First, I’d like to share with you one of my favorite love notes…
I've been carrying this around for about a year. It kind of goes with my 18 saved voicemails from Matthew that span his life. I should record them somewhere else because I have to re-save them every 21 days.This is how I begin 99.9% of my smoothies---don't underestimate the power and value of good quality water! Also note that my blender is not 100% clean. I like to think my lack of scrubbing in between smoothies is an effort to save the environment via water conservation...Step 1 of the squash smoothie (this is butternut)Step 2 was to steam the squash till tender and refrigerate (I put it in the freezer for a couple hours too because I like to eat my smoothies out of a bowl...). Step 3 is to add 1.5 cups of the squash to the blender with 1 cup of local spring water.Action Shot! Blend, adding 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg...would have added cloves but I didn't have any. Also, add 1/4 cup local maple syrup, and any thickener of choice. I added raw vegan vanilla protein powder, but you could add a scoop of yogurt or nut butter to boost the creaminess. I bet 1/2 of an avocado would work too! Also add about 6 ice cubes and a splash of vanilla extract.I also added guar gum (a natural thickener) to make it more ice cream-y, but you could leave this out, especially if you'll be consuming it through a straw. This was really awesome! I'd recommend two things: (1) add more squash and (2) taste test it as you go so you can add the amount of spices that you like. I thought about just buying a "pumpkin pie spice" but it didn't happen---and I'm leery of irradiated spices so all of mine are organic or ground by moi.
I’m going to make this again today and use extra squash—it could be squashy-er if you ask me. Last week when I was contemplating making this smoothie, my mom told me her grandmother used to make squash pies and tell everyone they were pumpkin…no one knew the difference!
Other things I’m loving this week:
Golden Beets! Local, of course...thank you Abundance Co-op.Figs---not local, but still good, especially with goat cheese.Romaine, beet, fig, goat cheese salad with balsamic/walnut oil/local honey dressing. I'll admit I also added a handful of multigrain cereal on the top for the "crouton" effect---success. Joe wouldn't eat it--he doesn't like to waste being full on a salad. His loss!
Joe is on a kick of making his own red sauce—suggested by none other than Runner’s World magazine. He has loaded his sauce with veggies—yesterday was mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, onion, garlic. So it wasn’t a salad, but he probably ate more veggies than I did on his whole grain pasta.
I’ll let you know how Squash Smoothie Two goes… Have you ever put anything “weird” into a smoothie? (PETRA)
451 thoughts on “Almost Local Smoothie — Squash!?!?”
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