Blackberry Pomegranate

Hubs didn't want a smoothie today, so today's recipe is for a 2 cup serving.

 

Blackberry Pomegranate smoothie

1 banana

1/3 c Greek yogurt

1 cup blackberry pomegranate juice

1/2 c frozen blackberries

1/2 T bee pollen

1 T ground flax

1.5 T oatmeal

2 T hemp seed

1/2 T wheat germ

Blend and enjoy. Might add 1 T honey to this.

Also, yesterday I made my first savory smoothie.  It was okay, I will have to get use to this idea of drinking my lunch. Some of my savory smoothies may get turned into soup! I will have to explore the ideas and possibilities of savory smoothies. 

1 cup diced tomatoes (skin off, from my garden, frozen and thawed)

1 raw carrot (cut into chunks)

1 ginger ice cube

handful of raw spinach

water to make 2 cups blended

dashes of salt, cumin, corriander, pepper to taste

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

SOTD: Pumpkin Cheesecake. Has to be one of my favorites.  Of course there isn't actually any Cheesecake to it. I have made this smoothie before, I added a few new things this time.
 Added: 2 T Chia seeds, 1 T honey, 2 T hemp seeds.  The Chia seeds REALLY gel up in this smoothie, I might not add them next time. Still, love the flavor of this smoothie.  Lately, I have had another fun addition to my smoothies, my 15 month old daughter has been enjoying sipping from mommy's smoothie:)  A good way to get extra nutrition into the kids.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

2 cups pureed pumpkin (homemade from last years jack-o-lanterns, mine is runnier than the stuff you get in a can)

1/2 cup honey greek yogurt

1 banana

2 T oatmeal

1T ground flax

1 T Wheat Germ

dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

Enough milk to make the 4 cup mark.

Add the main ingredients and blend. Then add the milk and pulse a couple times.

 

Plans for SOTD Y2

Almost exactly a year ago I started a new "diet" plan. Not necessarily to lose weight, but to eat better. You see, I HATED breakfast. I don't like to eat a lot first thing in the morning. My breakfast was tea and toast (okay I would substitute pastry with toast sometimes!). I don't like oatmeal or cold cereal, and I actually prefer veggies over fruit.  I was missing some important things from my diet.  So, just after Christmas 2011, before the new year, I decided I would change my diet and have a Smoothie Of The Day (SOTD) every day for breakfast. I did pretty well with that for the whole year! Not EVERYday, but MOST days I have a smoothie to start my day. I am pleased with my accomplishment to change my bad habit of tea and toast for a nutrition packed smoothie. 

So now, a year later I am planning on adding to my SOTD. I want to lose weight now and tone my body.  So, armed with a new Vita Mix blender (SHOUT OUT to the Hubs for the Christmas Present!), and some fun new smoothie cups (SHOUT OUT TO "LD" for a Christmas present, the sipping cup say "Leanne's Smoothie of the Day"!), I am developing a new plan for SOTD and my life.

The challenge: 2 Smoothies a Day!  My plan is to replace breakfast and lunch with a healthy smoothie,then, eat the supper meal as a family.  I know I will have some challenges to meet, some that I see are:1) eating what is laying around the house, or what I prepare for lunch for the kids.
2) Bad snacking 3) Not feeling satisfied 4) wanting the act of chewing 5) boredom. I have plans to combat some of these, chewing gum, adding fiber and protein into my smoothies, LOTS of variety in the smoothies. I know I will have to branch out and do some savory smoothies to avoid the boredom.  I also have some new ingredients to try out, Chia Seeds and Barley Grass Powder being two of the new! I have confidence that my blender can handle it!

I am also planning on hitting the gym. Hopefully, soon, my Hubs will be working less now that the holiday rush coming to a close and I can hit the gym while he watches the kids. That's my plan. We'll see how far I get with it. It is NOT a resolution, just a plan.   This is day 2. My lunch time smoothie today was:
Almond Banana
1/2 banana
2 T almond butter
1 T honey
1/2 C Greek yogurt
1 T ground flax seed
1 T Chia seeds
2 T Oatmeal
Almond milk to make 2 cups blended drink

(Cringe) Here is the next part, accountability. Posting my weight and how many times I get to the gym or work out at home. Wt: 137 lbs  

Cold fighting power house

Christmas Eve! Fighting a cold. So far it is just a drippy nose and sneezing. No cough, no sore throat. I would like to keep it that way and get better quickly. So today's smoothie is a cold fighting power house. 

1 banana
1 cup coconut water (electrolytes for hydration)
handful frozon pineapple (Vit C, Bromalin- natural mucus fighter)
handful frozon strawberries ( Vit C)
Juice of fresh orange (Vit C)
2 T raw organic honey( boost immunity, and energy)
1 T bee pollen
Handful fresh spinach (anti inflamatory, antioxidants)
1 cube Fresh Ginger (anti inflamatory)(I blend fresh ginger with water and freeze in ice cube trays, keeps it fresh!)
There is more benefits to the ingredients that I used, but that is just some of the basics.  It would be nice to rest as well, but it is Christmas Eve and people are coming over tonight!  PRESENTS!!!!!

I will also blend up a ginger, lemon, honey drink to sip on. 

1 cube of ginger
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup raw honey
2 cups warm water


Merry Christmas!

Christmas Present!!

My husband is a wonderful man.  Kind, caring, good father, fears God, many things. Right now he is pretty high up in the good books for the Christmas Present he bought me. I am now the proud owner of a VitaMix!!  Prepare to be Blended!!
My Blender Ninja was doing an okay, job but, there were just a few things it really couldn't handle. Raw veggie items just didn't work. Chunks would be in the drink, not so much a smoothie anymore!  I knew a VitaMix would do all that and more, but the $$$ (gasp)! I had mentioned a couple months ago that a VitaMix would be so much better, but that I would have to save up some money to make that type of a purchase.  The Hubs came through last week and told me that would be my Christmas present!! (Don't worry he bought himself a guitar!)  The Vitamix arrived yesterday. Today I got to play!  SOTD is going to be getting a face lift!!

VitaMix Christening Smoothie

1 banana

1 cup coconut water

1/2 C greek yogurt

1 T goji berries

1 T Bee Pollen

1 T wheat germ

1 T Flax Seed

2 T Hemp Seed

Handful Frozen  Strawberries

Handful Forzen Mango chunks

 1 T honey

Handful fresh spinach

4 Large broccoli flroets (raw!)

Blend away and drink the SMOOTHIE! Can't taste the broccoli. Hubs says "best smoothie to taste".  Not because of the ingredients, dear, but because of the blender did its job!

Immune Boost

Little girl is sick. Puke on the carpet sick.  Since I know today will mean I have my hands in puke (glamorous job that it is) I thought I best boost my immune system. I still have 2 more kids that could potential catch this bug.  Today's smoothie is full of immune boosting benefits and tastes so yum!

 

Immune Boost

1 banana (always a banana!)
1 packed cup of spinach leaves

2 cups orange juice

1/2  cup Greek yogurt

1 T bee pollen

1 T Goji berries

2 T raw honey

handful of frozen strawberries

almond milk to make 4 cups

Except for the banana, everything above is full of immune boosting properties.  Here's hoping it works!