Our Smoothies

A couple of friends asked for the recipe for our green smoothies in the morning -- I've hesitated sharing not because I'm possessive of it, but because I really don't follow a recipe or do the exact same thing every morning. 
On this particular morning, though, I took a couple of pictures to show a general idea of what our morning smoothies consist of.  I hope they're helpful.  I will say that when I started hearing about these concoctions, I looked for recipes, too, but mostly found just blogs that promoted a certain lifestyle without sharing any real recipes (unless you bought the book).  I didn't really want to get into the bee pollen, agave, etc, etc stuff, so I just decided to wing it.  I really just use fruits, vegetables, and water -- nothing else.  And we like it.
So, here are a few pictures to give you a start.

Ingredients for this particular smoothie:

Lettuce, bananas, blueberries, grape tomatoes, celery, cranberries, cucumber, baby carrots, and mixed fruit.

I put everything but the frozen fruit in the blender (a good, strong blender REALLY helps with these puppies) and hit the smoothie button.  They blend down to about half the pitcher-full.

This is after the fresh stuff was all blended together.  I threw in a few handfuls of frozen fruit till it was back to the top again.  Blend away again and add some more -- I just add fruit and blend until the blender is full to the top with blended smoothie -- that way I have enough for everyone.  It ends up being about half frozen fruit, which I'm sure to some might be too much, but it helps my kids love it and I'm so not against fruit for a sweetener!  Oh, and the "frozen" component of the fruit is super important because who wants a room temperature smoothie?!  I've done it a few times when I've been out of frozen fruit and I will tell you that it is really not appetizing.  So go to Sam's or Costco and grab that big bag of Dole Wildly Nutritious Blend from the freezer section.

Fruits and veggies -- skin, fiber, all the nutrients, and no added sweeteners.  We love our smoothies!

Oh, and a few have asked for my grandma's french bread recipe, as well as some quick pantry dinners I use regularly.  I have a little blog where I corral recipes that I love (it's not a "cooking blog" with original recipes and witty commentary - just a place for me to keep recipes I have made and love).  I posted those recipes over there.  I'd definitely recommend the Italian Bean Soup and the Good For You Creamy Tomato Soup -- both of them are big hits around these parts.  HERE is the link.  I hope that's helpful!

Wellness Wednesday

Remember when I used to do these semi-frequently?  Well, here's a new one a few years later...

Lily requested waffles for breakfast on a school morning last week.  I wanted them to be healthier than waffles normally are so they wouldn't cause a crash mid-morning during their school lessons. 

Here's my healthified version, adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (the cooking Bible in my world).  My changes and additions are in italics.

Waffles
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp. sugar Splenda
1 Tbsp. baking powder 
2 eggs
1 3/4 c. milk Skim Milk
1 /2 c. cooking oil 1/4 c. Canola Oil
1 tsp. vanilla
3 very ripe bananas

Mix dry ingredients and make a well in center.  Mix wet ingredients (you have to really mix well to puree the bananas) and add all at once to the dry ingredients.  Mix just until blended (will be slightly lumpy).  Cook on waffle maker.
We topped ours with fat free cool whip, sugar free syrup, and fresh strawberries. 

The kids LOVED them and the banana gave them a really nice fall taste.  A great healthy breakfast for a school morning!
Next we need to work on manners...  :)

Wellness Wednesday -- Power Burgers

Once upon a time last year, Stanton and I started following the Abs Diet. It's a good diet, more like a lifestyle. You focus on certain power foods (lean meat, low-fat dairy, vegetables, whole grains...you know, the food guide pyramid) and get one cheat meal per week. We totally loved how we felt while strictly following the lifestyle and even lost a little weight. I even went down a pant size, which was awesome. Overall, though, it was the way we felt that really made us like this diet. Then we went to Hawaii. It was an amazing trip and we loved it. But we ate terribly. Don't get me wrong -- what we ate was delicious. It was also terrible. And when we got home, we never quite got back to the diet. We still follow the basics, whole grains, lean meats, etc. But we never wait for our "cheat day." No, we just sort of graze on the junky stuff all the time and we've gotten out of the habit of daily smoothies and snacks of nuts and fruit. Gee, I think I need to pull the book out again and get us started!
Now, to make a long story short (too late!) -- in spite of being "off" the diet for a few months now, there is one recipe from the book that we eat regularly. It's a much healthier version of a hamburger that tastes even better. My kids love these and so does Stanton. They're full of dark green leafies, whole grains, lean protein, and they really do taste amazing. So, without further ado...

