Quick Smoothie Tip for Quicker, Healthier Smoothies!

Quick Tips for Yogurt Smoothies!

Strawberry Blueberry Yogurt Smoothie

Hey guys, sorry I didn't post on Friday, but we didn't even get groceries until late last night.  Being down to one car and Patrick working full-time, plus some, has greatly hindered my errand running.  This is actually somewhat good for our budget, bad for keeping food in the house!

Anyway, one of our favorite things to have for breakfast or snack time are smoothies.  I want the kids to keep yogurt in theirs, but they tend to not want to bother.  They end up with milk, frozen fruit and protein powder.  That, and more often than not, they end up with more fruit than anything.  For those on a tight budget, you know that fruit can get expensive, and we need to make it last.

This is what I use to get the yogurt in there!:)

So, the other day I made myself some strawberry protein yogurt (just plain, unsweetened yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and some protein powder.  And I made WAY too much.  This gave me a great idea.  When the kids were babies, I always pureed our food in a blender for them.  I then froze the puree in ice cube trays, leaving me with perfect serving sizes for a baby.  I thought this would be a perfect way to ration out the fruits and make sure the kids were getting some yogurt, too!

Blend the whole container of yogurt, strawberries and blueberries, some liquid stevia for sweetener.  I also added some vanilla protein powder.

I don't happen to have ice cube trays (but I'm going to get some now!), but I poured the rest of my yogurt in ziplock bags and told the kids these were our new smoothie cubes.  Now all they have to do is take some smoothie cubes, add some milk and blend away.  For moms with little ones, it can make smoothie time quicker for you too.

Tada!  I froze them in thin layers in ziplock bags, so one good knock on the edge of the table and it breaks apart for the blender!

Oh!  And a money saving tip... if you can find overripe bananas at your store (I've gotten a 5# bag for less than $1.50 before!) you can take them home, peel and chop into thick slices and freeze in zip lock bags... or, like I mentioned today, puree them with protein powder and yogurt for future smoothies.

*I say "protein powder" often, when, although I use extra protein powder, we use a raw, organic meal replacement powder for our kids snacks or breakfast.  Since we simply can not afford organic all the time, it is nearly impossible in this day and age to get enough nutrition out of our food.  This is not a typical diet meal replacement with artificial sweeteners and sugars, so read your labels.  I do NOT recommend feeding your children 'diet' foods or any meal replacements with artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup or refined sugars.

Another great thing to add to smoothies is spinach, bee pollen and if you're not using yogurt already, probiotics are great as well.

Oh!  And in a "Why didn't I think of this before" moment, my freezer is SO much more useful now, since stuff isn't falling out every day!

Dollar Tree baskets and I'm good to go.  One for fruit, one for veggies!

Have a great week!  I'll see you next week with a video on juicing and possibly wheat grass juicing too, if all goes well!

Clean Eating #76: Featured Friday: The Breakfast Fruit and Nut Cookie Recipe

Featured Friday!!

Thanks to my newfound blog friend Marvi Marti, I have a new feature!  Featured Fridays are for guest bloggers to post thier favorite clean recipe.  This saves me a little bit of work, give you some much needed variety and helps us all meet new people!  I'm busy researching me soon to be new adventure... so here you have it:

The Breakfast Fruit and Nut Cookie Recipe

by Robyn Lucas of "Crashing the Boys Club" blog

**My favorite post thus far?  Her post on Turning 40... because I'm doing that this year, too, and like Robyn, I feel better than ever.  No way am I 'old'!!

A Cookie That’s Good For You? I’ll Believe It When I Taste It!

Wait, Come Back!

          Stop!  Don’t run away. Just because I said that this cookie is healthy, you shouldn’t assume that it is going to taste awful or like sawdust with a few cranberries thrown in.  It really is good.  Trust me.  Have I steered you wrong, yet?  Again, don’t bring up the lavender ice cream fiasco.  That was my fault, not the recipe.  It would have tasted great, if I had made it right.  Gees! 

I decided to try this recipe for a few reasons.  First, my typical breakfasts were becoming boring.  I usually bounce between oatmeal and an egg white scramble with veggies.   While both of these are great choices for getting my morning started, both take time and some mornings, I just do not have the time.  I wanted something that I could make ahead and keep ready to eat as I’m running out the door.  And, finally, it’s a healthy cookie!  Who doesn’t want to be able to enjoy a good cookie and not have to feel guilty?  Swimsuit season is right around the corner.

          The Breakfast Fruit and Nut Cookie recipe was taken from The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno.  I could try and explain the whole clean eating philosophy, but that would take up a lot of time and I want you all to stay awake with me.  In a nutshell, it’s eating foods that are fresh, unprocessed, and naturally full of nutrients.  So back to my story about cookies, that’s why you’re here, right?!    I really like these cookies and my boys have all given them the two thumbs up award.  My boys like these as after-school snacks and light snacks before practices and games. 

The Breakfast Fruit and Nut Cookie Recipe

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup light oil
• 3 egg whites
• ¼ cup finely chopped dried figs
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup Bran flakes or oat bran
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp allspice
• ¼ cup slivered almonds

• 1. Preheat oven to 350F.
• 2. Combine sugar, oil and egg whites in large mixing bowl; add in dried fruits and vanilla.
• 3. Combine all dry ingredients minus almonds and add to egg mixture. Mix until just blended. Stir in almonds.
• 4. Drop by tablespoon full onto parchment paper covered baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until almost set. Remove and cool in pans before transfering to wire rack to cool completely.

• Nutrition information: (per cookie. Calories: 15g, Calories from Fat : 156, Protein : 2g, Carbs: 22g, Dietary Fiber: 1g, Sugars: 12g, Fat: 6g, Sodium: 26g

Healthy Snack: Coconut Oil & Sea Salt Air Popped Popcorn

POPCORN!

My girls and I LOVE popcorn.  I could eat a huge bowl every single day.

I have before:)

I don't do this anymore, but I certainly consider it a treat.  Whole grains, with the bonus of coconut oil instead of butter and its healthier too!

Directions:
Pop your popcorn in the Air Popper
Drizzle melted coconut oil over it (lightly) while it pops
Add some Sea Salt and viola!

Variations:
Put a few drops of flavored liquid Stevia in your melted coconut oil for a 'Kettle Corn' type flavored.  I like using Toffee Stevia the best... YUM!

I used to have a friend when I was a kid whose mom would cook popcorn in oil on the stove and add a tablespoon of vinegar to the unpopped kernels first.  That was THE best popcorn.  It had a tangy taste to it and I've remembered it all these years.  I wish I could figure out how to do it with an air popper, because I always burn popcorn in a pan!

I also finally dragged myself out of my PMS induced depressive funk with a wonderful weekend recharging with my hubby... so I now am back to cooking.  I have some awesome foodstuffs in the oven right now!!  Several Varieties of Mini Quiches, Fritatta and a SUPER hearty Veggie Sauce are on their way to posty-ness!