Interesting smoothies and delicious books... wait... reverse that

So, food blogging. Hm. This is new to me. I kept thinking yesterday about my blog and wondering what the heck I was gonna put on here. Don't get me wrong. I have plenty of recipes I want to share, it's just figuring where to start that is the hard part! 

For today, I decided to stick with something simple, healthy and oh so delicious. 

A fruit smoothie. 

Nothing says summer like a good 'ole fruit smoothie. Hands down, the BEST aspect of fruit smoothies is that you can be as creative or uncreative as you want. You make up the components and it's really hard to go wrong here. That being said, this is my version of the best (yes, really) fruit smoothie ever. 

Ingredients: 

I used a frozen fruit mix of strawberries, pineapple, red grapes, peaches and mangoes. Also, not pictured here, I threw in some frozen blueberries because I like extra berry flavors in my smoothies. I use frozen because I like not having to use ice (too much water) to make my smoothies cold and thick. I also used vanilla yogurt for flavor, cottage cheese for protein and a little bit of turbinado sugar for a tiny bit of sweetness. Oh yeah, this is a great opportunity to throw in some spinach to get that oh-so-good for you green vegetable antioxidants and NOT be able to taste it (I put some in mine, forgot to take a picture of that.. oops). 

Throw it all in a blender... fruit first!

Mmmm yummy fruits. 

Next, spinach (if desired):

So many colors! 

Next add the cheese and yogurt:

And BLEND!

Oh yum. Once all the ingredients were well incorporated, I stirred in my sugar and served immediately.

Voila!! Very thick, very fruity. Just the way I like it! 

Mixed Fruit Smoothie:

1-2 cups of mixed frozen fruit 

a handful of fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried (optional)

1/3 cup of cottage cheese

1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup of water (more or less, depending on how thick you want your smoothie)

1 1/2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar

Throw fruit, water, spinach, cheese and yogurt in blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Stir in sugar, add more or less to taste. Serve immediately. If wanted, garnish with a dollop of whipped cream. Enjoy! 

And as a final note, I bought these lovely additions to my library the other day:

Food in History  by Reay Tannahill  and The New Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. I've already learned so much from the thousands of entries in Companion. So far, one of my favorite parts is the section of the appendices that shows a breakdown of pork, beef and lamb and where certain cuts come from the animals. Very informative. It was recommended to me by a list of books to have/read before going to Culinary school. I anticipate it being very helpful in the future.

I picked up Food in History because it takes a look at the impact of different foods throughout history. One interesting tidbit the back cover tells me is that black pepper somehow contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. Hrmm fascinating. Also, I expect my other culinary book to arrive today. I literally cannot wait to get my hands on that one... *glances towards mailbox in anticipation*...