Good morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and Mother's Day!

I know that in some parts of the country people are still getting hit with snowstorms, but here in Arizona the temps are heating up. I am grateful for our swimming pool, and I am also grateful for smoothies!

Not only is it hot, I am pregnant, so, It's super hot. A nice cool smoothie is a great way to get the nutrients I need and not die from the heat.

I love buying up frozen fruit so I can toss it into my Ninja and enjoy a nice, thick smoothie. I've made several different kinds, but this breakfast smoothie was so delicious I had to share it with you. It was so thick it was like eating sorbet, but healthier!

For this delicious breakfast smoothie you will need:

1 orange, no peel
1 banana
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 frozen chopped spinach
1 cup almondmilk

Toss all of those ingredients into your Ninja or your Blender, or your Bullet, or whatever you use to blend up a smoothie and blend until smooth.

That's it guys! That's how easy it is to make this tasty meal! I am about to go make myself another one, so enjoy! Use our links to buy your new favorite kitchen gadget! I love my Ninja because it really gets everything so nice and smooth so quickly! Don't forget to buy it and try!

Happy, healthy, breakfasting!

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     Lately I have been feeling an urge to get to know more about my Danish ancestry.  I've always known that it was part of who I am, but I feel like I know a lot more about my British ancestors than my Danish ones.  I've started looking up things about Denmark and finding out some fascinating things.  And, what better way to get a feel of a group of people than to learn about their food and why they ate the way they did.  
    Alicia did a series of recipes from her ancestry a couple of years ago and she shared an Æbleskiver recipe with you that she was given by a friend.  In order to make it, she purchased an actual cast iron æbleskiver pan that she ordered from Amazon. 

     I haven't yet purchased the correct pan, so I started wondering if I could make aebleskivers using a different method.  My granddaughter accidentally left her cake pop maker at my house, and while the molds are smaller, I thought some little pop in your mouth aebleskivers might be fun to try!  It worked out pretty well.  (My granddaughter found her cake pop maker at a thrift store at a fabulous price. Here is a similar one on Amazon.  There are many brands and varieties available.)

     I used this recipe from International Cuisine.  It is very similar to Alicia's recipe, except it is a smaller batch.  I was happy about that since it still made a ton and since the maker only made 6 at a time, it was time consuming.  Here are some tips that I figured out as I made the aebleskivers in a cake pop maker: 

• Historically, the Danish people would use a knitting needle to flip their aebleskiver in the pan.  Since I was using the mold with a lid, I didn't really need to flip them, but I did use a chop stick to pop them out of the mold.  I think a chop stick would also work great in the traditional type of pan. You can also purchase some special turners here. 
• I buttered each mold each time I made a new batch.  I would put a little butter on the end of the chop stick and just swirl in around in each mold, both top and bottom. 
• Fill the mold more full than you think.  Because there are whipped eggs in the recipe plus baking powder and baking soda, the batter will rise as you put it in the hot mold.  But that is okay because you want the batter to reach up into the top of the mold so that it will brown well on both sides of the ball. 

• Leave the aebleskivers in the maker longer than you think you might have to.  As I cooked them, I learned that the browner they got the better they would hold their shape and get a little crunch on the edge.  They just looked prettier over all. I got so that I could smell when they were ready to come out.  
• Try not to eat them all while the next batch is cooking.  ;)
• Try to cover the jam well with batter to try to keep it from leaking out.  Some will leak a bit, but it is okay.  Some jam stayed in and it was easy to clean up.
• When they are all baked, sprinkle them with powdered sugar.  You can dip them in more jam or cover them with Buttermilk Syrup or chocolate or whatever your heart desires!  I have even seen them filled with Nutella!  

    Although my great grandfather came to the USA from Denmark, I was never raised with any idea of the Danish traditions.  My grandmother, who was his daughter died before I could have known her.  But as I learn of the Danish culture and foods. I get an understanding of things that I like and feel that are part of my make-up that I have possibly inherited from the Danish side of my family.  (Seafood! Hello!)  And, LEGOs originated there!   
    Aebleskivers are my first try at a Danish recipe, but I have seen others that I am soon going to give a try!  So, keep your eyes open for those!  
     Have you tried Aebleskivers in one form or another?  What is your favorite filling?  I wish my granddaughter had been here to make these with me, I know she would have loved doing it.  Maybe next time! 

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    When the girl's and I got together to discuss blog business over the holidays, one of the things we all agreed on is that we all want to be more healthy this year!  Personally, I feel very motivated and I feel like if we all encourage each other throughout the year, we can achieve our health goals.  Many times we have heard people say that if they just start to live in a more healthy way, weight comes off and they see progress.  But, I know that in my case, I need specific goals set that I can work on and change about my eating habits and exercise plan or nothing will ever happen. 
   Many of us want to lose weight, some of us want to strengthen our core or our upper body strength.  Maddy is training for a 1/2 marathon.  So, to achieve these goals we each are making plans that will help us reach them. One part of my plan is to cut back on sugar intake and to avoid mindless eating.  You know, when you walk by some cookies, pick it up, eat it and THEN remember that you were going to avoid eating sweets and your weren't even hungry anyway?
     In 2020 we will be trying to show you a lot of healthier posts when it comes to food, more activities that encourage a healthy lifestyle as well as our DIY posts that you have let us know that you enjoy. 
    I am going to start this year with these Lighter Blueberry Banana Muffins.  The original recipe came from A Sprinkle of Joy, but I tweaked it a bit to lighten it up and give it more banana punch.  I replaced the sugar in the muffin with agave nectar, but there is still sugar in the topping.  The sweetness of the fruit doesn't let you miss the sugar in these muffins.  They were really good! 
   

Lighter Blueberry Banana Muffins

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    Back in the Fall, I went to visit my family in my hometown of Clovis, CA.  While there, I went with some of my family to a pancake restaurant called Batter Up.  I had their cinnamon roll pancake that day.  It was so good that I knew that I had to try to make one of my own! So, I began trying various recipes and experimenting on my own.  My SIL sent me a recipe that he had used from the Food Network, and I liked it.  The only problem was that the butter and sugar recipe used for the swirl would burn on the griddle and I would have to clean the griddle between each set  of pancakes cooked to avoid a burnt taste on them.  That was unacceptable. 
     Then my son commented that if it were him, he would just make 2 batters, a cinnamon one and a plain one and swirl them together.  I considered that idea, but I knew that I wanted the cinnamon sugar experience that you get with cinnamon rolls. Then I discovered the secret!  I added some batter to the cinnamon sugar mixture, left out the butter and it worked amazingly well!  So, the credit for this recipe goes to many: Batter Up, Food Network, SIL Adrian, Son Tyler and ME! 

Christmas Morning Breakfast!

    These pancakes would make the best Christmas morning breakfast.  I mean, they are like cinnamon rolls and you don't have to let them rise! They are fluffy, cinnamony and topped with almond flavored icing that puts them over the top! 
      You just pour the batter onto a hot griddle and then add the swirl.  I like to put the swirl batter in a squeeze bottle.  It gives you greater control.

   The high content of sugar in the swirl batter still melts, but doesn't burn and really gives that cinnamon roll affect. 

    You can add butter, or not, but be sure to add the icing on the top! For a Christmas breakfast, you could even add sprinkles! 

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes