OHMYGOD it's Pink Strawberry Starburst Smoothie

I have to confess, I am not even sure the pink Starbursts (in the traditional pack, I think there were red, orange, yellow, and pink in there, but they've got all kinds of themed packs/flavors now) are strawberry flavored? Maybe they were strawberry-lemonade? Whatever. Almost everyone I knew when I was a kid liked the pink ones best, followed closely by red, and wished they sold packs of JUST the pink ones.

A 2nd confession, I haven't eaten a Starburst in years, as I'm just not really into fruity candy, and I also tend to avoid things of that consistency to avoid ripping out expensiveass dental work.

But when I made this smoothie a few weeks ago (and again today) and sipped it for the first time, I immediately remembered Pink Starburst! So here you go- end of the indulgent reminiscing and reasoning for the smoothie maybe not tasting EXACTLY like a pink Starburst; you've been warned.

PINK STARBURST SMOOTHIE

1/2 - 3/4 cup water
2 big handfuls of spinach

1/2 scoop Vega vanilla flavored nutritional shake powder

1 banana
Some squeezes of lemon juice
3 handfuls of strawberries with the tops on (unless the tops are crunchy/dried up)
2 handfuls of frozen grapes

Yeah, I know, none of these measurements are exact. You can taste as you go and add more of things as you please- I don't measure when I make a smoothie, I just try not to overflow my blender cup.

In a hand blender: Add the water, spinach, Vega, banana, and lemon juice. Blend it up!
Add a few of the strawberries and blend, a few more, blend, etc. until you've added all of the strawberries.
Then add the frozen grapes and blend again.
You can use frozen strawberries, depending on how cold you want it.

If you're into fruit water, you can soak strawberries and lemons together, and when you're done drinking the water, use the strawberries (and squeeze the lemons) from the fruit water into this. That's how I made it the first time, but I get that not everyone has that just sitting around ;)

Elope with a Cantaloupe Smoothie!

YUM, yum yum! This one came out very good!

I thought by now I would be getting sick of smoothies TWICE a day. Believe it or not, I still look forward to them. Probably because they are always easy and almost always very tasty. And even with 2 scoops of protein powder per smoothie twice a day, I'm more than halfway through the 30 Days to Feeling Fit and still on my first bag. I still have lots of powder left and lots of smoothies in my future.

I love buying new fruits and playing around with combinations.

Ingredients:
1/2-3/4 cup cold water
2 scoops vanilla Arbonne protein powder
1/2 scoop Arbonne fiber boost
1 cup (a few fistfulls) of spinach leaves
1 tsp bee pollen (not necessary for taste but add it if you appreciate the nutritional benefits)
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/2 cup Simply Orange fortified orange juice (you can probably sub more orange extract + 1/2 cup water if you don't want the 55 calories from this)
1/2 cup frozen grapes
about 1 cup cantaloupe- we had it cut into slices of various lengths and 3/4" tall; I used 5 of them.

Directions:
I do this in a hand blender with a stainless steel cup....
1. Add water, Arbonne powders, spinach, bee pollen, orange extract, and OJ (or extract + extra water if you're using that) and blend.
2. Add the frozen grapes and blend.
3. Add the cantaloupe and blend, and let it go for a minute or two even after you don't see chunks- just to get it as smooth as possible.

This one is definitely a keeper and one of my favorites! And I'm not even really a fan of cantaloupe. I bet this would be good with a carrot mixed in, too.

Grape, Banana & Berry Smoothie

Some of my smoothies were getting sort of boring... I guess when I'm always using the vanilla Arbonne, that will always tend to have a certain taste, and then always mixing with fruit... well, you get the idea. I've tried some varieties with apples and cinnamon, and they're ok, but so far nothing to write home (or blog) about.

