breakfast smoothies/ workout recovery smoothies

Very Green Smoothie
1/2 cup carrot, ginger, lemon juiced in juicer
1 handful of spinach
1 handful of kale
1 cup greek yogurt (I like honey sweetened)
1 Tablespoon Very Green - Trader Joe's green supplement

Berry/Mango

1/2 of a banana

1/2 cup frozen berries

1/2 cup frozen mango

1 cup almond milk or lowfat milk

1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder

Greens/Berry 

1/2 cup berries

1/2 cup mango

1/2 cup spinach or kale (if you freeze fresh kale and then add it to your smoothie it crumbles into it nicely)

1 cup almond milk

1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

Almond Berry

1/2 cup frozen berries

1/2 of a banana

1/2 cup frozen mango

1 Tbsp. almond butter

1 cup almond milk

1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

Blend until smooth

Chili/Lime Chicken with Grilled Veggies and Cumin Black Beans

Tonight I threw these together last minute and worked out pretty good. It has a nice spice to warm you up on a cold winter night.

Black Beans
4 cups dry black beans
1 onion chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
1 Tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. sriracha sauce or cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. lime juice
5 leaves of sage chopped finely
3 sprigs of thyme chopped finely

Black beans directions
Black Beans need to soak overnight or 6-8 hours. Drain the beans and pour into a large saucepan. Pour 10 cups of water over the beans. Chop onions, mince garlic and add the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil, turn down and let simmer for half hour. Check the beans after a half hour and cook until beans are soft. Then pour most of liquid out and allow the rest simmer off. Add more seasonings to taste.

Grilled Veggies
2 Peppers cut in large slices
2 onions halved and then halved again
1 pound of mushrooms
2 zucchinis sliced
olive oil
salt and pepper
Skewer sticks

Grilled veggies directions
Toss all the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put the grilled veggies on the skewers and grill until they are browned.

Chicken
2 chicken Breasts
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. sriracha
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 sprig of thyme chopped finely
2 garlic cloves
pepper

Chicken directions
Combine all ingredients in saucepan and cook over medium high until cooked thoroughly. If the liquid dries up, add a little bit of water or more lime juice. Then slice up chicken and put back in saucepan. Then add veggies and toss in lime sauce along with chicken.

Put a scoop if beans in bowl top with chicken, veggies and finally cilantro. Shredded mozzarella cheese is a good addition as well.

Shrimp Tacos

Shrimp tacos are good any time of year but especially in the summer. I came up with this recipe this summer when Colby's folks came to visit and we all loved the combination. Enjoy!

16oz shrimp
Half onion chopped
5 small bell peppers
1/2 cup Corn
1/2 cup cucumbers chopped
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
1 lime
3 garlic cloves
1/8 tsp cumin
Sriracha sauce
Maple syrup
Pepper and salt
Mango peach salsa (or whatever your favorite salsa is)
Cheese optional
7 tacos

Sauté onions, peppers, garlic, lime juice, sriracha and small amount of maple syrup.

Combine cucumbers, cilantro, lime juice and toss together.
Sauté garlic, water and cumin. Then add shrimp, lime juice, pepper and cook until done.

Serves: 2

P90X info:
475 calories for 3 tacos
640 calories for 4 tacos

Chai Tea

Chai tea is a wonderful winter drink! Chai tea made from scratch is even more amazing. It is so flavorful and you get to choose your own sweetness. Go to a good bulk section to look for these items.

For my Reno friends: Cost Plus has really cheap spices. You can purchase 6 nutmegs for .99 and cardamom for 3.99. Costco has the best prices for cinnamon sticks. :)

Ingredients:
1 small Nutmeg grated
2 Star Anise Seed
2 Tbsp. cardamom pods, whole
1 Tbsp. cloves, whole
1 Tbsp. cardamom seeds
1 Tbsp. crystalized ginger
1 Tbsp. peppercorns
1 Tbsp. allspice, whole

1 Cinnamon stick - crushed in chunky pieces
3/4 cup black tea (loose leaf), (or 9 tea bags) 

I put all of these ingredients in a coffee grinder until they are coarsely ground. I like my chai strong so I put 1 1/2 Tbsp. with 8oz of milk. I prefer to heat mine stove top with the tea steeping the whole time.  

