and such

A smattering of thoughts......

It's been a while since I have posted, I was supposed to post menus right?  Well, I have most definitely been slacking in the meal making department at my house.  We have been eating a lot of salads and grilled chicken with some salmon thrown in here and there and honestly that's about it.  It's summer. It's grilling season and I'm lazy :)

We got a puppy, a cute, cuddly, energetic, jumping, biting puppy.  We love her and she is a lot of work! I will post a picture soon. We also just got a new computer (switched from a PC to a MAC) so I am in the midst of figuring all this tech-y stuff out!

I hope once fall rolls around I will have more time to post delicious mouthwatering menus!  Ha! I always think I will eventually have more time. Once my oldest is back in school I should have more time, right? I made this mistake last year thinking, "what will I do with all my 'free time'". Then I realize I have a three-year-old at home and there goes my time.

Speaking of fall, I am not ready. Not one bit.  My little girl will be in first grade, gulp!  It seems so grown up. She is already showing signs of maturity at her ripe old age of 6.  Sigh, I am relishing the last two weeks I have with her.

For the next two weeks I am juicing.  I'm feeling gross and in need of detox. Lighten the load a little internally and externally.  When I juice, I usually make a protein shake for breakfast, a light salad with lean protein for lunch and then juice for dinner.  I will post my dinner juicing menu here for you, officially kicking off my menu posts!  Each recipe makes approx. one 10 ounce glass unless otherwise noted.


Monday:
The Smooth and Green
1 Green Apple
1 Cucumber
5 Large Red Lettuce Leaves
1/2 Peeled Lemon
1/2" ginger (optional)

Tuesday:
Red Beet Cooler
1 small beet
4 carrots
2 oranges
8 mint leaves

Wednesday:
Mean Green Juicing Machine
6 Kale Leaves
1 Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 Piece of Ginger

Thursday:
The V-8
2 Carrots
2 Stalks of Celery
1 Cucumber
Parsley (to taste)
1 Red Pepper
Several Handfuls of Spinach
1 Red Tomato

Extras:
A great breakfast juice is grapefruit and oranges, you can also add a handful of strawberries or blueberries or even spinach.

Dessert:
In my opinion a day is not complete without dessert but dessert doesn't have to be counterproductive to all the healthy juicing! Try a smoothie for a healthy alternative! This week I am making these for dessert! YUM!

Tooty Fruity (serves 2)
1/2 Banana
1/4c. Strawberries
1/4c. Blueberries
1 Scoop Protein Powder
2 C. Almond Milk

Cinnabon Smoothie (serves 2)
2. Cups Almond Milk
1 Scoop Protein Powder
1/2 T. Flax Seed
1 t. Cinnamon
2 Ice Cubes

Almond Butter Smoothie (serves 2)
1/4c. Almond Butter
1 Frozen Banana
3 T. Cacao Powder
1 T. Maca Powder
2 C. Water or Coconut Water
1 Scoop Protein Powder
1/4 t. cinnamon

Hope you all have a great week and Happy Juicing!!

huevos

Short and sweet this morning....

Love your morning eggs?  I like to eat eggs a few times a week.  They always tide me over till lunch without that feeling of starvation that can occur if I have a low in protein breakfast.  Eggs have a great mix of protein and fat to fuel you up without weighing you down.  Here's a small breakdown of an egg.

                             Whole egg   White      Yolk
Energy calories         72            17            55
Protein grams            6.3           3.6           2.7
Carbohydrate grams  0.4           0.2           0.6
Total Fat grams         4.8           0              4.5

Lately, I scramble one whole egg and two whites, keeping it lean, in a small amount of coconut or olive oil. This gives me a total of 106 calories 13.5 grams of protein and only 4.8 grams of fat (does not include oil).  I also add some steamed spinach- an easy way to steam spinach is micro for 30 seconds or sautee in your pan before the eggs- and salsa to get my veggies in and keeping it green! How do you like your eggs?  How do you keep it lean and green? What's your favorite-tide you over till lunch-breakfast?

meal planning

Have you noticed planning a week of meals for your family takes lots of time? Do you do this; plan a week of meals or even a few, make your list, shop once for the entire week and feel less stress because you know exactly what your family is eating for dinner every night?  Or maybe you don't plan and at 5:00 you scan the refrigerator/cupboard and think, what am I going to make for dinner tonight?

Planning meals takes time; possibly time you don't have, or you don't want to use for meal planning, or simply can't because you have kids and work and housework and activities and meetings and a busy life....and maybe you can't think of fresh ideas and your kids just want to eat hot dogs and chicken nuggets anyway, so why bother.

Or maybe you take the planning out of weekly meals and eat the same thing every weekday; Taco Tuesday! Pizza Friday!  Are you getting bored with Pizza Friday? Would you like variety? Fresh ideas? Better nutrition for yourself and your kids? A shopping list ready to go at your finger tips?  Meals planned out for the entire week?

If so, you are in the right place, my friend. I am here to help!  I will post four meals a week with a couple of other fun ideas and/or recipes thrown in and all you have to do is check in, print, shop and whip up a nutritious meal for your family...and along the way enjoy a little less stress in your week!

Hope you enjoy!

blackberries

Have you had the pleasure of tasting blackberries this season? I bought my first container last week and ate the entire thing in a few short minutes.  I've found the bigger the berry the better tasting-less bitter.  Get your hands on some of these before they are out of season.
And bonus blackberries are super good for you; packed with vitamin C and fiber and loaded with antioxidents!
EAT! UP!