Tag: breakfast

Pear Ginger & Oat Smoothie

I’m always so inspired when I see people posting pics of their green detox smoothies and drinks. It makes me want to go out and buy a juicer. Today, my sister in law took me to an amazing smoothie bar on the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk. They make a mixture called Thank God Juice which includes a combination of spinach, kale, collard greens, parsley, celery, fennel and romaine. You can add Thank G-d juice to any other juice flavors, or drink it straight-up. I’m the type that needs to hide the greens in my smoothies so I added apple, beet and carrot juice.

Since I don’t yet have a juicer, blended smoothies are all I can make – but they can be just as healthy and delicious! I love adding oats to my smoothies – they turn a fruity drink into an all out breakfast. Ginger adds great flavor and brightness, not to mention various health benefits.

What are some of your favorite juice or smoothie combinations? Share it with me in the comments below!

Pear Ginger & Oat Smoothie

1 ripe bartlett pear, cored
1 frozen banana
1/3 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp freshly grated ginger (or, to taste)

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Other Smoothie Drinks:

pumpkin pie smoothie
tropical fruit smoothie
persimmon yogurt smoothie
banana, dates, milk & honey smoothie

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Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes with Cranberry Syrup


I bet you didn’t think it could get any better than good old pumpkin pancakes. How about pumpkin ricotta pancakes with some cranberry maple syrup to top it off? Thanksgiving heaven, wouldn’t you say? This is fair warning: you might want to get yourself some tissues. There’s going to be some drool involved.


I love pancakes. Any flavor suits my fancy. Blueberry corn and Speculoos Spiced are favorites, but gimme some cheese and I call ’em latkes. These old cheese latkes with raspberry sauce were my idea of a deconstructed donut. This year, I decided to get into the Thanksgivukkah spirit with some pumpkin flavored pancakes with a generous dose of ricotta and autumn spices. Whip ’em up on Chanukah or Thanksgiving morning – better yet – lunch, or even dinner (I am not beyond eating pancakes for dinner)…


I’m gonna go all Pioneer-Woman on you and throw in some extra photos for your drooling pleasure. I don’t know what was better, getting to eat these, or photographing them. They almost look too good to eat, don’t they?


Go ahead, dig in. These babies won’t last long…


Now open up WIDE, there’s a mouthful of flavor on that fork…


Be generous. Slather on that buttery goodness…

Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes

3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 c brown sugar
8 oz. ricotta cheese
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of ginger
pinch of cloves
butter, oil or cooking spray, for frying

Method:

Add the eggs, milk, brown sugar, ricotta, pumpkin and vanilla to a bowl and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated, but still slightly lumpy. Heat a skillet and grease with butter or oil. Add 1/4 cup of batter and fry until golden brown on both sides. Continue with remaining batter, adding additional butter or oil, as needed.

Nothing goes together quite like pumpkin and cranberries – two fall favorites that complement each other like yin and yang. There’s also no better topping for pancakes than pure sweet maple syrup. Why not combine the  two to make cranberry maple syrup over pumpkinlicious pancakes – a perfect pairing for the autumn holidays!

Cranberry Maple Syrup

1 cup maple syrup
1 cup cranberries
1 cinnamon stick
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp lemon zest

Method:

Add all ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, until cranberries burst, about 10 minutes. Crush the cranberries with a fork or spatula and continue to simmer until thickened, 5-10 minutes.

Related Posts:

cheese latkes with raspberry sauce
healthy baked pumpkin oatmeal
pumpkin banana bread

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Chewy Date Granola Bars


I love a good snack. One that’s sweet and chewy and wrapped in bakery twine. I’ve wanted to develop a recipe for homemade granola bars for the longest time, but I also wanted them to be somewhat healthy. My latest infatuation with coconut oil helped me bring all the components together (quite literally) – for a sweet and tasty bite. Wrap these chewy guys up in parchment paper, and throw them in your bag for the perfect healthy snack on the go.

