Recipe: Green Monster Smoothie

So I am at it once again. A pointless endeavor to get rid of this pregnancy weight that simply refuses to let go.  Or rather, the daily after-dinner-ice cream-delight that I refuse to let go. Let go, woman!

Let it go...

So once upon a time, I was able to eat no sugar at all, and I was fine.
{ See health~crazie here.... }

I mean, the diet recommended a 2 week cleanse, but I was able to go for about 2 1/2 months (yah not exactly the most healthiest of choices BUT it did prove to me that I could do it) before I moved forward with phase two. So, ever since then, my thought process has always been: ahh, i'll just do that again, you know, whenever I want to. However it hasn't been so easy to do. I mean, first of all, at that time I was participating in the sugar free lifestyle with a few co-workers who I spent most of the day with, so it became part of our culture. It's not so difficult to do something when it's part of group-think {that's right, there's some of my psychology minor classes coming back in full swing}. Whereas, today, there's no sense of accountability since I'm at home with the boys, well except for Colin but he couldn't care less what I ate, as long as it's not chocolate because then he has to have some.

So I'm going to watch my intake. Starting today. And you all can hold me accountable. Seriously.

Today's lunch: "Green" Monster Smoothie delight =)


I used to have these all the time, about 2 years ago. I just love smoothies and in this case, adding my fav veggies {spinach} to it was just an added bonus. So today I made it again and it was delicious and even Colin got into it and devoured about half of mine after he had already ate his own lunch! But how could I complain? Oh all those wonderful vitamins he was adding.... { A, C, K, iron, fiber, folate, magnesium, potassium, protein, calcium...just to name a few }

So here's my recipe (there are a million out there) that I have found to provide just the right amount of sweetness. (Also, I add berries which you don't need, but if you add them, it will change the color to be more purplish hue rather than green).

my pinkish-purplish 'green' smoothie

Green Monster Smoothie


Ingredients:

• 1 small frozen ripe banana, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen berries
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1 tbsp Peanut Butter (I used Skippy's Natural)
• 1 cup vanilla Greek Yogurt (I used Chobani)
• 1/4 cup milk 

{make it a skinny and feel free to substitute the milk with almond milk and use fat-free greek yogurt instead}

Instructions:

Throw all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. {If you don't use any frozen fruit, you will need to add ice}.

Try it out and enjoy! =)

Note: You can throw anything you want in there really, so you should experiment. You can use kale, or add flax seed, chocolate; try other fruits, some even throw in protein powder or a little coffee for a morning pow-wow. Again, there are TONS of recipes online, but I think this is a good place to start.

Recipe: Three Cheese Steak

So now that I have much more time to cook, and well watch the food network or the cooking channel, I have also been granted the ability to try out all those mouth-watering dishes instead of just reaching towards the screen for them.  Last week, I caught the tail end of "ten dollar dinners" and although I am not necessarily a melissa d'arabian fan, she was finishing up some delectable "three cheesesteak sandwiches" and I couldn't help but salivate.  It took everything within me to suppress the tempting idea of packing up both boys in the car and driving to philly for a pats cheesesteak (yes, I prefer pats, but I would absolutely go across and get a geno's steak too) right then and there.  SO, instead, I packed them up and went to the grocery store to pick up all the right ingredients to try it at home.

Thursday night I went out with my ex-marketing department to catch up and so I figured it would be a good night to leave Jus this meal. All he would have to do is piece it together.

The american cheese and the cream cheese help give it that philly "wit' whiz" taste.  I might add a little more next time.  I also threw it in the toaster oven with the mozzarella on top, when it was just me, to get that crusty, ooey-gooey deliciousness while avoiding waiting for the broiler to pre-heat and all that ruckus (I have a small kitchen, so I store half of my pans in the oven when not in use).

Another tip that I found useful was putting the fresh meat in the freezer about an hour before I started cooking to help slice the meat. The knife went right through that meat like it was butter, and I wasn't wasting any precious time trying to get thin strips. However, my hands DID get cold...so be prepared for that.

Anyway, it was yummy! I enjoyed it! I mean, it's no pats, but I would definitely say it was a really good cheesesteak on its own. Next time I will be adding some hot peppers...

:: :: :: ::

So per usual, I'm attaching a link to the original and posting my (slightly) altered recipe below.

my three cheesesteak

.:: Original Recipe Can Be Found Here ::.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/three-cheesesteak-sandwiches-recipe/index.html

Recipe: Three Cheese Steak

Prep: 10 minutes    Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound fresh round steak, (put in freezer for an hour)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp cajun spice
• 2 tbsp veggie oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced

• 3 tbsp cream cheese

• 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 slices american cheese
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 hoagie rolls
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Slice the partially frozen meat into very thin slices. Mix together the spices and toss the meat slices in the mixture to coat.
  Heat the oil in heavy sauté pan over medium heat. Cook the onions and peppers until tender, about 5 minutes. 
  Preheat the broiler to high.
  Remove the vegetables to a plate and add a splash more oil to the pan. Raise the heat to medium-high. Cook the meat quickly in the hot pan, browning on both sides. Once brown, reduce the heat to low and mix together the vegetables and beef. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce and American cheese, and stir until creamy and well incorporated. Split open the hoagie rolls and place on a baking sheet. Divide the beef mixture among the rolls and top with the mozzarella cheese. Broil until the cheese begins to bubble, 1 to 2 minutes. Watch carefully for burning. Serve.
  

Recipe : Salsa -Restaurant Stye

So for book club last night {more on that later} we started a habit of bringing something to the table, usually appetizers and such. This time there was a suggestion for each person to bring a piece of a dinner menu, so last night was chili night. 

I figured I'd bring some homemade salsa. Salsa is actually rather simple to make but not all salsa tastes the same, and so it doesn't always come out great. If you make it on your own, you can control the taste and consistency, keep it fresh, and really save a lot of money since it really does last for a long time.  I like mine spicy so I definitely make sure I have either some nice spicy peppers around.

Now of course my obsession with pinterest has been and is exponentially growing so of course that's where I found the recipe for last night's salsa. The following has been adapted off of a recipe from the pioneer woman {thepioneerwoman[dot]com} and it was delicious. 

So I've posted a link to the original recipe from her blog, but below records what I used to make it last night.

salsa

.:: Original Recipe Can Be Found Here ::.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/

Recipe: Salsa - Restaurant Style

Prep: 15 minutes    Cook Time: 0 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 can (14.5 Ounce) Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 can (10 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes with Basil
• ¼ cup Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin 
• ½ whole Lime Juice
• ½ cup (at least) Cilantro 

• ¼ teaspoons Sugar (to taste)

• ¼ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeño, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like. I add salt and sugar at the end to taste. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed. Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour to set. Serve with tortilla chips.