Yummy Recipes

So Natalie is still in her Picky Toddler phase when it comes to food. But she's surprised me twice in 24 hours with what she'll eat.

It's been hot here. Not like "Oh, wow - it's kinda hot outside. I think I might wear shorts today" or "Oh, wow - it's kinda hot outside. I think I'll turn my AC on for a bit." Oh no. This kind of hot will make you feel like your skin is melting off, like your hair is burning to your scalp, like you'll lose 10 lbs from how much you sweat just by walking to your car. THAT kind of hot. And it's only June. (Have I mentioned that after 22 years of living here, I still haven't gotten used to the hot weather??)

So I'm trying to think of meals that aren't really heavy (or hot) to make the weather a little more tolerable. Enter Ina Garten (aka: The Barefoot Contessa). My mom told me about her gazpacho recipe, but, to be honest, it sounded like a big bowl of salsa (and, while I love salsa, I don't want to eat a bowl of it for dinner).

But I figured with this insane heat, I'd go ahead and try out this mysterious cold soup. And dude, let me tell you, it's fan-flippin-tastic. And - shock of all shocks - my uber picky toddler loved it! I fixed her a tiny bowl last night (and by "tiny", I mean one spoonful - I knew she wouldn't like it!), and she gobbled it up in a nanosecond. So I fixed her a bigger bowl and she gobbled that up too. Score for the Barefoot Contessa!

I'm on Day 2 of having a smoothie for breakfast. This recipe was given to me by a dear friend. I finally got the courage to make it (I've always been wary of smoothies - especially ones that have spinach in them). Verdict: It's delish!! And this morning, my nosy kid saw that I was drinking it. So she toddled up to me, reaching for my glass. I gave her some, and her eyes immediately opened up wide and she started licking her lips like crazy. So I'm all "Sweet, kid. Enjoy your spinach for breakfast! Ha! Point for mom!"

Here's the smoothie recipe (and be sure to blend the heck out of it. I made the mistake of not blending it enough yesterday and it was definitely, um, chewy)

• 1 cup light vanilla soy milk (vanilla soy milk will never see the inside of our house, so I use regular milk and a splash of vanilla extract)
  
• 1 container light banana cream pie yogurt (edited to add: really any flavor of yogurt works. I've used strawberry, blueberry, peach guava nectar [or something along those lines], and they're all tasty)
  
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• dash of agave nectar
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries

I let the frozen berries and spinach spend the night in the fridge so that my blender won't freak out the next morning. (My friend told me that frozen spinach can be really hard on a blender).

Happy eating!