Today's was pretty simple and spectacular though.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup water
2 scoops vanilla Arbonne protein powder
1/2 scoop Arbonne fiber boost
1 cup of spinach leaves (that's a guess... I take a few fistfuls and shove it in there).
1/2 cup Simply Orange fortified orange juice
1 tsp bee pollen (not necessary but it's good for you)
1/2 medium banana
1/2 cup frozen green seedless grapes
1/3 cup frozen blackberries

Directions:
Add water, arbonne powders, bee pollen (if desired), orange juice, and spinach to your smoothie cup or blender, an blend until smooth. Then add the banana and grapes and blend again. Add the black berries and blend until smooth, then another minute or two for good measure.

I don't usually add fruit juice to smoothies because I feel like it's sort of a waste of calories. Isn't it better to just add the real fruit? More nutritious and whatnot? With the case of oranges, though, I honestly found that as far as taste is concerned, the juice- to me- is better. I haven't compared different ones, but my husband bought Simply Orange to make mimosas recently, so it's just what we had around. 1 cup of it is 110 calories, which can be a lot depending on what else is in your smoothie. Cutting back to 1/2 cup gives you only 55 cals and still a good dose of the flavor. Considering my orange and banana smoothie was a total miss, and two oranges equaled a LOT of calories (I added an extra when I tasted it with just one and it had hardly any orange flavor at all!), I like the idea of getting more intense orange flavor with fewer calories with the OJ. I also recently bought orange extract, but I haven't tried any yet. If you don't want the calories from OJ, that is probably another good option.

Wanna-Be Pumpkin Pie Smoothie that is bland as hell

Tried another new recipe last night. A few days ago I had looked at Arbonne's "30 days feeling fit" guide and they had some smoothie recipes in there. I was trying to remember one of them last night when I made a 2nd smoothie for the day, but I was lacking some ingredients. The recipe calls for vanilla yogurt, which I didn't have. But then I remembered the guide saying to avoid dairy, and isn't yogurt dairy? So I figured maybe it was best I didn't have the yogurt anyway? I don't know.

Wanna-Be Pumpkin Pie Smoothie that is bland as hell

Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
Arbonne vanilla protein powder packet
1/2 cup Coconut milk
1 teaspoon bee pollen
1 1/2-2 tablespoons honey
2 handfuls of spinach
dash of vanilla
1/3 can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just pumpkin)
like a teaspoon or more of cinnamon
generous sprinkling of nutmeg

I blended all of this together in hopes it would taste like pumpkin pie.... but not quite. It wasn't terrible, just... bland. Oh, and kind of warm, since the only cold items were the liquids and spinach.

I was sipping it and kept adding more cinnamon and nutmeg, then tried to imagine I was actually eating pumpkin pie, or maybe just a pumpkin spice drink from any number of coffee places. I tried to think what would make my drink taste more like those, and it hit me: Sugar. Lots of it. It seemed counter productive to add sugar to something that is supposed to be healthy though. I was sort of generous with the honey, but that wasn't enough. If I had had the yummy vanilla greek yogurt that I usually keep around OR some vanilla ice cream, I think this drink would have been AMAZING.

But what do vanilla yogurt and ice cream have in them that my smoothie didn't have? ...Sweeteners. I'm not sure why I was so against putting some sweetener into my smoothie, yet if I had put the yogurt in there that would already contain some sort of sweetener, I would have been okay with it.

Maybe part of it is just avoiding the habit of adding sugar to things.

ANOTHER green smoothie

Still working on ideas for Arbonne shakes... I've signed up to do a "30 days to feeling fit" which means drinking 2 shakes a day!

Ingredients:
1/2-3/4 cup of the Cucumberade I made yesterday (for reference.... basically it's lemon juice, lime juice, cucumber)
1 package Arbonne vanilla protein shake mix
1 teaspoon pee pollen
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1/2 can of pineapple chunks, including 1/2 of the juice(the small can... about 1 1/2" tall)
2 small handfuls cucumber slices
2 bigass strawberries, including the green tops
2 handfuls of grapes

I added everything but the strawberries and grapes, blended it up, then added the strawberries, more blending, then the grapes. Keep blending til smooth. This one was really yummy!!!

