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Spinach Smoothie

July 16, 2012 By 24 Comments

Ok, this is going to be a little longer than usual for a recipe post, but I feel it’s very important to convey just how delicious AND healthy this smoothie is. I’ve had this recipe pinned for about 6 months now and as you see below I was a little afraid of it.

But then July rolled along and a little peekity-boo at the calendar told me that there was only 32 days until Blogher, and I looked down at my love handles and oddly enough, I didn’t feel love towards them. It was time to pull out my Jillian Michaels DVD and lay off the sangria. *sob* And that’s how I ended up back at this smoothie which was posted by Iowa Mom Eats originally.

I gathered up all the ingredients I needed and my seven year old and I set about making it.

“This is going to be gross Ava. I’m seriously afraid.”
“Oh Mommy, this looks yucky”
“Okay kid, we’ll never know unless we try”

And then we tasted it…….

“This is really good”
“I can only taste banana and peanut butter Mommy”
“I know! I can’t taste a speck of spinach in this”

And then the angels sang on high. Okay, I’m kidding about the angels. What I’m not kidding about is this, I felt FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC all day. I had energy to burn and my 2 pm crash never came. Plus, I was getting a whole lotta greens at one sitting. Yup, I’m sold on the spinach smoothie.

Spinach Smoothie

1 frozen sliced banana
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 cup 0% fat vanilla or plain Greek yogurt
1 cup unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, or skim milk or soy milk
4 cups baby spinach

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

If you’re having a hard time getting past the green, put it in a dark glass or ask yourself, how great do you look in the morning?

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes, Slider, Smoothies, Suzy Homemaker, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Banana Blueberry Muffins

January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There are always bunches and bunches of bananas ripening on my counter. I can’t remember the last time anyone in my house grabbed one to eat. They sit and ripen and then they either get frozen for smoothies or used in muffins and breads. This is my healthy recipe, but I don’t tell the kids that. They just think they’re delicious.

Banana-Blueberry Muffins

1 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed golden yellow sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup 2% milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (3/4 of a cup); stir in milk and vanilla. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Fold in frozen blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean, approx. 25 minutes. Rotate pan half way through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes, Slider, Snacks, Suzy Homemaker Tagged With: , , , ,

Mexican Roasted Chickpeas

January 24, 2012 By 8 Comments

I love chips. I love popcorn with butter. I love crunchy things that are bad for my health. Wait, scratch that, because I now also LOVE roasted chickpeas and they’re good for me! OLE! There’s lots of ways you can flavour your roasted chickpeas and I’ll add more in the future. For now though, try this version and tell me if you don’t think your chips look a little dull afterwards.

Mexican Roasted Chickpeas

2 19-0unce cans chickpeas (rinsed well and blotted dry with paper towels)
4-5 teaspoons chili powder
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tbsps fresh lime juice
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsps cumin
1-2 tbsps chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Spread chickpeas out in a single layer over the foil. Pleasantville note: Remember the drier they are when you put them in the oven the better. Bake chickpeas for 40 minutes or so, tossing chickpeas every 15 minutes or so. Near end of roasting time, check for doneness by removing a couple and letting them cool for a minute. They are done if they are crunchy all the way through. If still soft they need a few more minutes.

While chickpeas are roasting prepare spice mixture in a large bowl, whisking to combine. When chickpeas are done, remove from oven and let cool for a minute or two, before tossing them in bowl with spice mixture to cover well. Eat immediately or store in an airtight container (once cooled completely) to eat later.

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