Clean Eating Green Smoothie

    Sounds kinda gross, right?  Well, I thought so, that is until I tried this vitamin packed smoothie.  I used to drink a version of this with juice...that is, until I realized how much sugar I was consuming.  BEWARE:  This smoothie is DELICIOUS!!

     Well, this new version is a little cleaner too.  No artificial sweetners, which I'm guilty of abusing.  Without any further ado, I'll hush up and share my recipe!  Enjoy.

Clean Eating Green Smoothie

• 8-10 oz. of unsweetned Almond Milk
• 1 cup of frozen raw Spinach (I just buy a big bag, as opposed to the boxed kind)
• 1 TBSP REAL Honey
• 1 med. banana
• 1/2 cup vanilla or plain Greek Yogurt
• 2-3 ice cubes
• 1 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter (I use Smuckers cause only ingriedients are peanuts and salt)

Blend away and sip to your hearts content!

UPCOMING: Homemade Liquid Dishwasher Detergent

A while back I posted a recipe for Homemade Dishwasher Detergent.  At first, my dishes were coming out good, and clean.  But, after a while, there was a soapy build-up. 

It's been driving me nuts!  So, to resolve my dishwasher dilemma, I'm working on a liquid version that I hope will be up to my standards! 

If you have tried my powder recipe, let me know if it worked for you and if it didn't, what were your results.  It's great to have feedback!  But, be kind please.

So look for an upcoming recipe on the liquid version of homemade dishwasher detergent!

Thanks,
Aimee

Healthier Peanut Butter Cookies!

UPDATE:  I used 1/2 cup brown sugar instead of the white, and loved them even better, if that's possible!  If you don't want to use any artificial sweetners, you could use 1 cup of either brown or white sugar.  Another yummy addition is dark chocolate chips!  At least with 60% cacao.

Oh my, what a Monday I've had!  It has been the  MOTHER of all Mondays!  

So, I treated myself to some peanut butter cookies!

Not just any peanut butter cookies, but a bit more figure friendly peanut butter cookies.

I have finished my Advocare 24 day challenge, and feel amazing! I have lost a total of 13 lbs. and 6 inches total from all over. 

So as not to sabbatoge myself on my not so good days when I need a little comfort from....food.  I know, still working on that.  But hey, making changes a litttle bit at a time.

Here is my recipe which I'm still tweaking to lessen the sugar, but it's still pretty good.

Healthier Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 cup Peanut Butter ( I used Smucker's Natural PB, Creamy)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup stevia
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix peanut butter and sugars in a bowl until blended. 

Add the egg and baking soda and stir until combined.

Use a cookie scoop to make all cookies same size.  Make sure to squish (that's my technical term for the day) them down with a fork, and make a cute little criss-cross pattern.

Bake for 10 min. Makes about 28 cookies.

Each cookie is about 73.5 calories.  Not bad right?

Did you notice that there's no flour?!  It's not a typo......

These cookies are high in protein and low in calories.

My kids even love these and haven't missed the old version.

Enjoy,

Aimee



Pico De Gallo Chicken!

Pico De Gallo Chicken

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Mrs. Dash's Southwest Chipotle Seasoning
• Pico De Gallo
• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

I used a prepared pico de gallo from Wal-Mart (Marketside brand) found in the produce section.  You can make your own, it's very simple.  I will post the recipe for it at the end of this post!

• Start by heating the oven to 375 deg.
• Lightly brush olive oil over chicken.
• Sprinkle Sea Salt to taste

• Sprinkle Mrs. Dash seasoning. The more you sprinkle, the spicier it will be.

• Bake in oven about 25-35 min. depending on the thickness of the breasts.  Juices will run clear when done.

I also cooked some organic brown rice (found at where else, Wal-Mart) with dinner, and a side of steamed spinach. 

When the spinach was done, I added some Light Balsamic Vinegar and mixed well.

To plate the dinner, I first put the desired amount of rice on plate, then the chicken on top....and topped the chicken with the Pico De Gallo.

Spinach with balsamic vinegar on the side.

Super Simple Homemade Pico De Gallo

Equal parts of:

• Roma tomatoes , chopped
• Onion, chopped
• Cilantro, chopped

Then add in:

• Chopped jalapenos, 1 or 2 (scrape out membrane and seeds, unless you like it HOT)

Mix all 4 ingredients well, then squeeze in juice from

• half of a lime

Sprinkle with

• Salt

The kids loved this meal, they were topping the chicken with extra pico de gallo and ate most of the spinach...which is a huge achievement in itself!

Anytime I can come up with a healthy meal that the kids will not only eat, but love....it goes in my "keeper" recipe binder.  The boys told me this one was a "keeper"!!

Thanks!

Aimee