Another green smoothie

I try to write these down in case I'm ever needing ideas...

This morning I made the "Cucumberade" from my Cool Waters recipe book.

Part of this recipe involved pureeing a cucumber along with a cup of water, juice from a lemon, a lime, and a teeny sprinkle of salt. (I used a key lime from my lime tree.) After you puree the stuff, you run it through a sieve into a pitcher with more water. (There is more to it than that... but I don't want to infringe on copyright by accidentally publishing their whole recipe here!)

After extracting the liquid, I obviously had all this citrus-flavored cucumber pulp left. I thought that'd be pretty tasty in a smoothie!

Ingredients:
About 1/2 cup water
1 package Arbonne vanilla protein shake mix
Then dumped in another 1/2 cup water on top of that
1 quantity leftover pulp from making Cucumberade
2 handfuls of baby spinach
An apple

I blended everything minus the apple together first- it didn't have much flavor at that point, so I looked around to see what we had and spied an apple that's been sitting around for a couple weeks. I added the apple to give it a little extra... something. It's not a super sweet smoothie or very strong, so the flavor is quite mild in this one. But the cucumber and apple went surprisingly well together- this was a red delicious apple, not a tart one, which may explain why the pairing worked?

I think this could also work with coconut water versus plain water.

Deleeeeeshus Overnight Oats

I've seen variations of this ALL over Pinterest. I have no idea whose recipe it was originally, and I didn't even pin one myself to reference. I saw a few different ones and got the basic idea, then made my own, in a quantity that fills me up on a morning when I wake up hungry!

This recipe is totally unspecific since it's so adaptable. But the basics are:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not the quick oats- the ones that take like 5-10 mins to cook)
1/3 cup Chobani (or your preferred brand) Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1/4 - 1/3 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk (or other milk of your choosing)
1-2 Tbsp honey (raw, creamed, flavored... up to you, and how sweet you like it!)
Handful of chopped fruit, fresh berries, etc. (Strawberries work well, so do raspberries, apples, blueberries...)
Optional: Various spices, jams, dried fruits

Directions:

1. Add the oats, yogurt, coconut milk, and honey to a jar or container with a lid- or you can wrap with plastic wrap, but that seems so wasteful. Mix well and adjust yogurt and coconut milk to your desired consistency. Since this is eaten cold, I think it's better when it's thicker!
2. Add some of the chopped fruit and mix again. Then add the rest of the chopped fruit. You can mix it again, or leave the rest of the chopped fruit on top. (I like to mix it twice, keeping some of it separated, so some of it gets more incorporated and starts to fall apart a little, while the fruit on top so it stays more whole.)
3. You can also experiment and add things like: Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, almond extract, vanilla extract, raisins, craisins & various other dried fruits, jams/preserves/jelly etc. for MORE flavor!
4. Cover and place in the fridge over night. When you wake up the next morning, you have a yummy breakfast waiting for you!

This is my favorite honey to use for this recipe! It's from a local company here in Virginia (I love supporting my locals), but they ship, too! Some of it might seem pricey, but trust me, it is worth. every. penny. The spiced version shown here contains cinnamon/clove flavors and I like it with strawberries or apples (it tastes like pie). Another wonderful variety is their almond honey. It's fantastic in the overnight oats with raspberries!
Here's where you can order some, too:
http://stores.homestead.com/hstrial-SMitchell/Categories.bok?category=Creamed%20Honey

Oh. And yes. You DO see a bee on the end of the spoon :)

Veggie Chili in the Crock Pot

This is super easy and, of course, good for you too!

Ingredients:
1 Jalapeño Pepper - finely chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper - chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper - chopped
1 Small Yellow Onion - chopped
(you can add more bell peppers if you want!)
1 15oz can of Corn - drained
1 20oz can of Diced Tomatoes & Chilis - drained
1 can Black Beans,
1 can Garbanzo Beans
1 cab Kidney Beans
8 oz. Vegetarian Baked Beans
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Chili Powder < careful, it's hot!
1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper < it's hot, too!
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Basil
1 Tbsp Parsley

Directions:
Drain and rinse beans, if needed.
Dump everything into the crockpot and cook on high for about 4 hours.



