Deal of the Day - Greens Smoothie Kit

My latest Deal of the Day provided breakfast and lunch. Frozen fruit and greens, sweet and earthy flavors, were blended with soy milk, providing a nutritious start to my day. This frozen deli case packaged Greens Smoothie Kit from Applause Food is a deliciously cheap$kate find - you just need to add fruit juice, milk, or a substitute like almond or soy milk.

I'm a late arrival for veggies in smoothies, even after living in health food conscious Los Angeles for decades now. I sometimes make fruit smoothies for breakfast - but next time I'll add a few sprigs of fresh spinach.

As the package name indicates, the ingredients lean towards the greens scale, mainly kale, spinach and celery, with a few chunks of pineapple and sliced apple. It's more liquefied salad or cold soup than fruit drink. After blended with soy milk, the first taste was jolting, but I quickly got into the veggie/fruit mix of flavors.

The greens taste like they were steamed tender, so there is a slight mushy bite to veggie stems pieces. Keep on blending to completely break it down into a smooth gazpacho.

 It is an earthy taste with all the leafy greens. By the time I got to the bottom of the drinking glass, I was a fan of this frozen Greens Smoothie Kit. You can read all about the makers, Applause Foods, by clicking here.

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Applause Foods carry other smoothie kits that feature fruit, and immune, protein, plus super food blends. I suspect this veggie blend was the slowest to move, so it ended up at my local 99c only Store and I'm happy it did.

Greens Smoothie ingredients with soy milk.

The ingredients list is all natural fruit and veggies. And you can get 2 to 3 servings from this 8 ounce package, depending how much liquid you add - so you definitely get your money worth, as long as you have a 99c only Store nearby that stocks it. Hey, I would even put in another dollar or so for this Deal of the Day if I found it in any regular grocery store frozen deli case.

As I this package mentions "What you see is what you get", this frozen smoothie mix is very green.

Feel free to sweeten it up with any fresh fruit you have on hand, like grapes, banana, blueberries or strawberries. I would add some yogurt next time too. This package had large slices of mild flavored apple, with very little tart and sweet pineapple. I would have reversed it, adding more pineapple, as it might have contrasted deliciously with green leafy flavors.

But for a midday veggie smoothie or pick-me-up drink, just blend it with veggie or fruit juice, soy or almond milk.

So how does the latest Deal of the Day find, Greens Smoothie Kit from Applause Food, rate on my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best? Well it ranks high with a healthy 7 ! 

I could learn to start my day with a veggie smoothie, as long as these kits are kept stocked at my local dollar stores.

Yogurt Fruit Cup

I'm sure you've done your own version of a Yogurt Fruit Cup, well here's mine - and I think you will want to make my version some time, too.

I find that yogurt with added fruit, from the grocery cold case, is way too sweet. If you read the ingredients of most brands, you will find sugar, cane juice, and/or fructose near the top of the list.

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I prefer plain yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in. That's plenty enough flavor. But if you like your yogurt sweet then add your own favorite sweetener. At least you will know how much you are adding. And use any fave vegan yogurt too.

And, often the fruit on the bottom of the yogurt container is cooked, so it's mushy like jam. Or, if it's not cooked, the texture will still be off.

If the only yogurt on sale has fruit on the bottom then I will spoon out the yogurt and toss the too sweet fruit.

There is a lot of cheap and tasty fruit out there to choose from. So keep an eye open for seasonal fruit that hits the bargain bins at your local grocery store, farmers market, or local fruit stand.

It is quick and easy if you use whole fruit that can be mixed into yogurt, like berries and seedless grapes.

Some fruit will not age well when peeled or sliced, turning brown quickly, like banana and apple, so you want to eat a Yogurt Fruit Cup with these right away. In general it best to make just enough of a Yogurt Fruit Cup to eat in one sitting, as other types of fruit may water down yogurt over a few hours.

