World's Easiest Guacamole - And How to Prevent Avocados From Turning Brown

I found these delicious mini avocados for only $0.20 each at a local produce stand, so we get to indulge in guacamole tonight with dinner.  (Avocados are a healthy fat- but it is still a lot of fat, so guacamole is an indulgence to be enjoyed in moderation.)  This is not so much a recipe for guacamole as a quick tip on how to make it if you don't have all the ingredients.  Here's what you need: Avocados, and your favorite salsa.  Yep- that's it!  There are many good guacamole recipes out there, but for when you don't have the ingredients or don't want to buy them, this works great!

World's Easiest Guacamole
2 large Avocados (or 3-4 small ones)
2-3 TBS of your favorite salsa (homemade is great, but store bought will do.)
Salt to taste (I like pink Himalayan Sea Salt)

Cut avocados in half, then use your knife to pop out the pit, setting it aside.  And you don't really need one of those nifty tools to get the flesh out of the avocado, just cut it in quarters and use your fingers to seperate the peel from the flesh.

You can dice the avocados, or toss the quarters into your blender or food processor.

Add salsa, season with salt, then either blend, or mash with a fork.  Done!  How easy is that?

And here is an old family secret... do you know how to prevent your guacamole from turning brown?  Most people recommend adding an acidic agent like lime juice- which does help, and tastes good too, so feel free to do it.  But here's my method... just leave the pit in it!  Yeah, I know, too easy right?  But it does the trick every time!

Just stir the pit down into your guacamole and set it out to enjoy with chips, or even better, sliced veggies.  (Carrot sticks, sliced bell peppers, cucumbers, jicama... so many choices!)

Enjoy!

Coconut Protein Smoothie

Have you seen these young coconuts, or baby coconuts in stores, but wondered what to do with them?  They are full of fresh coconut water, which is supposed to be great for you!  I am no nutritionist, but there is a lot of information online on the health benefits of coconut water and coconuts in general.  (I don't want to make any unfounded claims, but you can Google "Health Benefits of Coconut Water" to find dozens listed!)

I just know that they are delicious, and supposed to be good for you.  If you have not seen these fabulous little coconuts in your store, they are often sold in Health Food stores or Asia markets.  In my area, (Tacoma, WA) I have had good luck at H-Mark, Pal-Do World Market, and the East Asia Market.  You can also find them often at stores like Marlene's Market or Whole Foods, but they tend to be less expensive at Asian markets.  I usually pay around $0.99 to $1.49 per coconut.

Once you bring one of these babies home  though, what do you do with it?  That question has stopped many people from trying them!  Once you get the hang of getting them open, they are actually pretty easy.

The pointy end is the top, and this is where you will open it.  Lay it on it's side, and use a knife to shave off the husk left around the top.

Next, being very careful, use the heel of a large knife and tap around the top of the coconut until you find the spot where it open easily.  (Here is a good You Tube Video, if you are a visual learner- and no, that's not me, it's just a video I found online)

Once you find the right spot, the top should just pop open with a twist of your knife.

You can see, a good coconut is full to the brim with coconut water.  When choosing a coconut, choose one that feels heavy for it's size, and does not slosh.  If you can hear sloshing, it is not full, and may be old and dried up.  Also, if you see any purple discoloration, it means that the coconut is old.

Pour the coconut water into a blender.  You should get anywhere from 8-12 ounces of water from one young coconut.

Then using a spoon, scrape out the coconut meat, and add it to the blender as well.  The young coconut meat is soft, wet, and gelatinous, not firm and dry like that of a mature coconut.  You might not actually get much meat, but that is okay.  (Don't worry about a little brown skin from inside the coconut sticking to the meat- it's not a problem.)

You can blend coconut water and meat up with pretty much any smoothie you like, but here is my favorite recipe.

Coconut Protein Smoothie
1 baby coconut
pinch of salt
2 pitted dates
4 ice cubes

Optional Add-Ins
1 scoop protein powder (I like vanilla, but unflavored, or chocolate is also good.)
1 TBS chia seeds
Handful of spinach or kale

Add all the ingredients to a blender in the order listed.  In a Blendtec, select Smoothie or Ice Crush, or process in any other blender.

mmm... you can add lots of other ingredients, but I love the mellow flavor of the pure baby coconut.  And- as a side note- if you do use protein powder, be picky about what kid you get, I have tried many, and the wrong one can ruin any smoothie.  I love the Whole Foods Shake from Vitacost... it is affordable, delicious  and packed with vitamins and whole foods goodness!  Click below to check it out!

Instant Soup

When I think of instant soup, it usually involves a can, or maybe a cup of noodles, but this quick easy recipe from Blendtec is awesome!  I made this for lunch the other day, and in under 10 minutes, I had delicious soup ready to go.

Just assemble all the ingredients in the order listed in the recipe, add warm water, and blend it up!

Healthy, easy, and delicious!  You can't beat that!

Crazy Healthy Cilantro Lime Dressing

I have been wanting to create a homemade version of Cilantro Lime Dressing since I sampled some at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago.  When I searched for a recipe though, everything I found contained a lot of oil or mayonnaise .. not things I want in my dressing.  So, I started from scratch, trying to figure out how to get a tangy, creamy dressing using only ingredients that I love and feel good about.

This one is a winner.  It gets creaminess from soy milk and avocado, green goodness from cilantro and kale, and an extra boost of omega-3's and fiber from the chia seeds. My 14-month old baby actually ate this whole bowl of it with a spoon as soon as it was ready!  There are not many salad dressings I would let her eat like that, but I think this one is okay.

Crazy Healthy Cilantro Lime Dressing
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1/2 avocado
1/3 to 1/2 bunch cilantro sprigs (stems and leaves)
1 leaf kale
Juice of 1 lime
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 TBS chia seeds
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to blender in the order listed.  In a Blendtec, select "Dressings" or blend in other blender.

Feel free to adjust the seasonings to fit your personal tastes.  Serve it as a salad dressing, put it on tacos in place of sour cream, use it to dip your veggies, or eat it by the spoonful...the possibilities are endless.

I put mine is this handy squirt bottle, then it's easy to dress your salad, even decorate a plate!

We had romaine lettuce, black beans, avocado, and roma tomatoes with this dressing for dinner.  Yum!

Pineapple!

Yum!  Pineapple was on sale this week at QFC!

 I love pineapple in my smoothies... and in curry... and for snacking... so I decided to stock up.  I cleaned one to eat fresh, and put the rest in the freezer for later.  Frozen pineapple will be great for green smoothies.

When you are cleaning pineapple to eat, most people cut out the hard core in the center, because it's a little hard to chew... but when you are blending pineapple for a smoothie, there is no need, it adds lots of great fiber!  Just peel it, chop it in chunks, and throw it all in.

Here is one of my favorite pineapple smoothies recipes (adapted from the Blendtec cookbook.)

Green Pineapple Paradise

3/4 cup water (or coconut water)

2 cups pineapple chunks

1/2 medium ripe avocado

2 cups spinach

1/2 cups ice cubes

Optional Add-Ins

1 TBS chia seeds

1 scoop vanilla or unflavored protein powder

Add ingredients to blender jar in order listed.  In a Blendtec, select "Smoothie" or blend in other high powered blender.

all the ingredients... ready to go...

mmm... delicious!  Enjoy!