I have only cooked with canned beans and don't know much about using dried beans. If you have some tips, please post them in the comments! Thanks :)

Mediterranean Cous Cous

I served this with Spiced Curry Shrimp and Mediterranean Kale and it was wonderful together.

Mediterranean Cous Cous

Ingredents:
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp ground Cumin
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 cup water or vegetarian broth (I used the reserved liquid from the steamer when my kale was done cooking)
2/3 cup Cous Cous
2 Tbsp Parsley
2 Roma Tomatoes, seeded and cubed (um... if you don't have tomatoes handy, you can do what I did and throw in a few tablespooons of salsa!!!)
Lemon Juice
Pine Nuts

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil and add cumin. Stir for a few minutes, then add salt and broth (or water) and bring that to a boil. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in the cous cous and cover the pot tightly. Let stand off any heat for 5 minutes.
3. Remove cover and fluff cous cous with a fork. 
4. Add parsley, tomatoes (or salsa!) and a couple of squirts of lemon juice. 
5. Add some pine nuts... You can decide how crunchy you want it to be. I added lots because I enjoy lots of flavor and texture :)

Prep from start to finish: About 7 minutes. Nice and quick! Easy, too!

Spiced Curry Shrimp

Not vegetarian obviously.....
I served this with Mediterranean Cous Cous and Mediterranean Kale.
This makes a marvelous meal (for about 3 people, when served with side dishes)

Spiced Curry Shrimp

Ingredients:
2 lbs Medium Frozen Shrimp, deveined
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Cumin
1 tsp Curry
1 1/2 tsp paprika
3 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cloves minced Garlic
1/2 cup water
lemon juice
crapload of chopped up cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil and cayenne, cumin, and paprika in a skillet big enough to fit all deez shrimps. I had the heat on Med.
2. When it heats up, add the shrimps (you can pull off the tails if you like, or leave them on- but this dish is pretty messy to have to pull them off by hand. However, I've heard leaving them on adds a flavor... so it's up to you) and the garlic and stir it for a few minutes.
3.  Add a couple of squirts of lemon juice. Stir for a minute or so-just go by how your shrimp are looking. You don't want them getting over done and rubbery.
4. Then add in the water.
5. Now turn the heat up to 6-7 (Med-High) and stir it and let it bubble rapidly until most of the liquid has evaporated away. It only took maybe 5 minutes or so. I also added in a little more cumin and a lot more cayenne since I wanted them spicy! I tasted a couple as i went along...
6. When most of the liquid is gone, add in the chopped cilantro and toss it all together.
7. You can also use some cilantro as a garnish.

Time that it took me to begin preparing the entire meal until it was served: 1 hour.

Awesome Quiche(s)!

A few months ago, we thought a quiche might be fun to make. WE WERE RIGHT! We just started throwing in all the veggies we could think of, and different cheeses, too. Therefore, I don't think we've ever made it the exact same way twice- so use this is merely a guide :)

If you're serving dinner for 6, with a side salad and some side dishes, this should do you about right.

Ingredients:
2 Deep Dish Pie Crusts from the freezer section at the grocery
1 container of Egg Beaters' All Whites Egg Whites
5-6 eggs
1/2 cup Skim Milk
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 of a medium sized Onion (or... a Leek!)
1 Red or Yellow Bell Pepper
1 package sliced Mushrooms
4-6 Roma Tomatoes (or sub in some cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes)
1 package of chopped frozen Spinach (the kind that looks like a brick) OR a few handfuls of chopped fresh baby spinach
Salt, to taste
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese (I used mild cheddar from Trader Joe's- fantastic)
1 package of diced up ham bits from the deli section (omit for the vegetarian version..... obviously)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Stick the bottoms of the pie crusts with a fork a few times. Then put them into the oven and cook them for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile....
Chop onion/leeks, bell pepper, and tomatoes into small pieces. Saute in skillet with olive oil a few minutes. Add in mushrooms. Keep sauteeing until tender.

