Green Smoothies

Ah, green foods, smoothies, drinks.. 

The essence of health. 

The purest form of ‘this will either be really good or freakin disgusting’.

In a recent effort to lower my anxiety & up my healthy game, I’ve been making a veggie drink for my breakfast a few times a week. 

I also cut out (caffeinated) coffee. 

It is working- the caffeine withdrawals reallllly weren’t that bad with the green drinks as a ‘replacement’. My anxiety isn’t as wild without the daily coffee. & I lived on coffee, it’s the reason (supposedly) I survived most days. The few days of initial suckiness have been well worth it. 

BUT some of the smoothies/juices I made have come out DISgusting …. like I could not bear to even smell them 😂 I tried to experiment & yiikes. 

So I figured I’d share some of the combos that worked out & tasted swell! 

I’ll use these recipes as a way to ease myself back into writing blog posts for yall 🙈 since I kind of let this little baby of mine fall to the wayside. WOOPS!

FIRST RECIPE!!!!!!

  

A very green one, this combo was as aesthetically pleasing as it was good tasting.

What You’ll Need:

• handful of spinach & kale
• handful of collard greens
• 1 cup(ish) of Dole’s Orange Medley; oranges, sweet potato, mango, & banana
• 1/2 cup almond milk – or liquid of your choice
• some honey
• *optional* a scoop of greens or superfood powder

1. Add the ingredients

2. Blend them

3. Drink up!

4. Have a bright & green day ✨🌟

Look out for some more recipes!! 

I’ll only be sharing the good ones….smoothie making can be treacherous, take it from someone with firsthand experience of all that can go wrong HAHA

Overnight Oats!

I am not a big ‘meal prep’ person.. Mainly because I have no clue what the hell I’m going to want to eat a week ahead of time/I am lazy. Sure, my body would thank me if I put time into planning healthy & filling meals for the whole week. And I bet my gains would skyrocket. But let’s be real here- I’m not ready to commit to such a pre-planned food life. I also am not that concerned with what I’m eating to dedicate to meal prepping every week.. I eat what makes me feel good & give myself ~creative license~ on food otherwise categorized as ‘not-so-good-for-you’.

So, with that being said, overnight oats are the closest I get to a consistent meal prep. They’re great for a grab-and-go breakfast or anytime snack. You can customize them with your preferred add-ins. They take about two minutes to whip up. They’re great!!

*I don’t use exact measurements.. so this may be a little vague, but it’s pretty hard to mess this up 😉

What You’ll Need:

• 2 parts milk (dairy or non-dairy, I use almond milk)
• 2 parts dry oats
• 1 part chia seeds
• 1 part greek yogurt
• honey/agave (up to you how sweet you want it)
• any other spices/add-ins

How To:

Add the yogurt, oats, & milk in a container. I usually use a 2-cup mason jar….Well, I use whatever is clean if I’m being honest.. Mix this trio together.

Pour in your chia seeds & honey. You’ll want to mixture to be liquidy at this point, so add more milk if needed! Throw in anything else you’d like. I added raspberries to my oat concoction today. 

After the mix has a few hrs to absorb the milk & chill (literally- refrigerate it when you’re done), it’s ready! It’ll be thicker after its chilled, that’s normal. 

Since I use random amounts of each ingredient, I don’t exactly have a ‘nutrition facts’for this recipe.. What I do know: Overnight oats are full of protein, fiber, & healthy fats! They’ll keep you going longer than most quick hunger fixes. If you make this for a snack/breakfast, you won’t regret it 🙂 

Enjoy!! 

4 Ingredient Vanilla Protein Pancakes

Good morning!! Happy Friday!!! 🙂

This morning I had some extra time before work & decided to make myself a real breakfast.. Vanilla protein pancakes seemed like the perfect way to start my Friday. With just four ingredients & about 30 grams of protein, the real MVP of breakfast is protein pancakes. 

{I’ve posted about these pancakes before, but figured this rendition deserved its own post}

What you’ll need: 

• one egg
• one banana
• one heaping scoop Optimum Nutrition Vanilla Whey Protein
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• *optional* 2 tablespoons ground flax seed

Start by mashing the banana in a bowl- I’ve found a fork works best.

Add the egg & mix until there’s a nice lumpy consistency.. Make sure the yolk is broken & spread throughout the mixture!

Pour your milk. Pour your protein powder. Mix away! (Waiting until you add the protein to mix in the milk makes it much easier to blend) I also added a few spoonfuls of ground flax to keep it movin 😉

Warm up your pan with whatever oil/butter of your choice. I used olive oil- would probably go with something lighter next time. Whatever you use, make sure you use enough to cover the pan so your pancakes don’t stick! 

Pour your batter in & watch the magic happen. ….Ok actually I JUST learned how to flip my pancakes without completely messing them up…so maybe what happens won’t be magical. Either way- your little creations should be ready to eat in about six minutes. 

  

Add some peanut butter, fruit, chocolate chips, syrup, sprinkles, or whatever else you desire! Enjoy!!

French Toast with a Dash of Protein

I’m all about high-protein recipes. If you can make a protein version of a food, I will. From pancakes to muffins to chilli, nothing is safe.. My family thinks it’s annoying but they will thank me when their muscles are happier than they’ve ever been! 

I was browsing le internet recently & found an article (click here to read) that had some info on how to turn an average breakfast classic into a protein-fest. 🙂 French Toast..plus protein.. Yes please!!

What You’ll Need

  

• 1/2 cup milk (I used half & half because our milk was sour..always a nice discovery)
• 1 scoop vanilla protein (I only have chocolate so I ‘borrowed’ my moms Weight Watchers protein)
• 4 eggs
• 5 slices of bread
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• dash of cinnamon 
• dash of vanilla extract

First step (which I regrettably skipped) is to melt the butter. It may have something to do with the protein powder, but solid butter didn’t blend into the mix.. 

