Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Today the #SundayFunday bloggers are sharing recipes ahead of October 3rd's Global Smoothie Day. Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm is hosting and asked us to share a smoothie of our choosing. Here's the line-up... Karen’s Kitchen Stories: 30 Second Smoothie   A Day in the Life on the Farm: Banana Pumpkin Smoothie   Sneha’s Recipe: Mixed Fruit Smoothie   Palatable Pastime: Pumpkin Pie Smoothie   Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Strawberry Lemonade Smoothie Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Sweet-Tart Smoothie Bowl Now you can make smoothies that you serve with a straw. But I prefer to make smoothie bowls that I serve with a spoon. These are thicker than smoothies and a fun way to play with different toppings and textures. I make mine with frozen fruit and top it with fresh fruits and homemade granola. You can watch me make my Easy Granola on the CulinaryCam YouTube Channel . These smoothie bowls are easy to make, nutrient-dense, and so flexible to get creative. This...

Through one of my online book groups, I heard about Once Upon a Book Club . It sounded intriguing: you read a book and get to open little gifts to correspond with certain pages. Once Upon a Book Club I selected one of the previous months' boxes as a single purchase because I didn't want to get locked into a subscription without testing it out. As I mentioned, the concept was fascinating, but I wasn't sure about the implementation. On the Page I received  The Deepest Blue: Tales of Renthia  by Sarah Beth Durst* and four wrapped gifts with page numbers on them: 170, 237, 276, and 311. Okay, that seems fun. So, I dug in. Admittedly, fantasy isn't my usual genre of choice. And, even though it wasn't the 'young adult' box, the book felt 'young adult.' Mayara, an oyster diver, marries the love of her life, Kelo, and plans to continue as a diver while he sells his art. That is until she reveals her power over the spirits, then she ...

Just more proof that I really can't follow a recipe to save my life. I had written down a "recipe" for a green smoothie called 'The Stinger' from my 21-Day Detox group (read about my Detox and Team Level Zero Training plans). Then I made the smoothie. When I looked back at my scribbles, I wasn't even close. Whoops. But this left four empty glasses and requests for seconds. Winner! I have made a variation of this every morning this week. By 'variation' I mean: I might use different greens, different herb, or different fruit. But the proportions are the same. Oh, well...I don't even follow my own recipe very well! Ingredients 2 C unsweetened coconut water 1/2 to 3/4 C baby spinach 1 C green tipped banana, cut 1 C organic frozen rhubarb 1 C cucumber, cut and peeled if peel is bitter 1/2 jalapeno, seeds intact 1/4 C fresh mint juice from 1 organic lemon (we have a Meyer lemon tree, so I use those) 1 T hemp seeds Procedure Place ...

To go along with our Buttermilk Pumpkin Scones   this morning, I used the rest of my homemade pumpkin puree for some smoothies. Ingredients  serves 4 1-1/2 C pumpkin puree (how to make pumpkin puree:  version 1 ,  version 2 ) 1 C organic orange juice 1/2 C ice cubes 1 C plain yogurt dash of ground cinnamon dash of ground cardamom dash of ground nutmeg dash of ground ginger 1 T honey Procedure Blend everything together. Serve immediately.

I rarely use my blender because, well, it's a long story. It was the one and only time I've ever gotten up and gone to a Black Friday sale. I had seen this industrial blender advertised for a ridiculous discount and my blender had just died. I got it - before the sun was even thinking of peeking out -, brought it home, used it, and realized why it was marked down so far: the direction that is normally for 'tighten' is actually 'loosen' on this appliance. I have ended up with more puddles than anything else. But I've learned to adapt...and use a plastic tub to keep the messes contained. It's functional, but frustrating. One of these days I'll get around to getting another blender. Till then... Ingredients serves 4 2 ripe avocados 1 C coconut milk 1 C yogurt dash of ground cinnamon 1 T honey Procedure Blend everything together. Serve immediately.

We went to an event this morning - at the Hilton Bialek Habitat - that celebrated sustainable living. There was a bike-powered blender that we had to try! D couldn't quite reach the pedals, so I had to make our smoothie. What do you think? Get a workout and make your breakfast at the same time!?! These were blueberry, strawberry, banana, and apple juice. And they were tasty!

I wanted to use up the last of my olallies in a breakfast smoothie this morning. Set this in a container the night before and it's ready first thing in the morning 3/4 C chia seeds 4 C milk 4 T honey 3/4 C olallieberries (feel free to substitute for whatever berries you have on-hand) + some for garnishing Place the milk and honey in a large mixing bowl and whisk until the honey is dissolved - as much as possible. Stir in the chia seeds. Stir for at least a minute or two so that the seeds don't clump together too much. Stir in the berries; crush some against the side of the bowl to release their juice. Transfer to a container that you can seal. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, stir the smoothie. Add more honey if you need it a little bit sweeter. Garnish with more berrries. Serve cold.

So I had one last roasted beet - from my CSA box - and decided that I would whip it into a smoothie for breakfast. Dylan took a sip and asked, "Mommy, are there beets in here?" "Yes," I admitted. "Cool. Thanks for the smoothie." Love that kid! 1 peeled roasted beet 2 C frozen cherries 1 C plain frozen yogurt* 1/c milk season to taste with honey or ginger syrup *You could add any ice cream, but I like the Trader Joe's Brand "Plain Frozen Yogurt - Pleasantly Tart with Active Cultures." Yes, it actually has all of that on the carton.