If using frozen spinach, defrost spinach. Squeeze excess water out of spinach.
Dump 3/4 container of egg whites into a big bowl. Add eggs. Add milk. Whisk together.
Add the sauteed onion, pepper, tomato, and mushrooms. Add spinach. Stir again.
If desired, add a little salt, to taste.
Dump in ham bits and stir together.
Add cheese and stir to combine..
When all the ingredients are mixed up, use a deep spoon and spoon the mixture into the pie shells.
Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees. Quiche is done when it has risen a bit and the middle is solid.

If you like, you can take the quiche out a few minutes before it's done and sprinkle some shredded cheese on top and cook it another 10 minutes. We aren't huge fans of that though... odd.... considering John's cheese obsession and all.

Prep time: 30 minutes. Cook time: 35-45 minutes.

Salad with Grape Tomatoes and Hearts of Palm

One of my favorites. Hearts of palm are sort of similar to an artichoke heart. They're insanely delicious. They are also high in fiber content and low in calories... Can I get a "hell yeah"?!

Here's a recipe for a single serving.

Salad with Grape Tomatoes and Hearts of Palm
This recipe makes enough for 1 salad.

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Baby Spinach
3/4 Cup Mixed Field Greens
A handful of Grape Tomatoes, halved
5 Sticks Canned Hearts of Palm, sliced horizontally into 1" pieces
1-2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinagraitte Dressing (I use fat free)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in desired proportions.

Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: Zero! Eat it now!!!111

Salad with Oranges and Almonds

I've fixed this salad for a lot of summer picnics and it's always a hit. Very simple to make! Not sure on exact quantities here- so adjust them to your tastes.

Salad with Oranges and Almonds
The following recipe makes enough for 6-8 people, I guess?

Ingredients:
1 or 2 Cans (depending on how orangey and sweet you want it) Mandarin Oranges, drained
Baby Spinach and Mixed Field Greens, enough to fill a large bowl
1/2 Cup Slivered Almonds
Balsamic Vinagraitte Dressing (you can add to the salad or leave out and let people add their own)


Directions:
Combine all ingredients in desired proportions.

Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: Zeeero! Ready in 5 minutes.

Summer Pasta Salad

You can make a vegetarian version of this recipe by leaving out the imitation crab meat.
It's fantastic with or without it!

Summer Pasta Salad
Makes enough for 6-8 people, depending on how much of everything you use.

Ingredients:
1 Small Box of Spaghetti (or other preferred pasta, such as drill bits)
1 Green Bell Pepper, Chopped into Bite-Size Pieces
1 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped into Bite-Size Pieces
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, Chopped into Bite-Size Pieces
1 Can Black Olives, Halved
1 Cup Brocolli Florets, Chopped into Bite-Size Pieces
1 Cup Snow Peas
1/2 Cup Grape Tomatoes, Halved
Other Veggies as desired
1 Package (chunks) Louis Kemp Imitation Crab Meat (if desired)
1/2 to 1 Full Small Bottle Italian Dressing (I use Kraft Free Zesty Italian)

Cook:
Cook entire box of spaghetti as directed on the box. Drain spaghetti, place in a large bowl, and place in the fridge to cool.

Place vegetables into a microwavable container. Add a little bit of water to the container, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on High for about 3-4 minutes- just enough time to lightly steam the vegetables (or use a metal steamer). Vegetables should still be firm- don't over cook them.

Drain the vegetables and let them cool.

Break apart the crab meat into smaller chunks, slightly smaller than bite size (you can do this while the vegetables are cooking).

Mix the pasta, vegetables, crab meat, and 1/2 of the bottle of Italian dressing together in a very large bowl.
Adjust the Italian dressing to taste.

Refridgerate the pasta salad and let it cool completely before eating.
Prep Time: 1/2 hour. Cook time: 15 minutes.

