Vanilla Cranberry Smoothie

This recipe accidently happened yesterday. It was super delish and my family loved it. Don't the best recipes often happen when you're just throwing stuff together?

1 small carton vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup frozen cranberries
about 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup pineapple juice
3 rings pineapple
1 frozen banana
juice from 1/2 lemon
4-6 cubes ice
sweeten to taste with agave nectar, honey or sugar

Blend and enjoy!

Valentine's Breakfast

So this year for Valentine's I made a breakfast for Daniel and Zachary (I was really proud, seeing as I just don't cook these days). I was inspired from a picture I saw to make heart-shaped English Muffins. Then I turned them into heart-shaped egg and bacon McMuffins. They were cool and it was fun to make the English Muffins. I also made a fruit smoothie that was awesome tasting. I would drink it every morning if I could.

English Muffins

This recipe is from Beth Hensperger's The Bread Bible. They don't taste like English Muffins from the store, but neither does homemade bread :) They are really good just off the griddle.

1/4 c warm water

1 TB yeast

Pinch sugar

4-4 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

1 large egg

1 1/4 cups warm milk

2 TB butter, melted

Cornmeal

1. Pour water in small bowl. Stir in yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy.

2. In a large bowl (not the Bosch, there is too little dough unless you double the recipe) place 2 cups flour and salt and make a well. Add egg, milk, buter and yeast mixture. Beat until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add remaining flour, 1/2 c at a time until soft dough is formed.

3. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and springy, about 3 minutes. The softer the dough, the lighter the muffin.

4. Place dough in greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, let rise until double.

5. Lightly sprinkle surface with cornmeal. Deflate dough and roll into a 1/2" thick rectangle. Cut muffins out with a 2 1/2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter or drinking glass (or heart-shaped cookie cutter). Roll out trimmings and cut out more muffins.

6. Preheat griddle to 325-350 degrees. When heated, lightly grease surface.

7. Immediately place muffins on griddle. Cook for about 10 minutes on each side, turning when quite brown. They take a while to cook and will puff up while cooking.

Fruit Smoothie

Recipe from Ina Garten (foodnetwork.com)

1 1/2 c freshly squeezed orange juice (I also put orange pulp that is leftover on the juicer into the smoothie)

1 c strawberries

1 TB fresh lime juice

1 or 1 1/2 bananas, frozen

Honey to taste

Place in blender and process until smooth. Sweeten with honey if needed. Tasty.