April 13th: strawberry smoothie, sausage risotto

Olivia has taken to calling smoothies, "smooth-a-lies," which I enjoy. I've been making them everyday this week before work, and remembering why these stints never last long--I swear, I spend my night in the kitchen, first making supper, then making lunch, and now making breakfast too. It is no wonder people buy packaged foods or buy lunch at work all the time. What a lot of work. Today's smoothie recipe is one I've had for years and it's quite good, though I seem to have a mild allergy to raw bananas that makes me hesitant to make it too often:


Strawberry-banana-maple smoothie


1 cup (250 mL) strawberries, sliced
1 banana, sliced
1/4 cup (50 mL) milk
1 tbsp (15 mL) maple syrup
2 ice cubes


Either the strawberries or the banana should be frozen, but not both. Blend all ingredients until smooth. Serves 1.

For supper, inspired by a dinner party avec Brendan and Justine last weekend, I decided to take my risotto recipe and add some sausage into the mix. Instead of making the double mushroom version risotto, I made the Classic Risotto from November 2009's Chatelaine, but started by frying 3 diced sausage before adding leeks to the pan. Yum, yum and yum. (Not quite as good as B's but good enough for a Wednesday night!)