Peppermint Vanilla Ice Blended Drink

My favorite coffee shop is The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Love them!

I'm not a coffee drinker, you see.  What is a girl to do in this age of coffee drinking, coffee shop going people?  MGG is a coffee-aholic...so we visit Starbuks often.  Not my 1st choice mind you, since they don't have many drinks that are not coffee flavored.  But Coffee Bean....ahhh!  teas and blended drinks galore! I'm in heaven.

We actually have a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CB for short!) on the business campus where I work.  How convenient!  So we take a little break and walk over to CB for something wonderful.  One of the best drinks there are their Ice Blended drinks.  They have a variety of flavors such as chocolate, mocha, vanilla, etc...that are flavored powders blended with milk or soy and ice.  Like a milkshake really.  So cool and delishhhh!  You would think they are sinful. 

Even though it is winter time I still love my ice blended drinks.  So today I decided to create one at home using one of my favorite flavors this time of year.  Peppermint.  Love, love peppermint.  One of the great joys of the holiday season, and now captured in a frosty, thick drink!

So to make this winter drink at home you will need some vanilla powder.  I purchased Coffee Bean's French Vanilla No Sugar Added Powder, but you could use your own favorite vanilla powder for drinks.  Here's another good one to try.  The peppermint flavor comes from Torani's flavored syrups.  I picked mine up at my local Cost Plus World Market.

These are easy to whip up, just like making a smoothie in your blender.  You will love the crisp flavor of this drink. 

Enjoy!

Peppermint Vanilla Ice Blended Drink

serves 1

1/2 c low fat milk
1 T heaping, vanilla powder
1 T Peppermint sugar free syrup
1 c ice cubes

Place all ingredients in the blender, liquid first.  Blend on high speed until ice is crushed and ingredients are all mixed together.  Serve immediately.

Cranberry Orange Quick Bread

I just love a good quick bread don't you?

One reason, is that they are is easy to make, and quick to pull together.  You can eat if for breakfast, a snack, or serve it for dessert.  What can be more versatile than that?  

I have a collection of quick bread recipes that I've had for years, but one of my favorites, along with my mom's is a Cranberry Orange Quick Bread.  There is just something about cranberries combined with orange that works so well.  To give it a southern twist we always throw toasted pecans in our quick bread for a little crunch.  It's just the best addition.

So when I visited my mom recently, one thing I always do is make some type of sweet to snack on during the week.  This time it was this wonderful quick bread.  Mom likes to toast it with a smear of butter for breakfast.  Yum Yum!  

This recipe goes together quickly and comes out perfectly.  A nice dense cake like bread that is both sweet and tart, and has the perfect crunch!

Hope you take time out to try this family favorite, it's scrumptious!

Cranberry Orange Quick Bread

make 1 loaf
time: 1 hr 20 min.

1 cup low fat 2% milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T grated orange peel
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Heat oven to 400°F.  Spray a 9"x5"x3" loaf pan with cooking spray.  

Whisk milk, oil, orange peel and egg product in large bowl with spoon. Stir in flours, sugar, baking powder and salt just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in cranberries.

Pour batter in loaf pan.  Tap on counter to remove any air pockets. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours before slicing. 

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs

Ever tried that strange looking squash named spaghetti squash?

What's that all about anyway?

Let me tell you!  Spaghetti squash has a mild flavor, (slightly sweet) it's easy to cook, and is a great replacement for spaghetti.  To prepare the squash you have to cut it in half and clean out the seeds, and stringy pulp.  Much like a pumpkin.  Then you roast it and when it is done it will be soft and tender.  To make the "spaghetti" you just take a fork and scrap the flesh out of the shell and it will separate into strands that look like spaghetti.  Easy!

Today's dish is part of my "Eat Well 2013" motto because this dish is low in calories and carbs.  Replacing your typical pasta with spaghetti squash allows you to get more servings of veggies and fiber in your diet.  Plus it tastes good.  Even the kids will love it.  What a great way to get them to eat more veggies, right?  This version includes meatballs for protein along with a quick marinara sauce to top the squash with.  

The marinara has a little kick from the cayenne pepper, so if you are feeding the kiddos, omit or use less.  I love the heat myself.  It lends another depth of flavor to a simple sauce.  

For the meatballs, you could make homemade using my meatball recipe.  Better than that to make this a quicker dish to prepare, make the meatballs and freeze them for use later on.  This will allow you to take out the amount of meatballs that you need (about 3 per person is good) and thaw them in the microwave before adding them to the sauce.  Or if you want more convenience you could by frozen meatballs, beef or turkey, and thaw them and add to the sauce as well.  Whatever works best for you.  

All in all, this dish is healthy, smart, and super tasty!  Hope you enjoy my version.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs

Makes: 4 servings

Prep:  20 mins

Bake:  50 mins

1 2 pound spaghetti squash, halved and seeded

Nonstick cooking spray

12 meatballs, cooked (from meatball recipe) or store bought

1 T dried Italian seasoning, crushed

2 14 ½ oz cans crushed tomatoes

½ t crushed red pepper

1 t Italian seasoning

½ t salt

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly coat the cut side of the spaghetti squash with cooking spray.  Place squash halves, cut sides down, on a large cookie sheet or baking pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until squash is soft.  Allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Using a fork scrape the insides of the squash to separate the strands.  Place in a medium bowl.

For meatballs:  Lightly coat a large skillet with cooking spray.  Preheat skillet over medium-high heat.   Add meatballs and cook until browned, turning occasionally to brown evenly.  (If using frozen meatballs, thaw using the microwave first then add to the skillet.)  Add tomatoes, crushed red pepper, Italian seasoning, and salt. Bring sauce to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce starts to thicken.

Divide squash among plates and top with meatballs and sauce. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.