. Or maybe on a REALLY special occasion. No more than that. Perhaps this will be my Valentine’s Day treat for the family. I guess it’s better than nothing 🙂 It tastes great but oh my, could we use a bit more oil? Sugar? Please? I’m sure there’s a “light” version out there somewhere in cyberland. I’ll come across it eventually.
A general warning…don’t wear white or a light coloured shirt while making this recipe. Don’t say I didn’t tell you. I really ought to invest in an apron 🙂
Here’s the recipe and a few photographs. Cupcakes are awesome models.
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting - a treat for any special occasion
Author: Lyn
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
2½ Cups Cake Flour
1½ Cups Sugar
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 Tsp Salt
2 Large Eggs
1½ Cups Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Buttermilk (I used 1%)
2 Tbsp Liquid Red Food Coloring
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp White Vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz Cream Cheese (low-fat)
5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Confectioners Sugar
2 Tsp Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F
Prepare cupcake liners (Paper or Silicone)
In a medium bowl, add flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Combine with a whisk.
In a large bowl, add eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, red food coloring, sugar and vanilla. Combine with a hand-held mixer (or standing mixer if you have one)
Gradually add dry ingredients into the wet, mix until smooth consistency is achieved
Add batter into prepared cupcake liners
Bake for 18 minutes, rotating half way through
If a toothpick or sharp knife comes out clean after insertion, allow cupcakes to cool
For the frosting, combine cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth
Add Vanilla Extract, mix to combine
Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and mix until combined and smooth.
Lastly, add the lemon juice and give it one last mix to combine
Put frosting in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes
Red Velvet Heart Shaped Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Naked Red Velvet Cupcake
Uber moist Red Velvet Cupcake
So anyway, I had a great time photographing my cupcakes. Like my silicone hearts? Beats the reusable cupcake liners! There were only 12 in a pack so I used 12 paper liners also. Fact: The cream cheese frosting was the star of the show. It’s just so GOOD!
The GOODNESS of Cream Cheese Frosting
I won’t be doing much romancing today – no more than the usual (wink). But I’m sure I’ll be watching some romantic comedy or the other on television tonight with the husband. If you celebrate Valentine’s Day, have a good one. If you don’t celebrate, have a good one!
My children enjoy pancakes immensely. When I have time, I like to make what we call “special pancakes”. These are the pancakes that… don’t come from the freezer. Mommy gets the ingredients together, and lovingly prepares a variety of pancakes to everyone’s delight. Very special indeed! I experiment with pancake recipes to ensure that we are experiencing different tastes, and sometimes different textures too. I came across a recipe that made me so eager to try – Banana Bread Pancakes. Oh my goodness. So light and fluffy and banana filled. I did make a small change… I added Quinoa Flour. I went half and half with it. Good choice.
The itsy bitsy spider… climbed up the water spout…
Of all the bugs, they liked the spider. And so they sang while they waited for their pancakes.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
I can’t tell you how this little pancake griddle brought such delight to my children. I told them we were having “bug pancakes”. Somehow, they found that really, REALLY funny. The sound of your children’s laughter truly is a beautiful thing. Now every time I see this griddle, I’ll remember their smiles, and how much we enjoyed these mini-pancakes.
In a small bowl, add flours, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt. Whisk to combine
In a medium bowl, add buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla
Gently combine dry ingredients into the wet
Crush the banana with a fork, and fold into the batter
In a hot griddle, spray with cooking spray
Add ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle or pan
Cook until bubbles appear on the sides, about 1 minute or so untill golden brown
Flip and cook for another minute
Serve with maple syrup and/or fruits
Notes
I used a special pancake griddle that yielded mini-pancakes. I ended up with over 40 pancakes. If you are using a regular griddle, you will have less.
2.2.1
These pancakes were so delicious. I honestly did not need any syrup. The kids started to eat them without any syrup but half way through, they asked for it. I guess pancakes are supposed to have syrup on them. I look forward to making these again. Using the griddle did take more time, since the pancakes are smaller. Maybe next time I’ll use a regular griddle. Bigger pancakes 🙂
Banana Pancakes
Have a great weekend everyone! Make special pancakes! ~ Lyn
Hello friends! Can you believe it’s already February? Wow, time certainly flies. I’m looking forward to creating more recipes and working on my photography. How am I doing so far? I’m so excited for what this year has in store! My love for photography is never-ending! And apparently, its keeping a lot of folks quite hungry too 🙂
I picked up a loaf of whole-wheat homestyle bread at the supermarket and I couldn’t wait to dig into it. The thing is, when you buy a loaf of bread like this, you have to eat it all within a day or so of cutting it otherwise it will get hard. After that, the only thing it will be good for is breadcrumbs. And that’s not a bad thing ~ I’d just prefer to eat it :-). I thought it would be a good idea to make French Toast using lovely thick slices of fresh bread. Its a family favourite and its a change from the usual suspects around breakfast time. I used French Bread before to make French Toast. Do you remember that post? Here it is: Stuffed French Toast. That was some tasty toast! But time is always a factor in getting breakfast ready. So the traditional way was good for me this time around. The kids loved it and so did I!
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