Today is Chinese New Year. There are a few traditions (more like superstitions) for Chinese New Year my family instilled in me since I was a child. Over the years, I often forget about the actions I should avoid on this holiday and end up taking one or more of those actions. A couple years ago, I challenged myself not to get to three strikes. Well, today, I got to two strikes. First, I totally forgot not to wash my hair as washing hair is associated with washing away luck and good fortune. Kevin did remind me not to wash my hair, but out of my autopilot habit, I ended up washing my hair when I got home. That was the first strike. For dinner, I was craving an apple and cherry tomatoes for my salad and ended up cutting a whole apple and halving some cherry tomatoes. Whoops! I should avoid cutting anything on New Year’s day. That was my second strike. I vowed not to get a third strike today. So far, so good. On a more positive note, I did spend the day eating all vegetarian meals starting with whole grain breakfast bars for breakfast, a tofu rice bowl for lunch, and a mixed berry and apple salad for dinner. As a treat, I made some orange milkshakes to serve as a drink/dessert on the days leading up to Chinese New Year. I love milkshakes and wanted to infuse an orange, a fruit we typically eat a lot of during Chinese holidays, into my milkshake. I have loved the combination of orange and vanilla ice cream for as long as I can remember. I actually grew up eating a lot of orange cream popsicles throughout my childhood. This may be weird to some people, but I love to eat off the orange layer of the popsicle first before eating the creamy vanilla layer on the inside of the popsicle. My orange milkshakes are a tribute to my favorite orange cream popsicles. The sweet orange citrus complements the creamy vanilla ice cream very well. These milkshakes made for the perfect refreshing treat to start off the new year.
Orange Milkshakes:
· Zest and juice of a large Navel orange
· 6-8 ounces of vanilla ice cream
· 1 cup whole milk
· ½ cup ice cubes
Directions:
1) In a blender, add the zest and juice of the orange, vanilla ice cream, milk, and ice cubes. Blend all of the ingredients together using the pulse setting for 1-3 minutes. Pour the milkshakes into two glasses, garnish with orange wedges and serve.
Takeaways: I love orange milkshakes, but I also love using other citrus fruits in milkshakes. Limes and lemons also work very nicely in vanilla milkshakes. Try one, two, or all three combinations in your milkshake.