Choo's Blood Orange Cocktails

I am so excited that blood oranges are in season. They have a beautiful deep color and are so deliciously sweet! I figured since I had blood oranges it would be fun to make cocktails with dinner. I used what I had in the house and came up with this yummy recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did :)

The Players:

• 1.5 cups of freshly squeezed blood orange juice
• 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
• 1.5 shots of vodka
• 1/2 shot of blood orange liquor
• 6-8 ice cubes

The Game Plan:

Place ice in a martini shaker and pour all of the above ingredients in there also. Shake and mix well. Pour into two glasses and enjoy!

Strawberry and grapefruit smoothie!

Two of my favorite fruits are strawberries and grapefruit. I love the tartness of grapefruit and the sweetness of strawberries. So I figured why not combine the two to make a smoothie. I also added some mint to give it an even more refreshing flavor! It was so good that I now make it a few times a week so I can enjoy the deliciousness!

Serves 2 fans

The Players:

10-12 strawberries de-stemmed

10 mint leaves

1 pink grapefruit peeled and seeded.

1/2 cup of ice

The Game Plan:

Squeeze most of the juice out of the grapefruit and discard the veins if desired. Place it all in a blender. Add the strawberries, mint, and ice. 

Blend it up till it is like a smoothie like consistency. 
 

Enjoy!

Hot chocolate with an orange minty twist!

There are very few instant hot chocolate mixes I enjoy. l usually find them way too sweet and making hot chocolate without a mix really does not take that much longer. I felt like adding a fun twist to my usual hot chocolate and it was surprisingly amazing! It is like an orange chocolate bar in liquid form! Cheers to a yummy new creation and hopefully the last of winter! 

Serves 4 fans 

The Players:

3 cups of milk

1/2 cup of semi-sweet and bitter sweet chocolate*

A splash or two of cream (optional)

4-5 orange rinds

15-20 chocolate mint leaves**

The Game Plan:

Heat milk, cream, and orange rinds on medium high heat.

Bring it to almost a boil. Meanwhile place mint leaves in each mug and set a few aside for garnishing. 

 

Take off heat and add chocolate in.  Stir chocolate until mixed in well.

Remove orange rinds. Taste and adjust to your liking. Divide the hot chocolate between the four cups. 

Garnish with chocolate mint and enjoy :) 

 

* Use a good high quality chocolate, ex: ghiradelli. It will really make a difference in taste. 

** If you do not have chocolate mint or cannot find it, eliminate it. It is not an absolute necessity.

Smoothie Verde

Happy St. Patricks Day!

We make different versions of smoothies often as a snack or to compliment breakfast. We first became addicted to this healthy idea a few years back.  My brother in law blended one up and served it with breakfast. We were all very impressed because the bitterness of the kale was masked by the sweet fruit. After just one taste and a demo at Sams we ditched our old blender for a high end one in order to make this good for you deliciousness. FYI: this is only one of the impressive things the Blendtec can make!

Servings: 4

The Players:

• 1 Fuji apple (any kind is fine, except something super sour) cut into pieces and seeded
• 1 banana peeled
• 1 clementine peeled
• 1 handful of spinach
• 2 handfuls of frozen peach, strawberry, mango, pineapple mix
• 2 handfuls of kale or 1 long leafy stem (stems removed)
• 1 cup of low fat or non-fat milk
• 1/2 cup of water
• Ice (optional) 

Special Equipment:

• Blendtec, Vitamix, Ninja or any super high voltage blender

The Game Plan:

Place all fruit in the blender and pour milk and water in also. Put the cover on.

If using a Blendtec press smoothie and watch the ingredients transform into a smoothie.

 

If using another type of blender use appropriate setting or blend till smooth.

Pour into a glass and enjoy :)