Chewy Date Granola Bars

3/4 c white whole wheat flour
3/4 c oats
1/3 c shredded coconut
1/3 c ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 tbsp pure maple syrup
3/4 c brown sugar
4 tbsp solidified coconut oil
1/2 c sliced almonds
8 medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped

Method:

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix with your hands to form a dough. Grease an 8″x8″ baking dish with coconut oil and add the mixture, pressing down on it to condense. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until browned around the edges. Cool and cut into bars. For a crunchier texture, bake an additional 15-20 minutes.

VARIATION: For no-bake, raw granola bars, you may substitute 3/4 cup oat flour for the whole wheat (just add oats to the food processor and blend until flour consistency).  Toast the nuts and oats in the oven at 350 degrees and set aside to cool. Press ingredients into the baking dish and slice. No baking required.

1 year ago: roasted chickpeas
2 years ago: healthy baked pumpkin oatmeal

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Speculoos Pancakes

If you’ve read this post, you know all about my (not so) little obsession with speculoos cookies right now. My Lotus cookie cinnamon buns with speculoos cream cheese frosting were a huge hit, and I received several emails from readers who made them to rave reviews. After making 2 batches of speculoos chex party mix (recipe coming up soon!) I was running low on my spiced shortcrust biscuit stash, with only about 10 of them left (cookies, not packages…I’m not THAT crazy).

I pulsed the cookies into crumbs, leaving me with just about a half cup of golden delicious speculoos “flour”. It was Sunday morning, and what better way to use it, than in pancakes. The hint of speculoos spice paired so perfectly with butter and maple syrup that my kids kept asking for more. The pancakes were gone before you could say speculoos.

Forgive the load of pictures here, but do you see what I see? Butter. Pure Maple Syrup. Speculoos-scented pillows of fluff. I can drool over these all day.

What am I gonna do now that I’m out of speculoos cookies?!

P.S. If you live under a rock and you STILL don’t know what speculoos is, you can read all about it in this post.

Speculoos Pancakes

1/2 cup speculoos cookie crumbs (from approximately 8 cookies)
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted
butter, for frying

Method:

Pulse speculoos cookies (I used Lotus caramelized biscuits) in a food processor or blender until crumby.

In a bowl, whisk the speculoos cookie crumbs, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, light beat the eggs and add milk and butter, mixing lightly to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together with a fork until the batter is slightly lumpy.

Heat a nonstick skillet and grease lightly with melted butter or oil. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter into the skillet and cook until bubbles appear. Flip the pancake and cook on the other side, until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Yields approximately 12 pancakes.

1 year ago: kid-friendly dirty rice
2 years ago: quick, easy & tasty chicken

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Tropical Fruit Smoothie

Technically it’s only been about a week and a half since my last post, but somehow it feels like an eternity. Thankfully, the weather has FINALLY turned around here in Brooklyn, and the sun is starting to peak through the clouds. With the warm weather making it’s entrance, it’s time to lighten up our menu’s and keep things simple and healthy before summer comes around. Smoothie’s are a great start!

Most of the time, I tend to skip breakfast altogether as I don’t have much of an appetite in the morning. With smoothies being ice cold and refreshing, I’m able to get in some nutrients without feeling like I’m filling up too much. This tropical fruit smoothie is one of my favorite blends. It’s just so refreshing!

Some of my other favorite smoothie combinations include:

banana+dates+almond milk + honey
persismmon + yogurt + cinnamon/nutmeg + honey
peaches+oatmeal+vanilla+milk+agave
avocado+raspberries+pomegranate juice
kale+kiwi+banana+orange juice

What are some of your favorites? Share them with me in the comments below!

Tropical Fruit Smoothie

1 large ripe banana
8 strawberries
1/2 cup canned pineapple*
1/2 cup coconut milk
pineapple juice, for consistency

Method:

Add banana, strawberries, pineapple and coconut milk to a blender and puree until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add pineapple juice (from the canned pineapple) until you reach desired consistency.

*Look for canned pineapple in 100% pineapple juice instead of a sweetened syrup.

TIP: Instead of adding ice cubes (which water down your smoothie), use prefrozen leftover bananas or frozen strawberries instead.


1 year ago: pepper steak with plum sauce
2 years ago: sesame linguini with marinated chicken breast

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