Banana Berry Smoothie and Cherry Cobbler

Hello,

Well as some of you know I went to the dentist today and had my root canal.  Ugh!  I don’t know what is worse, the 4 hours it took for the Novocaine to wear off or the actual root canal.  My mouth is so sore, he was pulling on my lips and everything, I think my front tooth is more sore then the tooth he worked on.  I’m just glad it’s over with.

The worse thing about the whole experience is that I was hungry afterwards and I couldn’t eat due to the Novocaine, then when it finally wore off, I realized everything in my house is crunchy!  I love crunchy foods and nothing was smooth and easy.  Last night I thought I was prepared with my 32 oz container of greek yogurt from Trader Joe’s only to find out when I ripped the seal off it was moldy.  How does that happen?  It didn’t expire until February 7th.  So disappointing.  needless to say I’ll be back to TJ’s tonight to get more!  I love TJ’s stuff but sometimes the food expires before the expiration date.  Does that ever happen to you?

So I dug through my refrigerator and found frozen berries in the freezer and I had a banana on the counter so I made an easy tasty smoothie.  I was so hungry I just had to eat something.

I personally love eating smoothies with a spoon, it takes longer to eat/drink.  Otherwise with a straw I just suck it down to fast!  This probably took me a whole 5 minutes to eat!  Glad to know it was filling!

It seems lately that all the rage is smoothies.  In this months Shape magazine they have about 4 pages dedicated to smoothies, which I plan on trying.  This one was so good, it reminded me of summer.  Then afterwards I ate a spoonful of peanut butter.  I need protein and healthy fats from somewhere, right?  Ok, I don’t need to explain myself, there is no excuses to eat peanut butter, it’s just good!!  My friend always tells me to stop making excuses and just say because you want to!  So on this one I just want to eat a heaping spoonful of peanut buttery goodness!

Normally I write my blog in the evening, after dinner, and if I make a new or good dinner I’ll post that, but since I plan on grocery shopping tonight, I won’t have time to write and I plan on making some hearty soup, which I’ll most likely share with you tomorrow, if it turns out.  It’s another one of my creations.

Banana Berry Smoothie

1 medium banana

5 strawberries, frozen

1/3 cup mixed berries, frozen

1/3 cup water

Directions:

Place everything in a blender and process.

Makes 1.5 cups

Calories for the whole smoothie:  156,  Fat:  .07.  Sodium:  3.9,  Potassium:  545,  Carbs:  39.8,  Fiber:  5.6,  Sugar:  22.3,  Protein:  1.7

To get more protein, next time I plan on cutting my banana portion to half and adding about 1/2 cup of greek yogurt.  Dam TJ’s with there bad yogurt!!

I debated on showing you the next dessert I made this week, only because the pictures don’t look super great!  But the taste, oh the taste is so good!  Do you like cherry cobbler?  I do!  But I don’t like the calories, but this recipe, has under 100!  You gotta love that!

Here’s the first picture, kind of funny looking when it comes out of the oven.

Yah, I know what your thinking, but look at whats hidden under that brown exterior.

Big old chunky cherries!  Then you mix it up, add some fat free whip cream and you have this.

Looks a little better.  This is a great little dish for portion control.  I made 4 of these and yes, I ate them all, but not at one time, one a day.  No one in my family likes cherries.  I don’t understand?  I bought my cherries in the frozen department from Target (Market Pantry Brand), there in a 12oz bag, dark, pitted cherries.  I usually like t have two bags in my freezer at all times, but right now I have none.  🙁  Time to stock up!

Cherry Cobbler

Ingredients:

12 ounces cherries, unsweetened pitted dark, frozen package

1/4 cups water

2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 tsp. almond extract

3 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour

2 tablespoon cornmeal

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon allspice, ground, or nutmeg

4 teaspoon butter (I used brumble and brown)

2 tablespoon refrigerated or 1 egg white

2 tablespoon milk, fat-free

Directions:

For filling, in a medium saucepan, combine cherries, the water, almond extract and the cornstarch. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile,preheat oven to 400°F. For biscuit topping, in a medium bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, the baking powder, salt, and allspice or nutmeg. Using a pastry blender or 2 table knives, cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of cornmeal mixture. Set aside.

Cook and stir the filling over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Divide fruit mixture among four 6-ounce custard cups or individual baking dishes.

In a small bowl, stir together the egg product and milk.  Add the egg mixture all at once to the cornmeal mixture. Using a fork, stir just until moistened. Immediately spoon a mound of the biscuit topping on top of the hot filling in each custard cup or baking dish.  NOTE:  I had left over biscuit topping

Bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in topping comes out clean. Serve warm.

Tips:  I place the leftovers in the fridge and microwaved for 30 seconds to get it all nice and warm again!

Makes 4 servings

Calories per serving:  98,  Fat:  1.5,   Cholesterol:  0,  Sodium:  176,  Potassium:  16,  Carbs:  23,  Fiber:  2.7,   Sugar:  17,  Protein:    2

Sorry for the not so great pictures of the cobbler, but really it tastes so good!  Well I am off to make some soup for dinner, not much in the cupboard but I think I have the ingredients to make my special quick soup!

Have a great Saturday!!