Green Mango Pineapple Smoothie

Our Meal 3 (or lunch) today was Green Mango Pineapple Smoothies!  (Yes, my husband wanted one too!)

Ingredients:

• 1-2 cups greens (Spinach/kale)
• 1/2 - 1 Mango
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup Pineapple
• Juice from 1 Orange
• Chia Gel (1 TB Chia Seeds soaked in 1/4 cup water for 10 minutes)

Just 157 Calories, 39g of Good Carbs and 4g of Protein.

I used lots of green, you can go lighter on the greens per your taste.  Just get 'em in there!

Green Mango Pineapple Smoothie

Spruce up your water: Homemade Citrus Electrolyte Drink

Around here, we like Powerade.  But after reading the back and seeing how much sodium and sugar is in one of those things, I decided to start making my own.  This recipe you can use as a drink itself, or make into ice cubes and add a couple to your water to spruce it up a bit.  I know sometimes drinking enough water can be difficult, it does get boring after awhile.  This will help!  

Ingredients:

• Orange Juice (Fresh is best!) about 1/2 cup
• Lemon Juice (The fresher the better) about 1/4 cup
• 1/2 - 1 TB Honey (to your taste)
• Dash of salt
• Enough water to make 3 cups total liquid (about 2 1/4)

Directions:

• Blend ingredients
• Pour into Ice Cube trays

• Freeze
• Put in water, enjoy!

Marinated Cilantro Lime Barbecued Chicken and Corn on the Cob

Here in WA we actually had some decent weather today.  Well, Washington decent.  It got up to 70 degrees, which was nice.  Right now we're in an upstairs apartment, so it heats up pretty quickly.  I did not feel like cooking dinner and making things even warmer.  So, next best thing... BBQ time!

First I made a marinade for the chicken.  Vinegar, Olive Oil, Garlic, Onions, Cilantro, Fresh Lime Juice and Cumin.  Toss the chicken, let it sit and make magic.

Then I soaked some corn on the cob for about 20 minutes.

After they were done soaking, I put them on foil, drizzled some Olive Oil and a little bit of salt and wrapped them up.  The corn cooked for about 25 minutes, the chicken took a little longer.  But it was oh so worth the wait!

An ear of corn has about 115 calories and 4oz of chicken has about 120.  Together this is 235 Calories, 28g Protein and only 4g Fat.  If you are trying to stay low carb though, stay away from corn.  Unfortunately it is high in carbs.  But fruit/veggies carbs are better than bread carbs :)  

Whole Delicious Chicken Salad

Eating healthy does NOT have to be boring or tasteless.  This chicken salad I made today was fabulous!  I had some leftover chicken sitting in the fridge I had cooked up in the slow cooker the other night.  Along with fresh organic grapes, organic raisins and sunflower seeds, this salad was exactly what I was hungry for.  This has 20g protein, 2g Fat and just 153 Calories.

You could add some Greek Yogurt to this and make it creamier but I thought it was just fine without.

Ingredients:

• 3oz Cooked Chicken (shredded is better)
• 8-10 Grapes
• Small Handful Raisins
• TB Sunflower Seeds (raw, unsalted)

YUM!

Green Berrylicious Smoothie

My Green Smoothie today, for Meal 3.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Spinach
• 1/2 cup Strawberries
• 1/4 cup Blackberries
• 1/4 cup Blueberries
• 1/2 Banana
• 1 TB Goji Berries

A full glass, just 131 calories.

Week 1 Groceries, CSAs & Co-Ops

I've been trying different Co-Ops, CSAs, etc trying to find a good one around here for fresh, local and organic produce.  First I tried Full Circle.  While their food was fabulous and delivered to my door, it was way overpriced for what I got.  I was glad I had used a coupon code I found for 50% off.  They have several sizes to choose from, the one I got was $27.95 for 1 Bunch of Broccoli, .33lb Mixed Greens, 1 Cucumber, 4oz Mushrooms, 1 Green Leaf Lettuce, 1 Swiss Chard, 2 Fuji Apples, 3 Navel Oranges.  I forgot to take a picture, but that's not much food for almost $30.

Then I tried Olympia Local Foods and was much happier.  I got all this for just under $40, delivered to my door for $0.01.  Still a little high priced but I did get to pick and choose what I wanted.  It's set up like an online store and you pick what you want.

