The Orange Julius for Adventurers!
In 1926, Los Angelesian Julius Freed opened an orange juice stand. Three years later, Freed’s real estate broker Bill Hamlin improved upon his recipe to create a version of the orange drink that was less acidic. It became so popular that by 1964, the “Orange Julius” was named the official drink of the World’s Fair in New York. Dairy Queen saw the beverage gaining a following in the libation kingdom, and purchased it in 1987. Now this icy concoction of orange juice, milk, powdered egg whites, and vanilla flavoring is sold in Dairy Queen outlets from coast to coast.
(Image above from Wikipedia)
Looking at that ingredient list, it’s easy to see why the Orange Julius is so widely liked: it’s boring. I mean, I’m sure it has some taste to it, since there were probably oranges involved in that juice at some point, but most of the other ingredients are designed to soften the edge of that citrus flavor and create a sweetly simple drink even tastebuds accustomed to the most boring of American fast food could handle. And that’s all right for some. Others like to be a bit more adventurous…
I wasn’t thinking about an Orange Julius when I made this smoothie. In fact, I’ve never even tasted one, so I’m not sure I can fairly compare it with what I came up with. All I know is, I took one sip of this ice-cold blend and the iconic drink came to mind. I wondered if I had accidentally created some variation on their recipe… a variation for those who crave a little more excitement, who relish a rich, novel taste and perhaps don’t relish powdered egg whites in their flavorful libations. Is it an improvement on the classic? Dare to taste and decide.
Click here for the full recipe: Orange Julius Plus Smoothie
Orange Julius Information Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Julius
Tart & Sweet Summer Float
Do you find yourself feeling the most nostalgic over things that never really happened to you? I think that is a widespread element of the human condition: if we can’t remember the shortcomings of a particular experience, it sounds better to us. We miss it more. For example, the iconic Christmas song “White Christmas” was written by a Jew. I personally find I have the most romanic views of things that have never happened to me at all. I imagine skating on a frozen lake would have great sentimental value for me. But if I really ever tried that, I’d probably remember the bitter cold and how the ice seemed to be cracking and how many times I slipped and fell, more than I’d be sentimental about it.
It’s the same way with food: I’m not very nostalgic for some of the things I used to eat, such as fried fish sandwiches and French fries: why do people make such a big deal over the fried stuff anyway? I don’t find myself missing that as much as I would long for s’mores, handmade around a campfire – which I’ve never tried. Or Root Beer floats in an ice cream parlor, which I’ve never had either. This is probably why I end up making healthy versions of these things, even though I’ve never tried the unhealthy version.
Instead of a Root Beer float, this is an Izze float made with real fruit. The ice cream has been replaced with delicious vanilla bean frozen yogurt. Instead of some kind of fudge topping, I added a spoonful of Nutella on top. It looks just like melted chocolate, but has a smidgeon more nutritional value!
The liquid part of the float is tart, with the flavors of grapefruit and pineapple sweetened slightly by strawberry rhubarb jam. The sweetness comes from the frozen yogurt and of course the whole thing is made more worthwhile by the Nutella.
One thing I can be nostalgic about that I have actually experienced is summer. I love everything about the summertime, especially all the different fruits available at this time of year, so I tried to incorporate some of them into this healthy alternative to a Root Beer Float. Enjoy!
Izze and Frozen Yogurt Float
makes one large serving
Ingredients:
- 1 bottle of Sparkling Grapefruit Izze
- 1/2 cup fresh sliced pineapple
- 1 tbl strawberry rhubarb jam (I used Jackie’s Jams brand)
- 3-4 ice cubes
- 1 large scoop (about one cup) Stonyfield Farms brand Vanilla Bean frozen yogurt
- 1 tbl Nutella
Directions: Pour Izze, pineapple, jam, and ice cubes into blender. Blend until well combined and frothy. Pour into tall glass. The glass should be on top of a small plate to catch any overflow.
Top with large scoop of frozen yogurt. Spoon Nutella on top of this. Pop a straw in there and get nostalgic!
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Instant Soft-Serve Fro-Yo in a Blender! Tropical Dream
I recently saw a very intriguing post on Healthy Happy and Whole about making your own soft-serve frozen yogurt in a blender. This recipe is ice-cream-maker-free and only takes about five minutes. I made a few changes to the original recipe, which is for papaya berry yogurt, and made a pineapple strawberry yogurt topped with coconut flakes. Ah! The flavors of summer, dreams of paradise islands I hope to visit someday… why can’t it be summer now?!
This tasted delicious, just like soft-serve from a frozen yogurt store. The only problem was I didn’t blend for long enough, so I still had a bunch of fruit chunks in the fro-yo. But overall, the creamy texture and captivating fruity flavor added up to a brilliant and guilt-free dessert! And this is a recipe easily adapted to new ingredients, different fruit combinations… the choices are endless!
Tropical Dream Instant Soft-Serve Fro-Yo
Makes: one generous serving
Ingredients:
- 2 tbls plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tbl honey
- 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
- 1 medium-large frozen strawberry
- Optional: about 2 tbls sweetened coconut flakes, for topping
Directions:
I should have chopped the strawberry and pineapple before putting them in the blender, but I ended up doing it afterward. After chopping as needed, place all ingredients except topping in blender and blend for about 5 minutes or until desired texture is reached. Spoon fro-yo into small bowl, top with coconut, and delve into a bowl of frozen tropical goodness!
Carrot Cake Scones
I had the idea this week to make some scones that were inspired by the flavors of carrot cake. Carrot cake is something infamous for being “fattening” and high-calorie, but it has the potential to be very good for you if you think about it. First of all, it obviously contains carrots, which are high in vitamin A. Second of all, it can be paired with a cream cheese frosting for calcium and protein. (No, I did not use a cream cheese frosting for these scones, however disappointing that may be. It might be an interesting thing to try, though.) And a final reason why carrot cake has potential to be extremely good for you: Look at all the super-nutritious mix-ins that go with it! It’s common for people to add carrots and walnuts, both of which have healthy fiber. Pineapple and coconut, also popular additions to carrot cake, have fiber and vitamins as well. So why is carrot cake usually so bad for you? Probably because of all the oils and butter used in most recipes.
These scones are extremely low in fat, with only two tablespoons of butter. They also contain whole wheat flour, and I mixed in some pineapple and coconut since those are popular carrot cake mix-ins. Nuts and raisins might be interesting to try instead. I whipped up the dough, threw the scones in the oven, drizzled with sweet vanilla glaze, and done! I had some incredibly healthy, incredibly delicious scones reminiscent of carrot cake, but miles away from any worries of all the fat and calories.
When my mom first tried one of these scones, she wasn’t too impressed. Then she thought about it for a minute as I sat eating my own scone, and tasted a scone again. She said they weren’t so bad after all, and as time passed began praising my scones and saying they were actually great, recommending them to my dad! I guess the carrot flavor took her by surprise. They just needed to grow on her. Me, when I first took a bite of this scone I instantly knew it was what I had been hoping for. Just the right amount of sweetness, a soft main body, and crispy shredded carrots. Not to mention of course the addictive coconut and juicy pineapple… need I say more?
For the recipe for “carrot cake” scones, click here.
This recipe was based on “Blueberry Lemon Scones” by Dannivee.
Fresh-baked scones straight out of the oven taste the best… mmmm…
True Healthy Me 