If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo

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vita-mix

Recipe – Lemon Cranberry Bread

by Michelle on May 5, 2010

in food

I love a good sweet bread recipe, and I love easy sweet bread recipes even more! I came across this yummy recipe in an email from Vita-Mix last fall. My Vita-Mix blender is one of my very favorite appliances! It is seriously one of the most coolest inventions! I mainly use it to make smoothies, but as you will soon see, you can use it for tons of other neat things!

So, on to the bread. This is the perfect balance of sweet and tart with just the right amount of crunch on top. I’ve made a couple modifications. The original recipe called for an orange instead of lemon and doesn’t call for raw sugar. The first loaf I made I used the orange and no raw sugar and it was delicious! Then after I ate that loaf, :) , I thought “Hmm, this would probably be yummy with lemon!” So I tried it with lemon and I love it!

Note: If you don’t have a Vita-Mix blender, any blender or food processor you have should work.

Lemon Cranberry Bread

Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 small-ish lemons or 1 orange, peeled with a 2-inch strip of peel remaining, halved
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 cup fresh cranberries (I use fresh ones that I have frozen. Just defrost before you add them) 
Raw sugar, enough to sprinkle over the top

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8 1/2-inch x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour in a large mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside.
3. Place lemons (or orange), oil, sugar and egg into the blender container and secure lid.
4. For Vita-Mix blenders – Select Variable 1. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High. (For other blenders, start out with a slow setting, then quickly turn to a high setting.)
5. Blend 35 seconds.
6. Pour lemon (or orange) juice mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing by hand until ingredients are just moistened.
7. Gently stir in cranberries.
8. Spread the batter in the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle raw sugar over the top.
9. Bake for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

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Smoothies!

by Michelle on January 11, 2010

in Uncategorized,food

m2s_7329I love smoothies! I make them nearly every morning for breakfast and they are so fast and easy to make! And they are very healthy for you which is a big plus! A little over a year ago I bought a Vita-Mix blender and that is what is use to make my smoothies. It is such a neat thing! It pulverizes everything you put in it!

This is one of my favorite smoothie recipes. I basically just throw in whatever fruit I have on hand, some spinach and carrots, ground flax and honey. I didn’t have any spinach this morning, but if this smoothie had it in it would be a little darker in color.

This smoothie has:

  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 3 baby carrots
  • 1 whole lemon
  • 2 clementine oranges
  • 1 whole red delishious apple
  • 8 large strawberries (frozen)
  • 2 whole fresh prunes (not the dried ones. I bought fresh and then froze them)
  • 1/2 peach (frozen. I ususally throw in a whole one, but I’m almost out of my frozen stock so I’m rationing!)
  • a large drizzle of honey
  • 3 scoops (6 T) ground flax

Whiz it all up and enjoy! The flax blends right in and you can’t tell it’s in there. It doesn’t have any texture. Other things I’ll throw in when I have them are: bananas, pineapple, cantelope, blueberries, cranberries, pears, spinach, and there’s probably some I’ve forgotten about!

They are so yummy and SO very healthy for you! This amount makes enough for a large glass for me and two small glasses for Autumn and Summer. It’s so nice to have a bunch of your fruit and veggies eaten and out of the way for the day!

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