Sunrise Smoothie Shotz

These little morning glories are a great little addition to your brunch menu.

I don't measure anything but here's what I did:

Into the blender they go...
1 ripe banana
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored & sliced
small handful of frozen mango chunks
small handful of frozen peach slices
about a tbs honey

then add a bit less than 1/2 cup of each of the following liquids:
pear nectar
peach nectar
mango nectar
unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Blend. Blend. Blend. Fill shot glasses with smoothie mixture.
Skewer up some strawberries with toothpicks and balance the garnish on top of the shot glass.
This yielded about a dozen tall shot glasses.

A Cozy Hot Drink

I love eggnog but, unfortunately that creamy, delicious decadence does not love me back. Sigh. Every year around the holidays I approach the dairy case and stare at the perfectly neat rows of festive garland or snowflake adorned eggnog cartons. I used to break down and bring home just one small carton labeled from the local Pittsford dairy and savor it for as many days as I could. I'd heat it up and just melt inside. BUT... I always paid the price - pain & suffering & lots of bathroom reading time, not to mention the mucho calories & fat.

Finally, I came up with an equally loveable, creamy, muggable drink to warm your insides on a cold night. It's got no egg, nor nog for that matter, but it's delicious and I no longer miss that thick, heavy, fattening holiday drink!

Hot Blue Diamond
Heat up a cup of vanilla unsweetened organic almond milk. (I love Blue Diamond Almond Breeze)
Add a packet of no-calorie Truvia.
Sprinkle with cinnamon & nutmeg. Stir.
Sip slowly with feet up on the comfy couch ... and melt.

The bottom line: This is only 40 calories for an 8oz cup! Eggnog is made from milk, cream, sugar & eggs. A 1 cup serving of Organic Valley eggnog is 360 calories & loaded with fat & sugar. A little FYI - just because something is made with organic ingredients does not mean it is low fat or low calorie!