Bad smoothie luck

It being fall, I found a new smoothie recipe that was a healthy version of pumpkin pie. I was all excited for my fall breakfast post cross-fit class. I got the recipe from Our Family Eats. I was a little hesitant because it is so many ingredients for 5:30 in the morning. I knew I needed a couple practice runs. The first time I made it, the smoothie turned out perfect.

I tried to make it again two more times. Both were epic failures. The first morning, I measured the dry ingredients and left them in the blender overnight for a quick morning. I also didn't measure them. I eyeballed the portions. In the morning it somehow all congealed together, so it didn't blend. The next morning I planned to take things back to square one, so I measured everything out that morning. The only thing I did different was add extra ice. Due to that all the oat meal did not blend so my smoothie was a chunky mess. After the last attempt I gave up on my pumpkin smoothie. The first time it really did turn out well, so I do recommend the recipe. It's just too complicated for a poor cook like me.

After having my bad luck with my pumpkin smoothie I went back to just my normal yogurt, banana, frozen berry smoothie with almond milk. That morning instead of almond milk, I grabbed the vanilla creamer and pored 3/4 cup into my smoothie! I dumped as much as I could out into the sink, but my smoothie still tasted pretty gross. After this last experience I'm back to my poor breakfast of cereal (it also helps that I switched cross-fit gyms, more on that later). I think I will switch back to my usual green smoothie. That seemed to work out really well for me.

Green Monster

I had been looking for something to take with me for breakfast after crossfit in the morning, since I refuse to get up at five am to have breakfast before leaving. (For the record I do eat a granola bar and about half a cup of juice before crossfit, my tummy isn't ready for a full meal). I figured a homemade green monster would be the perfect meal. Here's what I put in mine:

2 cups spinach
1 T flaxseed meal
1 banana
1 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
2 cups ice

(make sure to do it in that order to weigh down the spinach so it blends all the way)

Ta Da! Breakfast

I tried blending it the night before and freezing it, but it froze solid and I couldn't drink it until one in the afternoon. I found just getting everything set out the night before saves me enough time that I don't mind blending it in the morning. One of those Blender Bottles they sell at suppliment stores are the perfect container (leave the spriny thing out). The smoothy will start to separate after about an hour or so, so something that is air tight to shake it back up in is beneficial. I have some home grown strawberries to add to it this week. I can't wait!

Kale Chips

First of all, sorry I've been such a slacker. My lack of racing this year has equaled a lack of posting. I'll try to do better.

So I have heard about this magical vegetable call kale. It is supposed to help you live longer, feel better, and it will probably give us the ability to fly as well. I have also heard a lot of people don't like kale because it is bitter and gross. Due to this Kale scares me. I don't want to ruin my beautiful smoothie with a gross bitter vegetable. I had heard from some of my facebook friends that kale is absolutely delicious in chip form. So the next time it popped up in my organic bin I decided to not substitute it out and to give it a try.

Making kale chips is really easy. You take one bunch of kale, cut the ribs out (basically the stuff that is not the green leaf). Then you dress it in olive oil and salt (mix it up in a bowl like it is a salad). Then you lay out the leaves on a baking sheet, like I did in the picture below.

You then bake it on 350 for twenty minutes, until crisp. My first batch turned out only okay. I think part of it was the type of kale I used (see above it is extra veiny) and I thought it would be good to put bacon salt on it (not good, it was/is gross). What I do love is how it crunches and then disappears in my mouth. I can see how it is an addicting snack. I can only describe it similar to popcorn.

I have yet to try kale in my smoothies. I really like my spinach smoothie so I think I am going to stick with that. I'll try to post that recipe next week.

Healthy Eating - Soups

I have been cooking a lot this week (well for me). H cooks all the time. We eat pretty healthy, but I wanted to try some new things. Plus we have a lot of Spinach and some Zucchini to eat we got from our Sound Organics bin. I wanted to make sure it got eaten.

The first recipe I made I got out of my Sound Organics bin. This recipe is NOT clean eating compliant, but could easily be altered to be so.

Chicken and Spinach Soup

Ingredients
6 oz of chicken breasts
6 oz of fresh spinach
4 cups chicken stock
2t soy sauce (I used the low sodium kind)
2t spring onions (I used yellow onions), chopped finely
2t sugar

Instructions
Blanch the spinach in boiling water, until they are just wilted
Pour cold water over spinach leaves
Slice chicken breasts thinly
Boil chicken breasts (in a different pot) for about two minutes, until they are white and slightly firm
Drain spinach and chicken
Bring chicken stock to a simmer, then add soy sauce and the sugar
Add spinach and chicken
Bring soup back to simmer, then add onions
Serve hot

The soup turned out pretty good. If I had to make it again I would probably add some tofu. It reminds me a lot of Miso soup with chicken it.

The other recipe I made is a chicken tortilla soup recipe from my new favorite blog, Clean Eating Machines. The only thing I changed from her recipe is I added yellow onions to this one too and I did not double the zucchini. H probably wouldn't eat it if I did. I am looking forward to eating left overs tonight for dinner.

Recipes for Healthy Eating - Squash Spaghetti

I have always been a pretty healthy eater since leaving my teenage years. In college my breakfast did consist on strawberry Poptarts every morning, but they were the low fat ones so I figure it could be worse :) ... Any how since I have started running so much I have taken things to the next level. I have been trying to eat more vegetables and eat cleaner (less processed foods and more organic fruits and veggies). I find I just feel better, my belly is a little flatter, and I have more energy for my runs.

This is a recipe I got from one of my good friends while I was in Colorado. Too bad I will probably never get my husband to eat it. It tasted great and I could not taste the squash at all. It would be a good recipe to try to get kids to eat their veggies too.

Spaghetti Squash:

Ingredients -
One Spaghetti Squash
Ground Turkey
Your favorite Spaghetti Sauce
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash in half and brush olive oil over the inside. Place on cookie sheet inside the over. Cook for 30 minutes.

While Squash is baking, cook turkey and heat up the sauce. Once squash is cooked take a fork and scrape out the squash. The Spaghetti Squash becomes the "noodles" of the dish. Cover the squash with meat and sauce.