Welcome to our celebration of sugaring season. Hopefully, you have visited our first to articles in the series and had a cup of Vermont Fancy Coffee and perhaps an Effortless Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl!
For those of you who missed the start of this series, allow me to share. A couple of years ago, I traveled to Vermont with my best friend and our combined five children to visit her family. I had never been to Vermont, but I’ve long been a lover of all things maple syrup. I think I ate a “Maple Creemee” every day we were there, and I still crave them. Adding maple syrup to my homemade yogurt is the closest thing I’ve been able to do. Recently I met a woman from Vermont who is a fantastic storyteller and loves to cook with maple syrup. She offered to share some of her stories and recipes here on the blog. So in honor of the “sugaring” season, for six days, I’ll be sharing a different recipe made with maple syrup.
The recipes will start with morning coffee, followed by two options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. If you happen to be a homeschool mom, or really any mom and would like to teach your children about maple syrup, it’s history, and how it’s made, be sure to visit my Maple Syrup Homeschool Resources post.
Now, enjoy our next delicious recipe, our second option for a power breakfast.
I love simple, quick smoothie recipes. The whole point of a smoothie is to have a quick breakfast right? What’s nice is from here you can add a tablespoon of a spinach powder, or a few leaves of kale, some turmeric or ginger, whatever you need to help your day go a little bit smoother, and you feel a little bit healthier.
The frozen blueberries I purchased were a local family farm’s product. During the seasons, the family preserves various different products including fresh produce. By freezing local fresh produce, we’re able to access local produce year-round at the cooperative store in town. It’s an amazing business venture, keeping our economy local. The blueberries came from a few miles within my town, and a purveyor I know uses ethical, sustainable, and healthy practices.
Vermont is a makers land. Folks chop their own firewood, preserve food for winter, and tap their trees here. It was a natural fit to combine the three main ingredients as a result. Cabot is a farmers-owned coop based in Cabot, Vermont that makes a whey protein. The values of the company aligned with those that I often yearn for: sustainability, worker-owned business, healthy food. The whey doesn’t have any flavor to it and doesn’t create a chalky texture like most protein powders do. It’s also pretty high in protein: 20g per serving (1 scoop), and comes in a bag containing about 30 servings for $14.99 – $0.50 per serving. It’s pretty economical by comparison when you consider there’s no artificial growth hormones, and Cabot works with small farmers for their products.
The trick to a good smoothie is a good blender. If the texture isn’t right, it doesn’t matter how great the flavor is. Saving up for years really paid off when purchasing the Vitamix. It’s an expensive blender ($250-400 used/new), but absolutely worth every penny. It’ll pulverize an avocado pit, make a smoothie perfectly smooth, turn frozen berries and a bit of juice into ice cream. It’s a tremendous blender with a ton of versatility. If there’s an emergency, my Vitamix is one of the first things I’m grabbing!
Having a few base smoothie recipes can give you the power to create something for you, and your needs. Is it winter? Have you been sick lately? Add some elderberry syrup, collagen, turmeric, and ginger. Are you looking to really beef up, and lean out? Add some hemp seeds, and a greens powder (Garden of Life makes a great one!). Need a lactation boost for those new moms? Some flax seeds, a little brewer’s yeast, and a bit of fennel might be helpful. As long as you have some base recipes, and you get to know a little bit of the different options out there to boost your health, you can have a different smoothie every day of the week.
Vermont Maple Power Smoothie
Ingredients
6 oz full-fat coconut milk
1 serving Cabot whey powder
1 Tbs maple syrup (or more – to taste)
1 C blueberries (frozen or fresh)
Instructions
Pour the ingredients into the blender, the powder last (otherwise it’ll stick to the sides of the blender).
Start the blender on slow, increasing the speed slowly to high.
Leave on high for a few minutes.
Turn the blender off, and serve.
- 6 oz full-fat coconut milk
- 1 serving Cabot whey powder
- 1 Tbs maple syrup (or more - to taste)
- 1 C blueberries (frozen or fresh)
- Pour the ingredients into the blender, the powder last (otherwise it’ll stick to the sides of the blender).
- Start the blender on slow, increasing the speed slowly to high.
- Leave on high for a few minutes.
- Turn the blender off, and serve.
