Banana Apple Oatmeal Smoothie

*recipe from Vita-mix cookbook (it came with our blender)

preparation: 10 min.- Processing: 30 seconds-
Yield: 2 1/4 cups (540 ml)

1 cup (240 ml) water
1/4 cup (60 g) vanilla yogurt
1/2 banana, pealed
2 tablespoons (20 g)uncooked quick oats
1/2 medium apple, 3 1/2 oz (100 g) seeded, halved
1/4 cup (30 g) dried cranberries
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon


1. place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid 

2. select variable 1.

3. press start and slowly increase speed to high

4. Blend for 30 seconds or until desired consistency is reached.

    

Note: 2 cups (480 ml) of this smoothie provided 8 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber 
-a satisfying and healthy breakfast option.

If a chilled smoothie is desired, reduce water to 1/4 cup (60 ml) 

and add 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) ice cubes       

Spring Cleaning: Body Clutter

It is that time of year when we welcome the happy signs of springtime life.  Along with freshening up our houses I always find motivation to loose those extra pounds that I always seem to gain between Halloween and New Years.

Yes, I realize that this year I am gaining weight very quickly (I am pregnant) but I know that eating healthy now will help me to feel good and have a better recovery after pregnancy.  

I wanted to get a visual picture of what  I eat so I have been taking pictures of each meal with the ipad.

I know it is a little silly to take a picture of what you eat, but it has helped me to be more aware of what  I am eating.  I also take time to put everything on my plate and then sit down to eat instead of just snacking while I prepare the kid's meals.  

Breakfast

 orange, cheerios, skim milk, almonds, dried cranberries

 oatmeal, pecans, natural applesause, skim milk

 cottage cheese, natural applesauce, applesauce muffin

 orange, granola, banana, almonds

 pecans, greek yogurt, skim milk, fresh rasberries

 apple, greek yogurt, pecans, flax seed

12 grain bread, scrambled egg, grapefruit

Lunch

left over lasagna, carrots, apple, whole wheat toast

green smoothie, peanut butter balls, carrots, and sandwich 

(I am sure I ate more than a quarter of a sandwich :)

green smoothie, tuna cheese melt, pickle, and oranges

turkey sandwich with lettuce, cheese, avocado, yellow peppers, and an apple

whole grain breadsticks, greek yogurt, grapes, turkey, light string cheese

left over salmon, rice, mixed vegetables, crackers, cheese, and natural applesauce.

sandwich with tons of vegetables and greek yogurt with fresh raspberries.

bean burritos (cheese, beans, and corn) and a strawberry smoothie

Dinner

 garden vegetable wraps, fruit with veggies with ranch

 Southwest stroganoff with lettuce wraps

 asparagus, rice, and broccoli beef 

 homemade cornbread with honey and butter and winter vegetable chowder

Snacks

7 healthy easy meals

This is hard to read because I scanned it in.  It is 7 healthy and quick meal ideas.  Great ideas that I have used on busy nights.  I originally clipped this from a Mayo Clinic magazine.

What's for lunch?

Last year as I sat stuffing ziploc bags with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apple slices I wondered what we could do to add some variety to the cold lunches for the school kids and cut back on the messy lunchtime at home with the little kids.  

My Aunt send me an email with a great way to give cold lunches a new life!  

Have you heard of Bentos?  They are Japanese style, creatively packed boxed lunch.  The great thing about Bentos is that it helps you to think outside of a sandwich and make lunch time more creative and healthy.  

The first thing I did is make a list of items in every food group that we could have on hand for lunches. I have a "bentos chalkboard" in my kitchen.

Grain

crackers

bread

english muffins

pretzels

tortillas

Protein

nuts

boiled eggs

lunch meat

peanut butter

Vegetables

carrots

salad

olives

tomatoes

cucumber

Fruit

apples

grapes 

bananas

strawberries

dried fruit

Dairy

yogurt

milk

string cheese 

cottage cheese

Then I went to the local Grocery Store (couldn't find them at Walmart) and picked up some new containers for our lunches. (The containers are Ziploc brand and were only a few dollars). When you consider the cost of ziploc bags or prepackaged foods it saves a lot of money. 

The third step in improving our lunches was to assign our 10 year old to help with lunches each morning!  During the summer we make Bentos lunches in the morning (when the breakfast mess is out) and then if we decided to go to the park we already have lunches ready to go.  It also saves on clean up time after lunch.  (once  I get little kids down for naps I would rather not spend the afternoon doing dishes:)  

There are many great websites that offer ideas and of course Pinterest has a lot of great pictures!  

I like the bentos ideas on this blog Thoroughly In Earnest

here are some of her pictures:

*I also bought little ice packs that I stick in their lunch bags with the bentos.  

Smoothies

We love healthy smoothies at our house.  It is a great way for us to get our fruits (and veggies).
Here are a few of our favorite recipes:

Banana Winter Smoothie

1 banana, frozen
1 cup Dannon all natural vanilla lowfat yogurt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. honey (optional)
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Cut the frozen banana into 3 or 4 chunks.  Place in blender with vanilla yogurt, cinnamon and honey.  Blend on high for 2 minutes or until smooth.  Pour into glass and top with dusting of ground nutmeg.

Homemade Tortillas

This was my first attempt at homemade tortillas.  Everyone in my family agreed that they were so much better than store bought tortillas.  I was amazed how easy they were to make! 

Whole Wheat Tortillas

(Taken from "Wild Flour" by Denise Fidler, the Country Baker)

3-4 cups soft whole wheat pastry flour (I used freshly ground white wheat flour)

1 tsp. sea salt

1/3 cup oil

1 cup warm water

In your Bosch bowl with batter whips (or other mixer), mix dry ingredients.  Add all wet ingredients in a slow and steady stream.  Mix and knead adding more water or flour as needed to produce a smooth dough for 1-2 minutes.  Form into 12-18 balls.  Cover and rest 30 minutes.  Press in electric or manual tortilla maker and cook.  The secret to a great tortilla is a soft and moist dough.  

*I used a rolling pin to roll them out and cooked them on my electric griddle.  

*Warm tortillas with butter, cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top are delicious.

*Tortillas freeze great.  Just seal in heavy-duty freezer bag with layers on waxed paper between them.  

Healthy Happy Lunch

I was a little skeptical when my friend, Jessica Orrock, mention that her family really likes Lemony Lima Beans with Parmesan.  I made them last night for dinner and Hyrum requested that I make them again for lunch.  Yes, it was good.

Healthy Fruit Smoothy

orange juice + frozen fruit= yummy

Homemade Toast

Lemony Lima Beans with Parmesan

course salt and ground pepper

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen baby lima beans, thawed

3 T. olive oil

1 T. lemon zest

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1/3 c. shaved or shredded parmesan cheese

1.  Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.  Add lima beans and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes.  Drain, rinse with cold water (to stop further cooking), then drain again, and pat dry with paper towels.

2.  Transfer lima beans to a bowl.  Sir in oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper.  Divide among four serving plates, and sprinkle with Parmesan.

6 grams of protein and 0 grams of fat, you can't beat that!