Chayote Squash with Pine Nuts

We discovered the sheer joy and happiness that comes from the Chayote Squash last summer. They look like a pear, but have a more firm consistency similar to an apple. And in the middle? A scrumptious little seed that you can cook along with the squash and give it a more nutty flavor. Hence why this past weekend, I decided to try the squash with some toasted Pine Nuts. Oh, yes!!!! Sooo good.

Chayote Squash with Pine Nuts
This recipe serves 2-3 people as a side dish.

Ingredients:
2 medium to large chayote squash (the size of apples or larger)
1/3 cup Pine Nuts
2 Tbsp. Extra virgin Olive Oil

Cook:
Cut the chayotes into bite size pieces.

Heat the EVOO in a large skillet, over medium-low heat.

Add the squash to the pan and cook for a few minutes, then add in the pine nuts.
Continue to cook over medium-low heat and turn the squash and nuts frequently. The nuts will fall to the bottom of the mixture and continue to sit on the hot surface of the pan, making them nice and toasted.
The chayotes are done when tender and can be easily stabbed with a fork, like a cooked apple. I like to get them a little browned, too, if I can, sometimes increasing the heat a little to do so.

Prep time: About 10 minutes to cut up the chayotes. Cook time: 20 minutes. Ready in about 30-40 minutes, depending on how long you cook your chayotes.

Mediterranean Kale

I got this recipe from the site http://www.whfoods.org/ . It's one of my favorite cooking/food websites. I try to make one of their recipes at least once a week, even if just a side dish, because I like trying new things- especially new HEALTHY things!

Mediterranean Kale
This makes enough to serve 2-3 people as a side dish.
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=95


Ingredients:
2 bunches of kale (i used enough to fill up my metal steamer)
2 tablespoons* of lemon juice
1 teaspoon* of soy sauce (i use kikkoman less-sodium soy sauce)
3 medium cloves* of garlic, pressed
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

* Adjust these to your taste... the great thing about this recipe is you can start off by adding the flavorings little by little to the kale and if it's not strong enough, gradually add more until it tastes how you want.
In my case i only used 1 clove of garlic, but that's because i really don't care much for garlic at all.

Cook:
Prepare your kale by washing it thoroughly, then discard the thick stalks of the leaves. I ripped my kale into 2"-3" sized pieces.
Bring salted water to a boil, and then steam kale in a steamer over the water for 7-9 minutes or until it is tender.
Toss in a bowl with the other ingredients (add them all at once, or just add them gradually if you're unsure). Serve.

Yum!

Prep time: 15 or so minutes (if you're like me... I am not a fast kale washer-cutter-upper.) Cook time: <>

Seasoned Kale

If you're like me, you probably eat more than your fair share of Ramen noodles. And if you're really ghetto (like me), you sometimes eat them raw as a snack.
Yum!

But what to do with the left over flavor packet? I have just zee theeng!

Ghetto Kale
This makes enough to serve 2-3 people as a side dish.

Ingredients:
1 Ramen Noodles seasoning packet*
3-ish cups water
Kale

*for vegetarian version, use Top Ramen Oriental flavoring (i am pretty sure this is vegetarian, someone correct me if i'm wrong!) or a vegetarian bouillon cube, etc. :)

Cook:
Wash your kale throroughly.
Rip it off the stalks and into 2"-3" sized pieces.

Boil water in a small saucepan. Pour in the seasoning packet.

Place your kale into a metal steamer (I always use a metal steamer to cook my kale- I've tried it a few ways and it always comes out best this way). Place the steamer over the boiling water, reduce the heat of the water a little (cause you don't want too much to evaporate), and steam for 8-9 minutes or until it starts to become tender.

Take the kale out of the steamer and add it to the the boiling seasoned water for an additional minute.

Pour everything into a collander (or do what I did and just use the steamer to drain your kale) and serve!

Prep time: 15 or so minutes (if you're like me... I am not a fast kale washer-cutter-upper.) Cook time: 10 minutes. Ready in about 25 minutes.