Start with a banana, as they are usually the cheapest fruit. During cherry season in May and June (at least out here in Los Angeles) I can find them for around a dollar per pound.

For extra crunch add an on-sale apple. We also get mangoes and peaches cheaply at my neighborhood Latin market.

One pound plastic bins of strawberries cost 99.99 cents at the local 99c only Stores. Whole pineapples even make an appearance there.

You can mix and match any favorite fruit you find. Some fruit may come on sale if it has blemishes. Since you are slicing up the fruit, it won't matter - just cut out any damaged segments.

Start you day with a 99 Cent Chef inspired Yogurt Fruit Cup sometime, especially when fresh fruit is on sale and in season.

Ingredients (2 servings)

• 2 small cartons of yogurt - I used plain, unflavored yogurt. You can use any type on sale. 
• 6-10 cherries - seeds removed. Okay to add more or fewer cherries.
• 1 banana - peeled and sliced.
• 1 mango - peeled, seed removed, and sliced.

Directions
Mangoes are a bit messy and tricky to work with. They should be ripe first, with a slight softness and yellow or reddish color, depending on the type of mango.

I like to peel them this way. First I slice into the skin from top to bottom four times. Make sure to slice intersecting at the top and bottom.

Now just peel each segment to remove half of the skin, at the widest half of mango. The mango seed is flat and wide so you want to slice off the most flesh along the seed. The seed will guide your blade, just follow the seed as you slice.

Once one side is stripped of flesh, then peel the other side and repeat, slicing along the length of the seed.

You can keep slicing around the seed to get all the mango flesh. Now just cut the mango flesh into bite sizes.

You know how to peel and slice a banana, I'm sure. Just make sure it is ripe.

Cherries are easy to peel, but can be messy, so make sure to work on a surface that is washable, as cherry juice will stain your clothes or any porous surfaces.

All I do to remove a cherry seed is cut around the middle of a cherry. Grab each half and give it a twist. One half of the cherry will separate off the seed. The other half will need to be sliced around the seed to finish removing it. Once you've done it a few times, it gets easier and quicker to do.
 
Once all the fruit is prepared, time to add the yogurt. I add some yogurt in the bottom of a bowl.

Next add the fruit. And finally I mix in the rest of the yogurt. 

2015 Best Food Finds at 99c only Stores

You never know what edibles you'll find at the local 99c only Store - everything from a package of Chia Seeds to a large container of frozen Chicken Livers. And here are some of the best, or at least, the most unusual Food Finds of 2015 that I've run across.

Even seaweed snacks have made an appearance. You know what they are right? They are super thin sheets of dried seaweed - they dissolve in your mouth like  the host given to Catholics during the Eucharist - or those sheets of breath mints.

As a joke I gave out some to Halloween trick or treaters. Well, I had a fight on my hands when a group of teenage tricksters actually shoved at each other to get a package! I guess dried seaweed snacks have been discovered by the next generation, and good for them.

The 99c only Stores cater to local ethnic enclaves here in Los Angeles, especially Latin and Middle Eastern.

While this Mole may not taste like homemade to transplanted Oaxacans, you can't beat the price. Mole is a complex blend of spices and chilies, really too complex for the average cook to make. I found small boxes of it, and it tastes fine, especially paired with a nice fillet of chicken.

They also sell plantains ready to ripen for sweet fried bananas. I've made them to accompany my Cuban recipes, like tender Roast Pork and Black Beans. I also see peeled and frozen packages of Yucca, a potato-like starch that Central Americans go for.

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Whole pomegranates appeal to Middle Eastern tastes buds. I like the sour/sweet pulp. Inside the cardboard hard shells there are tiny fruit lozenges with seeds, and you eat the bright red flesh with seeds - quite tasty. I made an cute video with my neighbor Bob's 4 year old daughter, Lola, where we try to get her to eat some. You can see it here.

My go-to drink of choice is Diet Cran-Pomegranate by Ocean Spray made with real fruit juice. They have carried it here for the last few years. After work I sometimes add it to a shot of gin over ice.

