Green Monster Smoothies

For about the past two months, Chris and I have been making smoothies for breakfast. I will post what we put in ours and if you'd like to try them, use ingredients that you like. I promise you, you cannot taste spinach in these. (Fresh spinach doesn't have a distinct flavor like the canned kind, anyway.) We also love these because they have so many food groups- fruit, veggie, grain, protein!

These are very filling and quick to make!

These measurements are estimated. I hardly ever measure this stuff! :) This is enough for two adults. If you have some leftover, you can put it in a glass and put it in the fridge and it's usually good for a few hours.

In a blender, combine:

2-3 cups loosely packed fresh spinach

1 scoop protein powder, french vanilla flavored

1 cup milk (whichever variety you buy)

1 banana (peeled, cut into chunks and frozen)

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1/2 cup raw, uncooked old-fashioned oats

1-2 pitted dates

1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed

Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Ham and Cheese Sliders

This is such a great go-to recipe when you want something different and it's very quick too! I first had these when our friend, Camille, from church brought them over after Ben was born and this week, I made them for another friend who recently had surgery.

Soooo yummy!

My only changes:

Halved the recipe from the original

Used dijon mustard instead of yellow

Omitted the mayo

http://annies-eats.com/2010/07/13/ham-and-cheese-sliders/

Autumn Pork Chops

I made these a couple nights ago and this is a really great, fast and easy entree! I will make this again at some point.

I used apple cider instead of apple juice (not a huge difference). And I used dijon mustard instead of spicy brown.

I served this with rice pilaf and sugar snap peas. Super simple dinner in 20 minutes!

Here's the recipe

Perfect Pot Roast

At our house, we don't have very much red meat these days. But when I saw this being made on The Pioneer Woman on Food Network, I just had to try it. This pot roast is SO tender and yummy! This is a keeper recipe for sure! Perfect for when company comes over or on a Sunday afternoon. I made it because it was enough for 2-3 meals for us and I don't have much time to cook these days. :)

Here are my changes:

Omitted the onions

Didn't need as much broth and wine as what is listed. Unfortunately, I had already measured it out and had to pour the rest away. I think you only need about a cup of each unless you get a really huge roast.

Here's the recipe

Lemon Orzo with Asparagus and Tomatoes

I made this tonight for a vegetarian meal along with a light caesar salad and we both really enjoyed it!

Here are my changes:

Roasted the asparagus and tomatoes in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes before adding them to the salad.

Used a smaller pasta than orzo- not sure what it was called. But it looked like very small pearls.

I love these kinds of dishes because they can be served hot or cold. So you can just grab it out of the fridge when you're hungry. Perfect for a stay-at-home mom like myself. :)

Here's the recipe

Apple and Cheddar Turkey Meatballs

Today, I needed something that would cook quickly in the crockpot and I wanted to use some ground turkey that I had. So this was perfect! These don't really need more than about 4 hours in the crockpot on low. These were very good dipped in barbeque sauce. Will definitely make them again!

Here's the recipe

Crockpot Recipes

I found this entire book of crockpot recipes that can be scrolled through. I thought it had a great selection of things to try. Can't promise that a lot of them are very healthy, but usually you can substitute certain things to help with fat and calories. Hope you all will find something that appeals to you!

http://www.mrfood.com/master_images/MrFood/MrFood%20eCookbook%20-%20Slow%20Cookin%20Magic.pdf

Coconut Curry Chicken

This is such a great crockpot recipe! If you've ever been to a good Indian restaurant, you know how tender the meat is that they serve. The crockpot is the perfect way to get your meat that tender. I got this recipe from "Crockpot Girls" on Facebook. They just started their own website too called crockpotgirls.com, by the way.

Original recipe:

Coconut Curry Chicken

3 chicken breasts - chopped/cleaned

1/2 bag of frozen snow peas

1 can of coconut milk

2 tablespoons of green curry paste

4 tablespoons of brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon of black pepper

1/2 tablespoon of dried/chopped basil leaves

1 teaspoon garlic salt

Combine all ingredients in the crockpot except for the snow peas. Mix well. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add snow peas the last 30 minutes and stir. Serve over rice.

Here are my changes:

Omitted basil

Used a different type of curry paste. Couldn't find the green kind, but this brand was very tasty-

"Patak's Original Concentrated Curry Paste". I bought the mild version. I found it at Kroger.

Next time, I will buy the light coconut milk. The regular kind is very good but the lighter kind would have made this dish healthier.

"Stupid Chicken"

So I found this recipe on a Facebook page called "The Crockpot Girls" and had to see what was in it after reading the title. They call it this because it is so simple. This was really good! We used one pound of chicken tenderloins and shredded them at the end. Very tender and delicious! The crockpot is my best friend these days and I plan to make this again! :)

Here is all you need:

4 chicken breasts, cubed

2 - 14 oz cans italian diced tomatoes

1 envelope of Lipton Savory Herb & Garlic Soup mix (next to onion soup mix)

Bow tie pasta

Shredded parmesan cheese

Mix soup mix and tomatoes and pour into crock pot. Add chicken and stir. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Cook bow tie pasta according to package. Serve over bow tie pasta, we actually just mix it all together. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

The Egg Mug

So just about every day, I receive emails from "Hungry Girl" who has her own TV show and many cookbooks. I love her creativity and fun recipes! Here's one that I tried and really liked. I've never made eggs in such a short amount of time before. One and a half minutes in the microwave-- and they tasted great! Here's a link to all of her "egg mug" recipes. I only tried the one at the top of the page, but look forward to trying some others.

My change:

Used two real eggs since I didn't have egg beaters.

Here are the recipes