Serving Size: 16

healthful eating

My friend asked me the other day for some tips on cooking more healthy so I came up with a short list and some resources for that.
Baking alternative tips:
Oil/ Butter: Apple sauce
White Flour: Whole wheat flour
Sugar: Honey/Maple Syrup
Eggs: Flaxmeal
-In baking you can substitute eggs with flaxmeal by using 1T flax with 2 T water- let sit for a min before adding to rest of ingredients
-Make sure to buy whole flaxseed and grind them yourself. Make sure to refrigerate or freeze flax seed and flaxmeal

Cooking/ Stove top Alternatives:
Oil/ Butter : Use chicken/veggie broth/ herbs/ lemon when cooking veggies.
White pasta: whole wheat pasta or whole grain pasta

Buying beans in bulk and cook them that way- saves money and it is more healthful

Sweetener Alternatives: sweeteners list

A guide to healthy substitutes: alternative list

Top 10 produce to eat organically: produce list

whole wheat honey bread/pizza dough

Dry Ingredients:

5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 

2 Tbsp. Flax meal (optional)

4 Tbsp. Vital Wheat Gluten

1 Tbsp. Sea salt

Wet Ingredients:

1.5 Tbsp granulated yeast

4 cups warm water (about 100 degrees F)

1/4 cup honey or raw sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

Mix yeast, water and honey- allow to sit for a few minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. Mix other dry ingredients separately in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture and olive oil to dry ingredients. Mix until blended. Let rise in a large bowl for 1.5-2 hours or until top of dough flattens. You can also choose to put the dough in the fridge, in a large plastic container(loosely sealed) and it will keep for two weeks.

For loaf bread: Preheat oven to 425, place grapefruit sized ball of dough in pregreased pan, parchement or on floured pizza stone and bake for 30 min- until golden brown

For pizza: Preheat oven to 425. Roll out dough to desired thickness on parchment paper. Par-bake for 5-7 minutes. Add toppings and back for another 10 min or until cheese and edges of the crust become slightly golden. 

Variations: I will add to the dry mixtures a couple tablespoons of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, caraway, sunflower seeds or rosemary( or other fresh herbs).

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls from Jean-Claire Baarspul

Rolls:
5 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato or yam
2 tbs. orange zest
1-2 tsp of almond or vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
2 packages yeast
1 cup very warm milk
1/4 cup butter softened
1 large egg

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 to 4 tsp water

Filling:
2 TBS butter
i don't measure these, but i add, cinnamon, nutmeg a little bit of cloves and ginger and about 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup nuts (your choice) I did a mix of walnuts, pecans and almonds

Directions
mix for about 1 minute 4 cups flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. add the warm milk and let sit 5 min. Then add 1/4 cup butter, sweet potato, orange zest, extract and the egg. beat with an electric mixture on low, 1 minute, scraping frequently. beat on medium one more minute, stir in remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.
knead dough about 5 minutes or until springy. place in large greased bowl, turned to coat, cover with plastic wrap or towel and let rise for about 1 hour 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
Punch down dough, flatten into 15x10 inch rectangle on lightly floured surface. spread 2 tbs butter and then sprinkle evenly the cinnamon and brown sugar. , roll up tightly, the long way. pinch edge to seal. use floss or string ( I just use a knife) to cut into 5 1-inch slices. place in 13x9 inch baking pan. let rise again for about 30 minutes and bake, Or place into refrigerator over night, for fresh cinnamon rolls on christmas morning!
in morning, turn oven on to 200 degrees. when it comes to temp, turn it off, and place the pan of rolls inside. leave for 30 minutes until doubled in size. take out of oven. preheat it again to 400 degrees. place rolls back in oven and bake for 10 min, then flip, glaze and bake another 5-7 min let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.