Snacky, snack

It is our ritual after my daughter wakes up from her nap, to indulge in a little snack (I often partake as well). One particular day while asking the munchkin what she wanted she said,

"a strawberry smoothie please."

I replied with  "I don't have any strawberries, only a banana." 

She looked at me for a moment and replied "Can I have a banana and ella smoothie?" 

Now I have no idea what an "ella" is so I asked her and she replied, "that chocolatly stuff!" (spoken in her most annoyed toddler voice)  

"OH! you mean Nutella!" 

"yes" she replied, "ella."

She's brilliant, right?  Never in all my smoothie making days have I thought about sticking a spoonful of Nutella in there.  And bananas and nutella?  A total dream come true! So without further ado, I bring you a delicious "chocolatly" snack in smoothie form!

Ingredients:

1 banana -(I used a frozen one)
1/3c. milk
1/3c. plain greek yogurt
1 heaping tablespoon nutella
2t. ground flax seed (optional)
4-6 ice cubes

Add all ingredients into a blender and viola!
**TIP**Another great option for this smoothie would be to add a couple tablespoons of old fashioned oats, they will thicken the smoothie and add a nutritional boost.

Perfect Summer Sandwich

Well you just gotta love a good summer sandwich!  This one was too pretty to be a lonely image in my iPhone, and I felt the need to share it with the world!  Locally made ciabatta, homegrown tomatoes with some market goodies and you have one hell of a taste sensation.  So go ahead and put a bit of summer freshness between some rustic bread and see what you come up with!

Summer Ciabatta Sandwich (recipe makes 2 large sandwiches)

Ciabatta- cut lengthwise about 1/3 loaf per sandwich (picture above is 2/3 a loaf)

1 - small sweet Onion cut into 1/2in rounds - grilled

1- zucchini sliced thinly lengthwise- grilled

4- slices cooked bacon (leave off for veggie eaters it will still be awesome!)

1 c. of arugula

2-3oz. of thin sliced fresh mozzerella

1- med tomato sliced thin

3T tomato relish (chutney or pepper jam would be great too!)

olive oil

salt and pepper 

Lightly coat the onions and zucchini with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place on grill, or indoor grill pan around 3 minutes per side (until the veggies have nice dark grill marks but are still slightly crisp).  Remove from grill, add halved ciabatta to the grill and lightly toast, about 3-5 minutes. 

Set oven to broil (or use your grill).

Assemble sandwich.  Spread tomato relish on top and bottom of sandwich.  On the bottom half of the bread place zucchini, onions, bacon, mozzarella.  Place both ciabatta halves on a foil lied baking sheet and set in the broiler for 2-3 minutes (until the cheese melts).  Remove from oven, place tomatoes, arugula, and ciabatta to top.  Cut into portions and dig in!!