This week, I found a local CSA Blissfully Organic Co-Op and ordered a share from them.  *Happy Dance!* Much, much better!  $22.50 for everything seen here.  They're just a few minute drive away from me so it worked out pretty nice.

I wanted to see how this breaks down price wise.  As much as I like local, organic produce, I have a budget, too.

If I would have purchased all this from Winco (Not local, not organic) I would have paid $19!  So, for only an extra $3.50 I have much better quality, Organic produce!  That works for me!

Yesterday I also bought just under 6lbs of chicken breast from Safeway for $11.99 and a box of Green Tea for $2.50.  Green Tea is supposed to be really good for weight loss, so I am going to add it to my diet.  

I finished up my grocery shopping at Winco today for the week (hopefully, but not promising).  I bought Spinach, Kale, Cantaloupe, Ginger Root, Cauliflower, Sunflower Seeds and Dry Garbanzo Beans for $9.96.

So, here it is.  For the week (and I'll let you know if I buy anything else, I usually do):

Bananas

Strawberries

Apples

Mango

Grapes

Limes

Cantaloupe

Eggplant

Onions

Mushrooms

Red Leaf Lettuce

Kale

Spinach

Cauliflower

Chicken

Various Dried Beans

Of course I still have stuff around the house from previous weeks, but so far I've spent $46.95.  My goal budget is $75-$100.  This is to include breakfast/lunches for my husband and son, which you will not see, as I am only sharing my meals.  My husband is eating dinners with me, my son eats what he eats.  I use coupons to save money on what he needs.  

So, here we go!

Berry Fruitful Smoothie

Today I was craving something sweet and instead of my first impulse to make cookies, I decided to make myself a good ol' berry smoothie.  I decided not to put any greens in it but I did add some superfood Goji Berries.

Ingredients:

• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• 1/2 Banana
• Goji Berries
• Water

Chocolate Peanut Butter Green Smoothie

This smoothie today was delicious!  Thank you Unconventional Kitchen for the idea!  I adjusted it a little bit, as I always like to do.

Ingredients:

• Spinach
• 1 Banana
• 1/2 cup Strawberries
• 1 TB Cocoa Powder
• 1 TB PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter (Seriously, this stuff has 85% less calories than Peanut Butter.  It's the way to go!)
• A few Goji Berries
• Water

Directions:

• Blend and enjoy sweet, chocolately, peanut butterly deliciousness!

Healthier Oatmeal Banana Cookies

I had some bananas sitting around that desperately needed to get used.  I had enough to make our favorite Heavenly Vegan Banana bread (I will post about this later) but I still had a few bananas left over.  What should I make?  Ah yes.  Cookies!  So here is my next Kid Approved (and Dad too): Healthier Cookies recipe.

Healthier Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups flour (I used whole wheat, rice and all purpose but you can use any one of these)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 TB Greek Yogurt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup mashed bananas (I used 2.5 bananas, it was a little over 1 cup)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups oats (I used quick cooking but old fashioned is fine)
• 1/2 cup your favorite ingredient! (I used butterscotch chips, but feel free to use chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, raisins, cranberries, walnuts, etc)

Directions:

• Mix Yogurt, honey and brown sugar.  Stir in egg, banana and vanilla.  In separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Add to batter, mix.  Add oats and favorite ingredient.  
• Drop tablespoonfulls onto cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350*F for 10-12 minutes
• Enjoy!

My recipe was adapted from these Lowfat Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Healthier Dark Chocolate Dream Cookies

I am working on making a Kid Approved (and Dad too): Healthy Cookies recipe book.  My son adores cookies, but then again what kid doesn't?  However, I really don't want to fill him full of sugar and empty calories.  So, if he's going to eat them...  He may as well get some good out of it too.  Here's a recipe I tried today.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter (I used half Dark Chocolate, half White Chocolate) (go here for a coupon!)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tb flax meal
• 2 Tb chia seeds (order here)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 Tb warm water
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Direction:

• Preheat oven to 350*F
• Combine all ingredients in bowl
• Spoon by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet
• Bake for 10-12 minutes
• Let cool on sheet for a few minutes before removing to cooling rack

Makes about 12 cookies, if you can keep from eating the batter :)

You can find the original recipe for these cookies here.