Smoothie

This is an all-time favorite when I feel the need for a health boost.
Andrew and I have been fighting off colds this week. A fresh smoothie hit the spot!
All the ingredients you need: 1 ripe banana, a container of your desired yogurt (in this case, french vanilla), berries to your liking (a frozen mix offers variety on the cheap) and orange juice.
No ice necessary.
Break up banana into small pieces, scrape in yogurt, pour a splash of oj, sprinkle in some berries. Blend! The longer, the better.
Breaking up the banana beforehand helps since often I am left with big pieces of banana in my drink if I don't do that.
I am guilty of letting bananas rot on my counter far too often! Please, self, remember to peel them and break up into blender size pieces and freeze in a baggie.
My tester had a fit because he wanted strawberries. He was refusing a try so I snuck a taste into his mouth with my finger. He soon came around and highly approved! Later on he was asking for more when he saw these photos and had a fit that it was "all gone"! Good cheddar cheese and fresh berries were the cure for that.
He drank 1/3 of it= mommy happiness!
When I drank the rest, I was a tad annoyed with the seeds (primarily a problem with raspberries). So you may want to stick with a strawberry/blueberry blend. The possibilities are endless. Check out all the selections in the frozen fruit section at your supermarket. I noticed Yoplait makes frozen yogurt/fruit cubes that you just add milk to and blend! Pretty clever- but I wonder how much sugar are in those. Besides, fresh is almost always better!

Vegetarian Miso Soup

After a trip to Whole Foods and $12, we are ready to begin!

Additionally, you will need scallions and a carrot. We have scallions in the garden still- even though mostly wilted from the cold, they are good to use.
Peel and slice a small carrot on the diagonal. I happened to use 1/2 of a large carrot.
Simmer in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes.
Measure out a heaping tablespoon of wakame and soak in a bowl of cold water during that time.
When the carrots are done, drain the wakame in a small colander then dump in with the carrots. Cook on a simmer still, for a minute. Add chopped scallions and turn the heat off.

I opened up the miso and POW! Holy shout at you health statement!

Scoop out 1 1/2 tablespoons or so of miso (no exact measuring needed) and plop in a bowl. Use your spoon to scoop some broth in and create a paste by mixing it with the back of your spoon.
Pour the paste in and stir. While that sits, cut up some tofu in nice little 1/4" cubes.
Add to the soup and enjoy!
It was very good!
Next time I'm going to try Alton Brown's version.
He starts by making his own dashi (which includes fish flakes).
This NY Times article has me very excited about cooking with dashi!
Serves two big bowls.
Andrew the taste-tester tried all elements of the second bowl (he was napping when I made this) and enjoyed the miso broth, tofu and carrots. He did turn away from a heaping spoonful of wakame ;D.