Strawberry-Banana Yogurt Energy Drink

I play baseball on a travel team, and I love to eat! I TRY to eat things that are good for me, but it’s not always so easy. Whenever we pass a Smoothie King I always yell for my mom to stop, but she always tells me they’re too expensive. Soooooo, I started trying to make my own; I got pretty good at it too! Then, something terrible happened……….my smoothie maker broke a couple of months ago

So I got a really good blender for Christmas; PLUS my mom bought me a recipe b0ok called SMOOTHIES. It’s fantastic. I’ve been a smoothie-making fool! Here’s one I’ve been making a lot:

Strawberry-Banana Yogurt Energy Drink (adapted from the recipe book, SMOOTHIES)

8-10 frozen strawberries

2 medium bananas

3/4 cup plain yogurt

one scoop frozen vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk

one to two cups ice cubes (depends on how thick you like your smoothie)

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor; blend until smooth. *Now, I don’t know about you, but I like toppings! I like to crush an Oreo or two with my Dad’s SlapChop and sprinkle it on top of my smoothie! ** Sometimes I will even add 4 or 5 frozen mango chunks – YUM!

Michael’s Favorite Fudge

I know it’s been awhile, but here I am again! I’ll catch you up on a few things I’ve made over the holidays. First of all, my mom and I made my favorite holiday treat: FUDGE! My mom makes the best fudge you’ll ever want to put in your mouth – and she doesn’t put any nuts in it. I guess if you like nuts – if you’re a nutty kind of person – you can add some in. I just don’t like ‘em in much of anything, and neither does my mom.  So, anyway, we were going to my Nana’s house on Christmas Eve, and we like to take some treats, and we needed some at home, too, so we decided to make my FAVORITE FUDGE! Here it is:

Michael’s Favorite Fudge (adapted from the back of the Kraft Marshmallow Cream jar!)

3 cup sugar

¾ cup butter

a1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate pieces (I use milk chocolate)

1 (7 oz.) jar Kraft marshmallow crème

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, butter and milk in heavy 2 ½ quart saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling for 5 minutes over medium heat or until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate pieces until melted. Add marshmallow crème, nuts and vanilla. Beat until well blended; pour into a greased 9×13” pan. Cool at room temperature; cut into squares. *I use peanut butter chips for peanut butter fudge.

Snickerdoodle Pie

My mom made this on Thanksgiving Day, and it was so good. It was the first pie that was all gone; when we went back Thanksgiving night to get some more we were so disappointed to find that there was NONE left! So, we’re going to my Grand-Dad’s house tomorrow to watch the Saints’ game (Geaux Saints!), and my mom wanted to bring a dessert. She decided that we would bring the Snickerdoodle Pie; we decided that we would make TWO – one to take and one to keep! Mom helped me with the first one, and then she let me go on my own for the second one! Mmmmmm. They’re just as good now as they were on Thanksgiving Day!

1 pie crust (we used Pillsbury)

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

4 large egg yolks

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Set rack in lower third of oven. Line a baking sheet with foil and set it on oven rack. In a small bowl, stir together cinnamon and 1 tabelspoon sugar. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, egg yolks, flour, vanilla, salt and remaining 1 cup of sugar. Pour into chilled pie shell. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over custard.

Set pie on preheated baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Without opening oven, reduce temperature to 325 and bake until pie is set, puffed and golden, about 20 minutes longer. Let cool on a wire rack, then serve, or cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate to serve cold.

Hi there! My name is Michael, and I’m ten-years-old. I love to play baseball, and I love to cook…….so…..when I’m not playing baseball with my team, The Lagniappe, or playing with my friends, I like to cook. I’m just starting to learn some new things, so my mom and I thought we would document my road to success. Maybe you can follow along and share some of your experiences too! I’ll also post the recipes I use so that you can use them, too. Feel free to share some of your favorites with me……..Thanks for visiting!