Preheat your oven to 350 & lay some parchment paper on a baking sheet. 

Then you’ll add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor. Mix them until they’re….well, mixed.

  
I cut my bread into strips, because French Toast Sticks seemed like a cool idea. 

  
Then you’ll dip your bread into the liquid mixture. It only works if your sink (like mine) is overflowing with dirty dishes. 

  
Line the strips on your baking sheet. This pic is funny because you can see how the unmelted butter literally didn’t mix with the other ingredients at all. It was too cool for them… 

After 10 mins you’ll want to flip the toast so both sides get evenly cooked & crisp. 

  
This is what a side that’s fully baked looks like. Delicious.

  

Top your toast with syrup, confectioners sugar, sprinkles, fruit, or even more French Toast- whatever you want! 

Enjoy your protein-filled breakfast!! Your muscles will thank you 🙂

~peace & all good~

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Fall has arrived. & there is no better way to spend a fall morning than with the sun warming your toes, hearty pancakes warming your belly, tea warming your soul, & a bee trying to fly up your nose! Welcome to my Sunday morning!!!

I decided to use the microwaveable sweet potatoes I had bought a few weeks ago. Actually, I only used one..but it’s progress. Sweet potatoes are full of wonderful vitamins & nutrients that our bodies need. Beta carotene, fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Vitamins X, Y, & Z! You get the point. Sweet potatoes are cool AF. 

What better way to eat a really cool food than using them for something that’s also super cool?! PANCAKES 😀 Sweet potatoe pancakes make for a more satisfying pancake-eating experience than your typical pancake can give you. Trust me, I am a pancake expert (no I’m not at all). 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1 cup sweet potato purée 
• 1 egg
• dash of cinnamon
• smaller dash of nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (I tend to confuse the two baking substances..)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil/canola oil/olive oil – whatever oil you have
• splash of vanilla 

I microwaved my sweet potato this morning, peeled the skin off, & mashed it with a fork. That was my ‘puree’…  
 

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg

  
Mix everything else together in a larger bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until they’re just combined. Leaving air bubbles/small clumps in the batter will make for fluffy pancakes!

  
Throw some butter in a pan & add however much batter you want to form your pancakes. I also added dark chocolate chips to one because it seemed like a great idea. It was. 

  
Mine took about 3 minutes on each side, then I gave them a few extra minutes to crisp up.

Top the magical pancakes off with maple syrup or whatever you desire. Homemade whipped cream would’ve been perfection…

  
Enjoy!!!! 🙂

  

Bulletproof Coffee

Here’s how you can do for your coffee what it does for you; make it bulletproof. 

I feel that coffee is best when you brew yourself a cup so you can enjoy the taste, rather than drinking it because you need it. But let’s be honest….some mornings/days getting out of bed feels like entering hell & coffee is the only thing that can bring you back. You need it to be bulletproof!

Making bulletproof coffee is super easy & actually adds to the health benefits inside your mug! 

Brew your coffee as usual. Pour it into your favorite mug….or whatever mug happens to be clean.. 

  

Stir in a tablespoon or so of butter (organic/grass-fed butter has the most health benefits). You can also add coconut oil for a supercharged drink.

Better yet: blend the mixture!! The butter emulsified & creates a heavenly coffee energy drink..

  

Top it off with milk/vanilla/cinammon, whatever your usual coffee routine is. I drink my coffee black, but this is a superb alternative to cream. The coffee tastes less bitter but it’s flavor is unchanged, there are way less chemicals/added crap in butter, & it will give you extra energy rather than leading you to a crash. It’s a creamy cup of coffee goodness. How can you go wrong?! 

   heaven in a mug
Ta-da! Now your coffee will not only help you stay alert, it will also help you burn fat throughout the day 😀 By providing your body with the healthy fats it needs, you’ll kickstart the fat burning potential of your body. The fat in the butter also helps you carry the caffeine longer. More energy, less crash! 

It’s important to fuel your day in a way that benefits you- & this is a great place to start! 

I’m sure there are tons of other variations of bulletproof coffee out in the universe. Let me know how you make yours, I’d love to try something new!!

~peace & all good~

A Berry Delicious Smoothie

Ha…See what I did there??

Here’s a quick, healthy smoothie you can make for breakfast, lunch, a snack, pre-workout, post-workout, whenever! All you’ll need is a banana, some strawberries, blueberries, & whatever fresh/frozen fruit you can get your hands on! 

I used fresh berries because we had an abundance of them in the house & I figured why not freeze them for a smoothie? 

  I folded the larger bag in half when I froze it so I would remember to use the berries in 2 smoothies. 

Frozen fruit is a great option because it saves $$ & lets you enjoy your favourite fruit even when it’s out of season!

Fill your blender with about a cup of water (or milk if you want it creamy). A smaller amount of liquid will keep the mixture thick like an actual smoothie. 

Now it’s time to throw in your fruits.

   (it looks like more water because the fruit displaces it)

If this is your breakfast/pre-workout snack- keep your coffee or tea close..

  
I added chia seeds & vanilla protein to my mix. If there’s anything else you desire, there’s no time like the present. Add away!!

It’s blending time 

If your mini blender is anything like mine, you’ll have to help the whole blending thing actually happen…annoying side effect of getting a cheap blender. 

  
Enjoy your healthy, delicious little creation! Get creative with the next one 😉 

Adding smoothies to your regular diet is a great way to give yourself more energy. Being consistent is a little difficult at first, but once you start feeling the benefits in your body it’ll be worth it! Having more fruits & veggies will be a good thing.

~peace & all good~