Green Smoothie~ Spinach and banana!

Recently, I have started a diet that significantly reduced the amount of simple carbohydrate and processed food I eat (the result of watching Fat, Sick, and nearly Dead via Netflix).  During the day, I try to have at least one smoothie meal which would contain some kind of dairy, fruits and/or veggies.  I saw this awesome awesome recipe today, so I tested it out:

The original recipe called for:

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

• 1.5T creamy peanut butter
• 1/2c milk of choice
• 1/2c plain yogurt
• 1 medium frozen banana
• 3-4c loosely packed spinach
• 1/2t cinnamon [opt]
• 1/4t vanilla extract [opt]

In order to make it healthier, I took .5T of peanut butter and used non-fat greek yogurt instead.  I did not add any vanilla extract (meh! >.<) but did add a little bit of cinnamon.  

Here's the result!

SUPER DELICIOUS SMOOTHIE!!! Kitty approves~ :3  It didn't taste like spinach at all even though I added a ton of it in there.

Enjoy!
Mimi

Stu's Birthday - blue/black berry cheesecake

Summer is a good time to have lots of fresh berries.  Since my boyfriend's birthday is in the summer, I decided to bake him something that would be yummy and also reflect the wonderful season.  I went to a local farmer's market, and picked up some fresh blueberries and blackberries, they were all large in size and super sweet.

When I was surfing the web for a recipe, there was one that featured a Yogurt Cheesecake with Shortbread Crust that caught my eyes.  Since I'm not a very experienced baker, I decided to make the recipe simpler and use the berries I purchased instead of orange.

The original recipe can be found HERE.

Here's my modification:

For the Crust

1. one and half bags of graham crackers (about 1 and 1/2 cups) crushed in a plastic bag.

2. 6 tbsp melted butter mixed in with the crust.  

3. Bake the crust for 8 to 10 min in 350degree F. oven.

For the Filling

1. Three- 8 oz. packages of cream cheese

2. 1 1/8 cup sugar

3. 5 large eggs

4. 1 ½ cups plain Greek yogurt

5. 2 tsp. vanilla extract

6. 3 Tb. flour

7. Pinch of salt

8. several crushed blackberries and blueberries.  

The process of making the filling was basically exactly the same as the original one, I just added some juice from the crushed blackberries and blueberries to add some swirls (>.<; first time doing the swirls...they are harder to do than they look).

The baking process!!!

Anyhow, here's the result!

As you can see, the swirls didn't turn out well.  I attempted to make some of the berry juice into hearts.

After letting the cheesecake cool for about an entire night in the fridge, I placed a ton of berries on top of it to hide some of the ugly swirls. haha ^^;

Here's the Final product!!

Haha, I think they turned out quite beautifully, and tasted amazing!!!  Special thanks to Kathryn and Mom who helped me make this cake!!!

Hope you liked the pictures!! 

Mimi