Ready for church:

After church we did things around the house to get ready for our upcoming trip to Florida (we are leaving on Wednesday)! We packed, did laundry, Brady worked in the yard and cleaned. Then we headed to Duke and Jen’s for a cookout. I brought my camera but didn’t take any pictures – not sure what I was thinking?! We had a great grilled dinner and fun conversation!

When we got home we were exhausted-something about getting up a few times a night will do that to you!

This morning I was in the mood for something easy, healthy and fast. I have been on a huge English muffin kick lately but since we were out and I didn’t want to buy more before our trip, I had to think of something else.

Since I started nursing, my nut butter addiction has gotten out of control. (Weird because I couldn’t really eat much when I was pregnant because it sounded horrible!) Now I want nut butter all of the time – I mean all the time! Breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner and dessert. In order to not consume a case a week I need to think of ways to include nut butter that don’t involve me going at the jar with my spoon.

So this morning I made some almond butter yogurt to dip my apple into for breakfast. I have made this a few times and I love it! It helps me enjoy lots more nut butter (it works with all kinds) without having to consume 500 calories worth.

Almond Butter Apple Dip (or any nut butter)

• 3/4 cup plain yogurt (it is best with Greek but all I had was TJ’s European Plain so I used that today)
• 1 Tbsp. nut butter
• sprinkle of stevia or agave
• 1 tsp. ground flaxseed

1. Mix the ingredients together and eat! You could also add chocolate chips or coconut to make more flavors!

This whole bowl is only about 185 calories and has 14 grams of protein. It’s good by itself or with an apple to dip into it!

Off to attempt some P90X while Anna takes a little nap.

Share on Facebook

Low Fat Blueberry Muffins with Oats, Almonds and Flax

• 2 c. of low fat multigrain baking mix (Trader Joes or light Bisquick)
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2/3 c. light vanilla soy milk
• 3/4 c. oats
• 2 tbsp. ground flax
• 1/4 c. shaved almonds
• 1 tbsp. canola oil
• raw sugar to top
• as many blueberries as you’d like! I use frozen blueberries we picked this summer.

Mix all ingredients together. If mix is too stiff, add a little more soy milk. Place in muffin cups and bake at 350 until golden brown and done in the center (about 20-25 minutes).

Share with your friends! Or eat by yourself, although I am not sure how healthy eating a whole batch would be, Chad.

Share on Facebook

Here are some important and AWESOME facts about PURE bars:

1. USDA certified organic
2. Vegan
3. Raw
4. Gluten Free
5. Full of vitamins and minerals
6. Each bar provides a full serving of fruit

Look:

The bars are full of whole, ground ingredients – similar to a Larabar but less ground up. When you open the package you can see the oats and whole bits of fruit.   

Texture:

The bar is chewy and slightly sticky in a natural way. They don’t crumble because they are more moist than that. These bars have a great texture.

Ingredients:

The ingredients in the PURE bar are just that, pure! Here is a glimpse at the ingredient list of my favorite PURE bar flavor – Wild Blueberry from their website.

Organic Dates, Organic Wild Blueberries, (with Organic Apple Juice Concentrate and Organic Canola Oil), Organic Cashews, Organic Agave Nectar, Organic Walnuts, Organic Brown Rice Protein, Organic Almonds, Organic Unsweetened Lemon Juice Concentrate, and that’s all! (unless you count the 14 essential vitamins and minerals, healthy antioxidants, and healthy Omega 3 fats in every bite).

Nutrition:

The nutrition stats are great – here are the stats for the Wild Blueberry.

Where to buy:

Check out the Pure bar website to find out where you can get your bars.

Uses:

I would use these bars for a 3:00pm snack or a quick post workout meal. They are great to go with a light lunch or split in half and have for dessert.

Overall:

The bars are really good tasting, full of great ingredients, and easy to find! I would recommend them for someone who is looking for a healthy and fast snack. They fit the lifestyles of people who have specific diets such as: vegan, raw, and low sodium.

Share on Facebook

Brie:

• 1 round of brie
• 1/2 c. raspberry jam
• 1/3 c. pecans
• 1 pillsbury cresent roll reduced fat

Roll out the cresent rolls and set brie on top.  Cover brie with nuts and jam.  Bake at 350 until roll is golden brown and brie is melty.

We had spinach artichoke dip as well as chips and salsa!

We also made these cookies look great!

Plus…

Plus…

Equals….

Share on Facebook

• 8 oz. cream cheese (fat free doesn’t work because it gets watery)
• 4 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• flake coconut

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and 1/2 c. coconut. Form a ball with the cheese and plate it (if you don’t have a cute plate you can make 3 balls to form a snowman) Serve with graham cracker sticks or cookie sticks or apples!