The Abs Diet Power Burger

1 lb. lean (93%) ground beef or lean ground turkey (I usually use the 93% lean turkey, but we've even used turkey breast. It's fine, but the burgers don't hold together very well)
1 egg
1/2 c. oats
1/3 c. diced onion
1/2 c. chopped spinach (I've used fresh and frozen, both are fine, just be sure to drain the frozen)
2 Tbsp. reduced-fat Mexi-blend cheese (or whatever reduced-fat cheese you've got around - you'll want it shredded)
Salt & Pepper

Beat the egg slightly, then mix all the other ingredients in with it. Form into 4 patties and grill as usual. Serve on whole-wheat buns (or even whole-wheat english muffins). Go easy on the condiments, as they pack a lot of calories. A little reduced-fat mayo and some dijon mustard is great. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles and you've got one great burger. These are one of those "healthy" things you can totally serve to guests -- they'll think you got the idea from some grilling magazine.
Yum. Oh, and for a side, how about grilled sweet potato wedges -- just brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Or if you're like us now, post strict diet, russets that swim in olive oil (on a half cookie sheet) on the grill. But don't do that. I'm not going to anymore. :)

Wellness Wednesday -- Creative Ways to Serve Fruit

If your family is anything like mine, they love fruit.  They eat it better than any other food group.  Except maybe the popsicle food group.  Last summer, popsicles were absolutely a food group around here.  I wasn't thrilled about that and was very excited to see that Marie over at Make & Takes had come up with a great alternative.  We call them Grapesicles around here and they have completely dethroned the popsicle.  The kids totally prefer them and ask for these over Otter Pops every time.  They consist of 8" lollipop sticks and grapes.  You thread the grapes on (stick the end with the "hole" in it on first...you know, where the vine was attatched...).  I had to let go of my obsessive "red-green-red-green" need and let the kids make whatever patterns they wanted this morning.  Once you've got them all threaded on, just throw them in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and put them in the freezer overnight.  You'll be enjoying juicy, slushy, good for you popsicles without any mess by the very next day!

Don't mind the belly shot there -- it's getting hard to avoid lately.

The fun doesn't end there, though.  Here's a fun way to serve bananas:  Banana Packages!  Another thing the kids just think is the coolest ever.  Here's how you do it.  I know, I know, pretty complicated.  Thanks to my friend, Amy, for showing me these.

This is me peeling the banana package -- that's only for photographic purposes -- your little ones should totally do that part!

I'm wondering if Bananasicles would work?  Hmmm...have to try that next week!  What?  Something I actually came up with on my own?  Stop the presses!!!

There you have it -- two creative ways to serve fruit.  What do you do to get your family eating good stuff?

First Harvest

Well, first harvest of peas. We've been eating lettuce and spinach for a few weeks already.

I love anything that makes my little ones beg for veggies -- they were loving these last night. Brigham kept saying, "Uh Mo Mama." Makes my day!

And a big shout out to Stanton who has done everything in our garden this year. We're enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Wellness Wednesday

So, every Wednesday (by every Wednesday I mean whenever I feel like it and it might happen to be a Wednesday and it might happen to be once a week), I'm going to do a little recipe makeover or some little healthy living tip. I've got all sorts of fun "Day of the Week" features floating around my brain, so stay tuned for those!

For our inaugural Wellness Wednesday, I will feature what we had for dinner last night. I happen to love The Pioneer Woman. She's witty, her photography is incredible, and her recipes....well, they're nothing short of delicious. Last night we had one of our personal PW favorites: Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich. If you take a look at her recipe, it calls for 2 full sticks of butter. I've done it that way before -- it was delectable. Really, it was. Last night, though, I just couldn't handle the thought of using 1 full cup of butter to feed my family of 5. So, I decided to trim down the recipe a bit and see what the results would be. And the sandwiches were just as good as the original. Seriously! They were fantastic and tender and yummy.

So, if you want the original, delicious, artery clogging, heart attack awaits you momentarily Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich, click here. If you'd like to cheat death for a little longer, here are my heart healthy changes (you'll still have to follow her step by steps -- and you'll enjoy the pictures along the way):

Instead of the butter, I used 1/4 cup olive oil at the very start -- it's quite a lot of oil, but it was sufficient to cook everything -- I never added any more. I heated it up and did the onions like she says, then pulled them out with tongs so most of the oil stayed in the pan. I got it nice and hot and then added my meat. I still used cube steak, as that is a decently lean cut of beef to begin with. I used the same amounts of Worchestershire, Lowry's, and Tobasco (okay, I did about 2-3 shakes for 1.5 lbs. cube steak -I like spicy food, but I like to be able to taste things afterward, too!). At the end, instead of adding another 2 Tbsp. butter, I put in a spoonful of Smart Balance Light, the spread we use in place of butter.

For the buns, I used the whole grain ones from my local Sam's Club. They're not 100% whole wheat, more like 1/2 and 1/2. It's as good as I have found in a store, so I take 'em for what they're worth -- better than white bread. I opened them up and drizzled olive oil on the insides, then put them under the broiler until they were just golden. This made a perfectly soft yet crispy bun for the sandwiches.

I topped the buns with the meat mixture (these sandwiches need nothing in the way of condiments) and we ate like kings. The seasonings are what really make this sandwich special, so losing the butter really didn't make any difference.

I will admit, there was still a fair amount of sodium in these sandwiches, what with the Tobasco, Worchestershire, and Lowry's, but I still think my version is worthy of a weeknight dinner. Simple, easy, lower in calories, higher in fiber, and better for the heart. Oh, and really, really yummy. We'll call them Mindful Mother's Favorite Sandwich.

And 1 1/2 lbs. cube steak was enough for 2 foot long and one 6 inch sandwich. Fed our family of 5 with enough left for Stanton's lunch today.