Banana Oreo Milkshake

On Wednesdays, we wear pink.

Everyone in Africa can read Swedish.

Oh my god, Danny Devito! I love your work.

She doesn't even go here.

I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom.

Stop trying to make fetch happen!

**My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard**

Okay that last one is technically not a quote from "Mean Girls" but the song reminds me of the movie. And anytime I make a milkshake, I sing that song. Yes, I did that when I made this banana oreo milkshake. And if you ask me, I think it will bring all the boys to your yard. Or at least your kitchen.

Banana Oreo Milkshake 
Ingredients:
1 frozen banana, cut into chunks
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 double stuff Oreos

Directions:
Combine the banana chunks, milk, and yogurt in a blender. Pulse until fairly smooth. Add the Oreos and pulse until you reach your desired consistency.

Serves 1.

Kale Strawberry Smoothie

Let's talk crazy college traditions.

At Hope College we had the Pull, a giant tug-o-war competition, and Nykerk, a singing/acting/speaking competition. At Duke University, we had graduate student campout weekend and everything that revolves around being Cameron Crazies. At the University of Illinois, they have this thing called Unofficial. Apparently it was a tradition started in the mid 90s so that the students could celebrate St Patty's day early because the actual holiday fell on spring break. From my understanding, it is an excuse to dress in green, drink green beer and party like, well, college students. As a person outside of the student life on campus, I had no idea that Unofficial was today. So imagine my surprise when my boss's office assistant asks if I'm wearing my green shirt in honor of Unofficial. Oh boy. Nope, I just picked out this shirt this morning without any thought. So I spent the rest of the day just trying to hide my shirt from everyone and waiting to get home to the safety of my apartment before campus got to crazy tonight. It's funny how the further you are removed from the ungraduate students, the less appealing these traditions seem.

Did you participate in any crazy college events?

In honor of those UIUC students celebrating Unofficial today, I bring you this green smoothie. Not quite green beer but certainly a lot healthier for you-- chalked full of nutrients from fruit, yogurt and kale! I think kale green smoothies taste more "green" than spinach ones, so feel free to sub in a handful or two if you don't want a kale taste.

Kale Strawberry Smoothie
Ingredients:
10 strawberries, washed and halved
1/2 frozen banana
6 oz vanilla yogurt
5 pieces of kale, washed and thick stems removed
splash of fruit juice (as needed)

Directions:
Place the strawberries, banana, yogurt and kale in a blender. Pulse on high until smooth. If you are having trouble getting it smooth, add a splash of fruit juice (any kind you would like) and pulse again. Use the juice to thin the smoothie to the consistency you desire.

Grapefruit Green Smoothie

How long would you need to clean and de-clutter your house for a guest? Are you ready for someone to stop by right this second?


The other day I was talking with a couple of my friends about this exact topic. One of them is good friends with a girl who married a London native; apparently they live there now and she is expected to be ready for guests at less than a moment's notice. Like she dresses nicely and always has the table cleared off. I'm imagining she has cookies coming out of the oven and not a dirty dish in sight.

Is that you? If it is, do you want to be my live-in maid? I'll pay you with yummy food.

Maybe it is a cultural thing but the three of us Americans (I could totally be generalizing and please excuse or correct me if I'm wrong) agreed that we certainly need at least a day to really get ready for our guests. For me, it would require making sure all the dishes are cleaned, clearing off old magazines and mail from my kitchen table, giving my toilet and countertops a little scrub, and on most days, making my bed. It would also require the foresight to not come home and immediately change into sweatpants. If you were coming over, I'd probably bake you cookies too.

I promise I won't make you eat this green smoothie if you are frightened of putting spinach into a blender. But I do encourage you in the comfort of your own home, no matter how clean or messy it is, to give a green smoothie a chance. You've probably heard people rave about the nutritional properties and how you can't taste the spinach at all. I'd tell you those same things but you won't actually believe me until you try one. I went with grapefruit and banana and it was quite delicious. There are so many options just like with any smoothie that you can chose whichever fruit you enjoy the most. Try it out!


And I'm totally serious about the live-in maid thing.... any takers?

Grapefruit Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 grapefruit, peeled and segmented (with as much of the pith as you want)
1 fresh or frozen banana, sliced
2 cups fresh spinach
1/4 cup water
ice, approximately one handful

Directions:
Combine the grapefruit, banana, spinach and water in a blender. Pulse until smooth. Add ice and pulse again until you have the desired consistency.

Cranberry Smoothie

I was trying to decide if I wanted to call this a cranberry smoothie or a cranberry milkshake or simple frozen goodness of cranberries. I think technically milkshakes contain ice cream so I went with the smoothie. Fair warning it has a consistency of a milkshake though because of the Greek yogurt.

Did you purchase a couple extra bags of cranberries over the holidays because they were so cheap? I certainly did. Then I threw them in the freezer for an occasion such as this. When it was freezing cold outside (literally, ice is everywhere!) and I just needed a frozen drink. Wait. What? If you haven't figured out that I'm a little bit crazy yet then you haven't been reading my posts thoroughly enough. Anyway, this cranberry smoothie is super tart because of the Greek yogurt and the cranberries; you may want to add more honey than I did if you want something a little sweeter.

Cranberry Smoothie
Ingredients:
6 oz carton non-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 cup frozen cranberries
1/2 cup low fat milk
1 tbsp honey plus more to taste

Directions:
Combine everything in a blender. Pulse until smooth. Taste to see if you need extra sweetener and add as desired.