Introductions of All Kinds

Hi fellow foodies! I'm Stephanie and I'm a grad student living in Lund, Sweden. Prior to beginning my masters program I was partly employed doing odd jobs as they came my way. To combat boredom/purposelessness and to feed my hungry fiancé, I taught myself to cook. Over the past year I've perfected one lone Thai dish, made some awful lasagnas, learned to make bagels and multi-grain bread, gotten shockingly good at Chicken cordon Bleu and Indian dals, and can make a decent guacamole.

I've been on a fitness and health kick lately so my cooking has taken a slightly different turn. I'm interested in "clean eating," often inspired by The Gracious Pantry. I want to use whole ingredients with low fat, plenty of protein to keep me going, and tons of vegetables! I'm interested in consuming more meat-free dishes, while still having meat around the house occasionally. I've also been working out quite a bit, which means I'm hungrier than normal and feel the need to have all sorts of healthy snacks around.

Now that I've introduced myself, I want to share my favorite introduction to a new day - the breakfast smoothie! You can use a hand blender (my kitchen appliance of choice) or a more traditional stand-up blender. I was looking for a smoothie that included limited added sugar, had fresh fruit, and could hold me through a 2-hour lecture until lunch. Here's what I came up with:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Put the following ingredients into your blender:

~1.5 cup light soy milk (or milk of your choice)

~3/4 cup low-fat yogurt - Greek Yogurt works great for this

1-1.5 bananas

2 tablespoons natural peanut butter (the kind you have to stir, the natural fats are good for you)

1 big spoonful of reduced-sugar chocolate milk powder (I'm using the Swedish brand Oboy but find your own low-sugar kind! Protein powder could work here as could a smaller amount of true cocoa powder)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional: 1/3 cup oats - blend thoroughly to get a better texture

After blending, enjoy!

Yields 1.5-2 servings