Healthy Refried Bean Dip

• 1 can refried beans (I used fat free beans)
• 1/3 c. ff sour cream
• cumin
• salt and pepper
• mexican seasonings
• lime juice

Mix all together and serve with veggies or tortilla chips!

Share on Facebook

• 3 very ripe bananas
• 2 tbsp. Naturally More (flax + peanut butter, lower in fat and calories and with Omega 3s)
• 3 scoops EAS vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 c. rolled oats
• 1/2 c. oat bran

optional (I will add these in the future): mini choc. chips, dried fruit, nuts, applesauce, hot choc. mix.

Heat PB and bananas in the microwave for 1 -2 minutes until it is easy to stir. Add the rest of the ingredients  to the mixture and stir.  The mixture will be difficult to stir.  When everything is mixed, place bowl of mix into the fridge to solidify a little.  Then, break the mixture into hunks (nice word choice) and form bars.

These are even approved and enjoyed by Brady, he is a good judge of if things taste “too healthy”.  They are great because the ingredient list is all whole foods, except the protein powder.

Sorry they are not too pretty…you can see the banana in there!

Share on Facebook

We were having company for a cookout at 4 and it was already 2pm, so we didn’t want to fill up. I decided on a big bowl of broccoli with parm. and a new concoction!  I don’t know why I decided to try this, but I am hooked on it now!

Far from French Toast (but it tastes like it!)

So you are probably wondering what I am talking about!  Understandable, but I swear this tastes like pancakes and French toast.

• 1/2 c. bulgar
• 1/2 c. 7 grain Kashi
• spray butter
• SF syrup

Warm everything up and enjoy! 

Share on Facebook

Friday night we had planned a great dinner of grilled chicken, quinoa, veggies, and more. We arrived at the lake around 9pm and were in no mood to cook. We were thinking drinks and snacks! Ash and I broke out the wine, while the boys figured out what beer they were going to start with. We decided to save the dinner food for Sat. Don’t worry, we didn’t go to bed hungry. Our dinner consisted of…

Classic snacks – guac, hummus, veggies and of course chips. We had multi-grain and organic blue tortillas. It was the perfect dinner for a late, summer Friday night.

Saturday, we woke and went for a walk. When we got back, we made fruit salad and oatmeal. It hit the spot and tied us over until lunch (Friday night dinner food!) while we played on the lake.

Saturday Lunch: A feast!

Tomato Mozzarella Salad on Salad

Grilled Chicken

Asian Quinoa: recipe coming soon! This is perfect to serve with any Asian type meal. I made it on Friday at home and took up to the lake. We ate it on Sat. and Sun. and it still tasted great

I ended up forgetting to bring my camera to dinner so there are no pictures of my almond-crusted walleye! It was wonderful though!

Share on Facebook

• almonds
• cashews
• pistachios
• wheat germ
• oat bran
• steel cut oats (uncooked)
• rolled oats
• pumpkin granola cereal
• good friends cereal
• flax and fiber cereal
• ground flax seed
• bran flakes
• 1/2 vanilla protein powder
• dried fruit: cherries, raisins, craisins

Mix all of that around then add the wet ingredients:

• lite maple syrup
• unsweetened applesauce
• vanilla

Add just enough that some if it is sticking together but it’s not a dough ball of fibery goodness. 

Bake at 325 for 20-30 min.  until everything is crunchy, but not burned.  Break apart when cool and store in a sealed dry place so it doesn’t get stale.

* This is a crunchier granola because it does not contain oil.  It is perfect for making parfaits, or a desserts because it stays crunchy even when mixed into something!

I definitely had a good 4-5 big handfuls of this after dinner and for dessert.  I also added it to some accidental Greek Fro-Yo.  The yogurt was on the top shelf and froze.  It was ok, but I would not freeze it on purpose!

Share on Facebook

A&B Fish Tacos

Maui Maui or another thick meaty fish

• 2 T. chopped garlic
• 1/3 c. lime juice
• 1 T. cumin

Marinate the fish for about an hour before grilling both sides.

Toppings:

• avocado
• tomato
• corn (we used leftover cut off the cob)
• cabbage
• lettuce
• black beans
• great northern beans
• fresh mozzarella
• mango salsa
• pita bread (toasted

We eat all of these delicious toppings with our fish on a whole wheat, toasted pita bread because they are better than tortilla chips or shells.

It started on the pita…

But it didn’t take long before it was all over my plate – I wanted a salad anyway, right?!

I had another helping of “fish taco salad” and was stuffed!

Later tonight, while watching the Olympics, I snacked on a small apple with fat-free caramel and a handful of Healthy Oats cereal.

I love the question of the day idea so here goes:

What is your “go-to” meal for serving when you have people for dinner?!

Share on Facebook