My beer of choice are 16 ounce cans of Henninger Beer from Germany. They don't carry it all the time and I always stock up when they do. It's a light crisp pale lager that goes down easy. I found another refreshing beer on sale once called Chang, from Thailand.

I've lucked out a few times with the frozen fare that comes in. I liked the Veggie Lasagna from Stouffer's and a Whole Grain Pilaf from Luvo. While the servings are small, the quality and taste are superior.

And there are always cans and jars of premade pasta sauce.

The hot sauce du jour is Sriracha, originally bottled in nearby Irwindale. Huy Fong Foods did not copyright the name so the Sriracha lable and flavor is turning up everywhere, like in ketchup and mayo.

99c only Stores offer a wide variety of fresh fruit and veggies, sometimes it's even organic. You can pick up packages of tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, lettuce and onions.

As for fruit, how about whole pineapples for 99.99 cents! They even carry coconuts - good luck cracking them, though. I usually settle for Coconut Chips.

Now don't rush out to your local 99c only Stores hoping to find all of the above. The preferred stock that comes through, often goes right out the door quickly, so that's it. When I find a great deal I stock up -- shopping there keeps you on your toes!

I hope you have had a year of bargains, too. Just stick with me and I'll keep pointing out all the money saving food items, that make up my cheap$kate recipes, I find this coming New Year!

Fresh Fruit Salad

Cherries are on sale at my local  Latin market for 99 cents per pound! And, they provid the bulk of sweet and tangy produce as well - just read below all the Spanish words of the abundant frutas on sale.

So, now the time is right for my refreshing Fruit Salad. Of course, any seasonal fruit on sale can go into your own citrus salad. I like to mix up crunchy fruit with the soft and juicy.

My fruit salad is minimalist, just whatever fruit I can find on sale. And I give it a generous squeeze of lemon, or lime, to prolong it's freshness, and to cut the sweetness with a little sour.

I always find bananas priced way below a dollar per pound. If you are making a Fruit Salad ahead of time, then don't add sliced banana until you are ready to serve, they turn brown too quickly, even with a lemon or lime bath.

Apples and oranges frequently come on sale. Apples are easy to slice and dice. Oranges can be a little messy, with a slight bitter pith, that separates the skin from flesh. I like to slice off the peel and pith. You could then slice into each orange wedge to cleanly remove the flesh. I don't go that far.

Cherries take the most work, but are worth the trouble. I slice each cherry around the center seed. Twist the cherry halves and expose the seed. Now, it's easier to pluck the seed out. Have a paper towel handy in case juice gets everywhere!

To bulk up a Fruit Salad, add sliced melon or watermelon. If you are from the South, them add some fresh peaches, nectarines, blackberries and strawberries. Northerners get to add some blueberries and all kinds of apple varieties. If you live in breathtaking Hawai'i, add passion fruit, mango,pineapple, lychee nut, papaya and  slivers of fresh coconut.

Whatever the season, keep an eye out for fresh fruit on sale at your local farmers market or roadside fruit stands, then assemble a cheap$kate Fresh Fruit Salad- your way.

Ingredients (2 servings)

• 1 banana
• 12-20 cherries
• 1 apple
• 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice - can add more or less to your taste.
• More fruit to add: peach, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, mango, papaya, pineapple, nectarine, plum, melon, watermelon and grapes.

Directions
For apples, just remove the apple core and stem, then chop.

Cherries are sliced all around the center. You then twist the opposite ends of cherry to expose the seed. Now just pry it out with a knife, small spoon or use your fingers.

I slice an orange in half. Then, slice off the skin and pith to expose the orange flesh. Now just slice of the orange into bite-sizes. Remove any seeds if necessary.

For a banana, peel and slice, but only do it just before serving your Fruit Salad. Bananas do not keep long once the peel is off.

Finally, give the fruit a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. I add about a tablespoon. You can add more or less to suit you own taste.