Hide the Spinach - Chocolate Berry Smoothie!

Whenever I get on the roll of working out daily, I get into this mode of not wanting to eat breakfast. But breakfast is the most important meal of the day! My solution has been smoothies, every morning! I was making the same smoothie every morning....and its been 2 weeks and I needed a new smoothie recipe. I searched all over pinterest and constantly saw GREEN Smoothie recipes, ya know, the ones with spinach in them....to me spinach tastes like dirt, I like it cooked, but fresh...I just don't see it going into a smoothie. All the blogs claim you can't taste it...I have many friends who would beg to differ.

Spinach is a super food, so I figured - anything is better with chocolate right? and a frozen element should also help hide the spinach flavor...and I was right. This is my new favorite smoothie! I was so excited by how great it came out that I took the picture below with my simple cell phone, and ran to blog this!! Hope you enjoy it, My 5 and 2 year old boys certainly did as well!

Hide the Spinach - Chocolate Berry Smoothie

1 cup of fat free milk (feel free to substitute with almond/soy/coconut milk etc)

1 cup FROZEN blueberries

2 handfuls rinsed fresh baby spinach

5 strawberries

2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1-2 Tbsp Stevia in the raw extract (Not watching calories? Sweeten with sugar/agave/honey etc)

Blend Smooth!

225 calories for the whole thing! It was about a glass and a half for me.

**I'll admit, I could NOT taste the spinach the entire consumption process. However, I let the last sip sit in the glass a few minutes and went back to finish it off and I did catch a taste bud glimpse of it. But considering that was the only moment and circumstance I tasted it....I'll take it! 

Sassy Sweet Potatoes - Fast and Fresh!

I love sweet potatoes any day of the year! However, I started to get tired of the typical butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and marshmallow toppings that seem to go with them. One of my favorite dishes with sweet potato is/was at Claim Jumper, it paired the sweet potato with Jerk chicken, and jicama/mango salsa! With much taste testing and inspiration I came up with this sassy sweet potato - Don't knock it till you try it!

The Sassy Sweet Potato  

This dish has the creamy, sweet, goodness the sweet potato brings, mixed with a little butter to add more velvet texture, then your hit with Avocado chunks adding more richness and flavor. Then you get the cool crisp cilantro and a squeeze of lime to add that fresh citrus balance.

Ingredients/Directions:

1. 1 medium sweet potato - Bake or microwave, remove the skin and mash

2. 1 Tbsp of butter (optional) - Mash into the potato

3. 1 small/medium Avocado - Sliced and cubed, place on top of the mashed sweet potato

4. 1 Tbsp of chopped cilantro - place on top of the Avocado.

5. 1 juicy lime - squeeze entire lime over all the dish

6. Salt  - to taste

Done!

How do I eat it - I mix it all together, but you can leave it the way you like or make it into a burrito etc.

Other Ideas: Top off the dish with chicken breast cooked with jerk seasoning, add some sliced mango - or roll it all up into a flour tortilla for a burrito!

Breakfast is Ready!

All my life I have had to watch my weight and what I eat. I suspect that is the same story for at least 50% of women! I love to eat....often, it isn't what I eat that is the problem its the quantity - usually.

Here is a breakfast that I have found very satisfying and packs a mean punch of fiber and protein and keeps me full longer and my sweet tooth satisfied:

1/2 cup of Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla yogurt (I buy the big tub) - 55 calories
3/4 Cup Kashi Go lean Crisp cereal(it seems more like a granola) - toasted berry crumble - 180 calories
Mix together

2 sliced of pan fried bacon - drained on a paper towel of course - 80 calories (that's both slices combined - how great is that?!)

Total Calories: 315

What do you get?:
17.5 grams protein!
8 grams of fiber

Think about this - you get yogurt, cereal and bacon for 315 calories and those calories are made up of protein and fiber!

I love a lot of crunch in my yogurt and this combination is perfect for me. If its too much crunch for you and you just like a little bit - reduce the cereal and remember to reduce the calories as well.

Enjoy!