Category Archives: Beverages

El Submarino-Argentinian Hot Chocolate

The tree is up, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care and we went and did a little drive by of our new favorite neighborhood house that is decorated beyond the norm. Then we came home and had some Argentinian hot chocolate…warm, chocolately goodness that only uses four ingredients and is SUPER easy.

Ingredients:
4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces bars of good quality dark chocolate broken into 1 ounce pieces

Instructions:
Pour the milk into a saucepan. Stir in the sugar and the vanilla.

Heat milk until it is just about to boil. Remove from heat and divide milk into 4 mugs. Serve each mug with a piece of the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted.

What did the family think? It is SOOOO good! Why would anyone EVER drink hot chocolate from a powdery packet after drinking this goodness?

Where did this recipe come from? My friend Jess told me about this delicious winter beverage

photo from about.com

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Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothies and Popsicles

I have been following Catherine Newman ever since I read her book Waiting for Birdy. (If you are a parent with little people at home you will LOVE this book. Trust me.) So even though we may not have super little people in our house anymore, I am still stalking following her because of her fantastic recipes. It’s been a while since I have made something from her blog, but this makes up for the wait. These are SOOOOO good! We made them into smoothies and popsicles and they were FANTASTIC both ways! I bet you could make them with blueberries, too.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh or frozen strawberries
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (or plain or strawberry yogurt…we used plain Greek)
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup milk
3 ice cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 T Agave syrup or another sweetener, to taste (we made some with and some without…some of us liked it better with the agave syrup and some of us liked it better without)

Instructions:
Put everything in a blender and mix until well blended.

What did the family think? Love, love and more love!

Where did this recipe come from? Ben and Birdy

photo courtesy of the resident 3rd grader

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Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie

I love trying new smoothie recipes, so when I saw this one over at The Gracious Pantry, I knew I had to try it. I love it because it has a fruit, a veggie, protein and dairy.

Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (I used unsweetened soy milk)
1 cup spinach
1 banana
1 T peanut butter, no sugar added
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:
Blend together and enjoy.

What did the family think? I am the only one who’s had this, but I will tell you it’s very yummy. If you’re afraid of it tasting too spinachy, don’t worry. All you taste is the peanut butter and banana.

Where did this recipe come from? The Gracious Pantry

photo from Urban Chickpea

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Filed under After School Snacks, Beverages, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

Pineapple and Strawberry Smoothie

Both strawberries and pineapples were buy one get one free at the store this week, which is awesome, but now I have a lot of pineapple and strawberries and I have to figure out what to do with all of them before they go bad. This was part of our breakfast yesterday…it’s a great way to use produce and a great way to get a bunch of fruit into your kids (and you) all at once.

Ingredients:
6 oz. low-fat vanilla or plain yogurt
1 large banana
1/2 cup chopped pineapple
1/2 cup strawberries
2-3 tbsp. ground flax seed
1/4 cup milk

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Process until thick and smooth.

Add more milk if it’s too thick.

What did the family think? Only three of us were home when I made these, but we all liked it.

Did I change anything? This isn’t going to come out super cold. Blend some ice in too if you want it colder.

Where did this recipe come from? adapted from a recipe at Annie’s Eats

photo from Kelsey’s Apple a Day

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Filed under After School Snacks, Beverages, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

Vanilla Berry Granola Smoothie

I know your are thinking to yourself…goodness gracious, does she eat nothing but granola and smoothies? I know there’s been a lot of the two on MommaCooks lately, but aren’t granola and smoothies yummy? Wait, what if we could combine the two? Breakfast nirvana!

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup granola
4 tbsp wheat germ
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup FROZEN blueberries

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Pulse on the ice crush option until the berries are mostly blended, then put on puree for about 2 minutes or until smooth.

What did the family think? I am the only one who has had this one so far, but I think they’ll like it. The kids have started having smoothies for their bedtime snack, so I might have to introduce this one tonight.

Did I change anything? No, but I think the next time I make this one I might add half a banana or maybe a whole banana so that it’s thicker.

Where did this recipe come from? SparkRecipes

photo from The Everyday Veggie

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Blueberry, Flax and Spinach Smoothie

STOP! Don’t give up on this smoothie just because it has spinach in it. I PROMISE you that you will not only not see the spinach once you get it all blended up, but you won’t taste it either and with a combo of all of these powerhouse foods in one smoothie you KNOW it’s going to be good for you. What else is awesome is that you can keep some frozen spinach and frozen blueberries on hand so that you can make this anytime. This is so good for you and it tastes good too. Try it, just once for me, pretty please.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk (soy, skim…whatever you’ve got)
1/2 cup fresh spinach (small handful, sub 1/8-1/4 cup frozen)
1 banana
1 teaspoon flax seed meal

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Pulse on the ice crush option until the berries are mostly blended, then put on puree for about 2 minutes or until smooth.

What did the family think? I am the only one who has had this, but it was SO good! I know the boys will like it too if I don’t tell them about the spinach because who really wants to drink spinach.

Where did this recipe come from? Food.com

photo from Brandy Gerard

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Filed under After School Snacks, Beverages, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

Tropical Coconut and Pineapple Smoothie

The day before school started last week we ventured out to our local science museum and ended up eating lunch there as well. Since our house has turned into a smoothie shop, my oldest made a beeline for their smoothies that were all lined up and packed in ice on the counter next to the stir-fry line. I am so glad I let him get it. Not only was it super tasty, but there was enough for all of us to share.

Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 banana, sliced
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 T honey
1 cup vanilla yogurt

Instructions:
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

What did the family think? Yum!

Where did this recipe come from? It was inspired by the coconut smoothie we had at our local science museum.

photo from Make and Takes

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Filed under After School Snacks, Beverages, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

Blueberry Smoothie

MommaCooks it starting to turn into the the smoothie/breakfast blog…we’ve been making a lot of smoothies around here this week. The boys had this one for a before bed snack last night and for breakfast this morning.

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 single-serving containers yogurt (we used blueberry one time and orange passion fruit the next)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup oatmeal

Instructions:
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

What did the family think? Yum. (Except for all the blueberry pieces that got stuck in their teeth.)

Where did this recipe come from? The boys wanted smoothies and the cupboard was getting bare. I threw in the oatmeal because Jaime Oliver has a smoothie recipe that includes oatmeal.

photo from CCRecipe

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie

I have been working on finding some new, relatively quick and healthy breakfast recipes this past week since the school year will be starting in less than two weeks. It’s also important that they have some protein in them to keep my oldest’s belly full since I am pretty sure that he will be eating lunch pretty late this year. This recipe meets all of those criteria!

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons jelly/jam/preserves (we used blueberry)
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 banana, sliced
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons wheat germ (if you have it)

Instructions:
Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth.

What did the family think? Three of us tried it and we all liked it. My kids love PB & J so it was fun to be able to drink one and call it breakfast.

Where did this recipe come from? A local restaurant has these on their menu, so I have been wanting to make one at home for a while. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

photo from The Feeding Family

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Fruity Breakfast Smoothie

There is not an exact science as to how we make these, but they are pretty popular around here. Sometimes we have them with breakfast and sometimes they are just a healthy snack. Last night we had them for dessert.

Ingredients:
1 banana (about a 1/2 cup)
6 oz yogurt (your favorite flavor, we usually use strawberry or blueberry)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice

Instructions:
Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

What did the family think? I like these and so does our oldest. They are too fruity for my hubby and our youngest does like these, but usually opts for something else for breakfast instead.

Where did recipe come from? Me

Smoothie with Breakfast Sushi…that recipe’s coming tomorrow!
Photo by Me

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Filed under After School Snacks, Beverages, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian