PB & J Green Smoothie

PB & J Green Smoothie

Not a typo, I promise!

.ingredients.

1 CUP (8 OZ.) ALMOND MILK

1 TBSP GROUND FLAXSEED (OPTIONAL)

1 BANANA

4-5 STRAWBERRIES (PREFERABLY FROZEN)

1 TBSP SMUCKERS SIMPLY FRUIT PRESERVES

1 TBSP PEANUT BUTTER (2 TBSP IF YOU LIKE A STRONGER PB TASTE)

1.5 GIANT HANDFULS FROZEN SPINACH

.blend.

.ENJOY.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

Tuscan White Bean Soup

.ingredients.

1 pound dried white navy beans
4 tablespoons olive oil
5 stalks celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 carrots, scrubbed and dice

3 leeks or small onion, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

1 cup lentils, rinsed

5 cups good-quality vegetable broth, 4 cups water

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Soak beans in water overnight, then drain and rinse well. Or use canned beans (rinsed).

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot and add leeks/onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until leeks/onion begin to soften. Add celery, garlic, and carrots and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add stock, rinsed navy beans, zucchini, squash, lentils, herbs, salt, and pepper. Bring soup to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer over low heat for 1 hour.

3. Puree 3 cups of soup in a blender (to make the beans creamy) and pour back into the pot. Add lemon juice, and more self and pepper if needed.

Serves 6.

I got this recipe from my friend Natalie, so a special thanks to her for sharing!

Vegetarian Quinoa Chili

Vegetarian Quinoa Chili

.ingredients.

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped 

1 red bell pepper, chopped 

1 medium zucchini, chopped 

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed 

1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed 

3 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce 

2-3 tablespoons chili powder, depending on your taste (we used 3, if you like it spicier) 

1 tablespoon ground cumin 

Salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Cook Quinoa. Put in saucepan with water, cook on medium heat until water is absorbed (about 15 minutes)

2. In a large pot, heat olive oil over high heat, add onion & saute until tender (about 5 min). Add garlic, jalepeno, carrots, celery, zucchini & peppers - cook until tender (about 10 min).

3. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce and cooked quinoa. Season with chili powder, cumin & salt & pepper. Simmer on low for about 30 minutes, Serve warm.

Tropical Green Smoothie

[TROPICAL GREEN SMOOTHIE]

INGREDIENTS

makes 1 serving

1 C Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/2 banana

1 T ground flaxseed

giant handful of kale or spinach

approx 1 1/2 C tropical fruit (pineapple, mango, papaya, strawberry)

*I get this fruit in the freezer section at Costco. I recommend thawing the fruit out a bit before trying to blend.

I put everything in my Blendtec blender & use the 'whole juice' preset.

[New Year: New Life]

Wow, I let this blog get away from me once again. But you better believe that I wasn't going to let a whole year lapse without posting. A lot has changed since my last post - A LOT!

First, I had a baby... Whitley Jane. Oh & she's already 7 months old! My oh my does time fly by now that I have my cute little bug here.

Second - I have changed my diet in some drastic ways!

For the past couple years I have been contemplating eliminating animal products from my diet. I read a couple books almost 2 years ago that had me convinced. I had the immense desire to not eat these foods but it seemed IMPOSSIBLE. I also had ingrained in my mind that I needed PROTEIN for exercising & building muscle & the way to get that was through meat & diary products. 

All throughout my pregnancy I ate animal products & lets be honest, I ate a lot of junk. Always, in the back of my mind I had a secret desire to quit eating these things because I knew that they weren't benefiting me like I had thought they were for so long.

The real push to change was when I was at Whitley's 6 month check-up. Her doctor told me that I could now introduce meat into her diet for added protein. In my mind, I started to panic. I asked myself if this was really what I wanted to be feeding my daughter & my future children.

I decided that I wanted to learn for myself & with a friends help I was able to take the leap to the Vegan side & I never want to look back.

There are so many reasons why I feel like this is the best for our family. I feel like we are following the word of wisdom better. We are eating more fruits & veggies - and let's be honest - we were hardly eating any veggies whatsoever. I was so worried that eating this way we wouldn't be getting "enough protein" but through learning more I know that we are getting what our bodies need. You can find protein in so many veggies, beans, legumes, seeds, nuts & whole grains. My initial thought going into this was that it was going to be so difficult to "convince" Tyler. But as I expressed my desires to change & the reasons why, Tyler understood & he supports me & wants what is best for our family. I was also scared that our dinners would be way BORING. But we have been going full force for about a week and a half now & we have tried new recipes that have all been hits! 

So.. that means the recipes I will be posting in the future will be VEGAN. There may be the occasional waiver but for 90% of our diet it will be this way. We don't want to say we will never eat meat or dairy - because chances are we will eat the occasional meal, or birthday cake & ice cream, etc. But as far as we can control in our home, we feel this is best for our family.

To learn more about our reasons for eliminating animal products from our diet, watch Forks over Knives - available on Netflix. I read Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven - which btw, can be a bit vulgar at times. And it isn't about getting "skinny" for me. It's about being healthy.

Please don't feel like you need to be Vegan to follow this blog.

And feel free to ask questions!

.all natural protein smoothie.

The other night Tyler got home from the gym & realized we were all out of protein powder for his shake. So I came up with an all natural protein smoothie that is refreshingly delicious!

ingredients

few ice cubes
bunch of strawberries, bluberries, or whatever you have
1/2 banana
about 1 cup milk
2 or 3 giant spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt (I get the kirkland brand at costco)
splash of vanilla flavoring
sprinkle in some cinnamon

Blend it all up & enjoy! If you need yours to be sweeter just add some Truvia!
Mmm.. I think I'll go make one now :)

Quick & Easy Snacks

Wow, I have definitely neglected this blog for quite a while but with good reason.
I was SO busy in September & October with my little sister's wedding & right after that I found out that I was PREGNANT!
We are incredibly excited & Tyler cannot wait to be a Daddy (& me neither!)
But as a lot of you know with pregnancy comes SICKNESS - nausea, exhaustion, etc.
So.. to be completely honest I have not been amazing in the eating department lately. Meaning I just ate whatever I could keep down at that moment in time. Not necessarily meaning BAD things but meaning maybe just ONE apple or some saltine crackers. lol.

With that being said.. I wanted to share with you some quick and easy snacks & foods that are a staple around here.

Light String Cheese
Low Fat Cottage Cheese (props to those of you who can handle Fat Free)
Triscuits (we love the cracked pepper & olive oil kind)
Eggs, of course
Whole Wheat bread (I love the kind by Aspen Mills - the fewer ingredients the better!)
Apples, Bananas, and any other fruit I can get my hands on
Celery
Natural Peanut Butter (CRUNCHY!)
PICKLES!
Greek Yogurt
Tuna (light, canned in water)
Almonds (I get the raw unsalted from Costco)
Pistachios (I get the original or salt & pepper from Costco)
GNC Amplified Whey protein powder

A few snack ideas with these items:

*Cottage Cheese on Triscuits
*String Cheese & a piece of fruit
*Apple slices dipped in peanut butter
*Celery with peanut butter
*Whole wheat bread toasted with peanut butter & sliced banana
*Scrambled eggs on whole wheat toast
*Greek yogurt with fruit & 1/4 cup cheerios
*Tuna on crackers
*Tuna on whole wheat bread with pickles
*Banana Protein shake - milk, ice, protein powder (vanilla) & banana
*Chocolate Protein Shake - milk, ice, protein powder (chocolate)

Hope this gives you a few ideas on some quick, healthy snacks that are easy to throw together!