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Green Orange Mango Smoothie

1 banana

1 cup mango

1 orange

2-3 big kale leaves, de-stemmed if necessary

juice of 1/2 lemon or more to taste

small piece of ginger

1 1/4 cup water

This comes from the smoothie challenge newsletter, and I really didn’t enjoy this smoothie as much as I hoped—but hey, experimenting is half the fun.  I am posting it in case you want to try it, but I won’t be making this one again.

Key Lime Pie Smoothie:

• 1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1 frozen banana
• ½ cup baby spinach leaves
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• Zest of 1 lime
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Medjool date, pitted
• 1 Tbsp crushed graham crackers

I have been meaning to try this smoothie for a long time, and even kept buying limes to do it.  I love key lime pie, so I was excited to try this, it really does taste like key lime pie!  

I found the recipe on Pinterest, and here is the original site link http://www.sideofsneakers.com/2013/01/18/key-lime-pie-smoothie/

Hemp Almond Coconut Recovery Smoothie
 
1 banana
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup coconut water
1/3 cup almond butter
1/4 cup hemp seeds
 

This smoothie is tasty, and I had it for dinner last night after pilates.  It’s a little higher in fat than I would like, but its healthy fat from the almond butter and the hemp seeds.  I would also divide this up into two servings if you are having it after a workout that isn’t SUPER strenuous.  I plan on incorporating this more after longer runs where you are burning 500+ cals.

The recipe comes from the Health is Happiness newsletter that challenges members to have a smoothie a day for a month.

Blackened Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

This one comes from The Simple Veganista and this recipe is both simple and delish!   I also roasted some brussels on the side in a little olive oil and salt at 400, with a side of quinoa.  I didn’t change anything about this recipe, and made the blackened seasoning per her recipe.

http://thesimpleveganista.blogspot.com/2013/04/blackened-roasted-cauliflower-steaks.html

Dr. Mark Hyman’s Sweet Potato Burgers

Lower your blood sugar and fight diabesity with this comfort-food recipe from Dr. Mark Hyman’s book, The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook. The almond flour, beans and sweet potatoes create a healthy low-glycemic swap for a burger, which can be enjoyed with a salad. Bonus: Each burger is just 143 calories! (From Dr. Oz website)

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-mark-hymans-sweet-potato-burgers

These burgers were so tasty!  

I halved the recipe, and it made 3 good sized burgers.  For my seasoning, I used 1/2 tablespoon of salt-free herb garlic powder I bought at Costco, a dash of Cayenne pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon of Cumin, and about 1/2 teaspoon of my fresh italian herb grinder, salt and pepper.  I don’t think you can go wrong, just add flavors of seasoning you love.

I ground up almonds to make the almond flour that’s called for in the recipe.  For toppings to my burger I grilled some asparagus, peppers and red onions, and put my burger atop some greens that I had.  I didn’t make the tahini dressing, and I forgot my avocado topping, but I’m sure those would be great additions as well.  

Cauliflower Steaks with Olive Pistou

I’ve been dying to try this recipe out ever since I had the cauliflower t-bone at Superba Snack bar on Rose in Venice http://superbasnackbar.com

http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/chefs_recipes/10259

Things I changed:

I halved the recipe, and used even less olive oil than the recipe calls for.  I don’t personally think you need to add it to the broth that the cauliflower first cooks in, and next time I’m going to leave it out.  You really only need it for your pan, and for the olive pistou.  I used regular raisins since I didn’t have golden, and there isn’t much difference there in my opinion.  Also, as you can see from my picture, I used kalamata olives instead of green olives, because again, that’s what I had.  The kalamata olives didn’t completely jive with the other flavors of the pistou, but it didn’t ruin it.  Next time, I will make sure to use the green olives this recipe calls for—and there will be a next time, this is so tasty.

I highly recommend giving this recipe a try!

Pre-workout snack:

3 tablespoons of hemp hearts + half a banana + sprinkle of cinnamon = 215 cals, 11 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar.  To be eaten an hour before workout :)

Vegan Carrot Cake Mini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

I LOVE CARROT CAKE….so when I saw this recipe for the vegan version of them, I had to try.  The only thing I changed was to make them into mini’s which essentially makes them a little less than a calorie bomb (if you can hold yourself to only have one).  

When you bake mini’s they take less time, so in my oven they were done in about 11/12 minutes…I would set your timer for 10 and just keep checking on them.  They were SO moist and delicious.

Enjoy!

http://www.fitsugar.com/Vegan-Carrot-Cake-Cupcake-Recipe-28857520

Avocado and Chickpea Salad with Vegan pesto.

As you can see from the picture, I added more than just what the recipe calls for.  I roasted green beans and brussel sprouts in the oven last night, and hoped they would be a good addition to this salad….they were.  I also chopped up cucumber, and red peppers.

For the vegan pesto, I only used a tablespoon on olive oil (recipe calls for 1/2 a cup), and added water to help my cuisinart blend up the basil and the spinach.  If you like your pesto consistency a little runnier, you can play w/ the liquid amounts.  Mine was pretty thick, but once I shook it up in my salad container, it coated all the vegetables nicely.

Salad Recipe:  http://avocadopesto.com/2012/05/13/avocado-chickpea-salad-with-vegan-pesto

Vegan Basil & Spinach Pesto Recipe:  http://avocadopesto.com/2012/07/18/vegan-basil-and-spinach-pesto

Curried Cauliflower & Green Bean Salad.

Who knew roasted green beans were so delicious?  The flavor is SO much better than steamed or boiled green beans, I am obsessed.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/curried-cauliflower-and-green-bean-salad-with-lemon-yogurt

I put this over quinoa for lunch today and made some tahini instead of their recommended lemon yogurt sauce (which I’m sure is delicious).  Keeping with the theme of my other posts, I used less olive oil than the recipe calls for, and once you add the curry to it, I don’t think you will miss the oil.

Tahini Sauce Recipe:  http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/recipes/cauliflower-tahini-recipe

I discovered this simple raw broccoli and avocado salad on Pinterest (what else is new) and decided to give it a try for lunch.  The recipe calls for mustard, which i’m not a big fan of, so I used yellow mustard, as that’s all I had.  I think it would be better with a high quality mustard, but even though I LOATHE mustard, it still was super tasty, the mustard flavor is not strong!  This is definitely going to become one of my goto recipes, it has GREAT texture.

I watched her video on how to make, even though it probably is the easiest recipe i’ve ever tried.  I never thought to use some of the stem of the broccoli, or to cut it the way she does, so it’s worth a view…you may learn something new like me :)  

Things I changed:

I toasted my raw almonds in the oven for about 5 minutes at 400, and I also chopped up some snap peas, and threw them in the salad as well.  I LOVE me some snap peas, and so do the dogs.

I used less olive oil in the dressing, since i’m trying to avoid fats that are processed.  

You could put any dressing on this, be creative!

Finally, this recipe serves 2, and would be a great side dish to any entree you make…or by itself, which is how I ate it.

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2011/08/the-easiest-way-to-save-time-in-the-kitchen-and-eat-more-vegetables/#