Shake Creations 101

Hey guys! This is another one of my thrown together shakes. Just sharing the base details in case your mind is in a rut! Don't worry about the brown flecks in the shake, those are just the almond butter goodness! :)

Ingredients: (this will make a large serving, you can half them if needed)
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
1 heaping teaspoon of almond butter
1/2 frozen banana
8 oz skim milk
2 scoops Energy Booster

Place all in blender and push "blend".

Appx:
*using 1 scoop energy booster for small, 2 scoops for large size.
Large Serving: 380 cals
Half Serving (small): 191 cals

Pom Power!

How many of you out there just adore pomegranates? Come on don't be shy..yell out ME ME!! For very good reason you should love this little guy! He's packed with all sorts of antioxidants that will punch out the competition. To name a few contenders in the ring this includes red wine, blueberry juice, green tea and cranberry juice. I know right.. amazing! Check out this graph that demonstrates it's superiority in the antioxidant fruit fight.

Antioxidants are like cops.. they will fight crime in your body. What crimes am I speaking of? I am speaking of the toll free radicals play on our health and well being. Free radicals are the bad guys. They are unstable molecules that can damage the cells in your body causing disease and increase the signs of aging (gasp!)

First let me show you all the ways Pom Wonderful makes it easy for us to enjoy these benefits. Below I have pictures of the Pom section at my local grocery. Pom Wonderful comes in all sorts of flavors such 100% Pomegranate Juice or a variety of options that are about 80/20 mix. Let your taste buds delight over Pom Blueberry or Pom Mango. Those are some of my favorites besides straight up 100% Pom on the rocks! It also comes in a array of other products such as Pomx Iced Coffee. I admit that was extremely yummy!

I have a tendency to drink this stuff right outta the bottle but it can also be useful and delightful in many recipes. Today I made a Pomegranate Blueberry Shake packed with protein and yep you guessed it--> antioxidants!! (blueberries also pack a kick of antioxidants)

Pomegranate Blueberry Power Shake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Pom Wonderful 100% Pomegranite Juice.
3 oz skim milk (that is just over 1/3 cup)
2 ice cubes
1/2 frozen banana
handful of frozen blueberries
1 TB almonds: ground
2 TB vanilla whey protein powder (that was about half a serving or scoop)
1/2 tsp honey

First I put whole almonds in the blender and ground them up. I have a selection on my blender called "grate".

Then I added all the other ingredients to the blender and pushed Blend!
Check out the little chunks of blueberry goodness in that glass!

It was delightfully refreshing!

Information and recipe adapted from  Pom Wonderful

Green Monster

As you all know I am quite fond of tossing a few items in the blender, swirling them around and swirling myself right out the door with a nutritious, on-the-go breakfast.  One version of these breakfast blend-sations includes spinach and I've become accustomed to calling these wonderful little morning creations Green Monsters. Yesterday I hauled my hiney off to kickboxing for a 6:15 (please note this next part) AM class. I was home by 7:30 ready to put some protein in my tummy to save those screaming lil muscles I'd woken up so early. Out came the blender.. in went the following ingredients!

Green Monster (Mango-Coconut)

1/2 cup fresh apple juice
3.5 oz Greek Yogurt (2% Fage is what I used)
1 TB Flaxseed
1 TB Wheatgerm
2 TB Fiber
1/8 cup frozen coconut shavings
1/4 cup frozen mango chunks (Dole)
2-3 oz cold water if needed
Baby spinach to the top!

I found this brand of Apple Juice at Hy-Vee.  I feel like it's as close to fresh apple juice as I can come with out having a juicer of my own. As you can see in the label.. "not from concentrate" They squeezed every single apple into this fun little jar! Doesn't it have a certain 50's -esque feel to it!

If you couldn't see before.. here's a closer view!

I've recently discovered that all yogurts are basically bad for you. They are sugar in a cup. I became very sad at this moment. It's like all these years of thinking I was eating something good for me and suddenly my favorite toy was smashed to pieces. Fortunately I only "try" to eat healthy ;-).  I can allow myself to use good yogurt in recipes and I'll still sneak that yummy Chobani I love so much as a treat when I'm feeling naughty! Consider it the lesser of two evils.. straight out cheesecake or Chobani.
This Greek yogurt has good stats with:
130 cals
4 g fat
65 mg sodium
8 g carbs
8 g sugars
17 protein

 Flax and wheatgerm. I put these in every breakfast shake I make.. standards in my book. You can't tell they are in there and they provide so much benefit! I'm super excited because I just found out my friend will be selling organic flax from her family farm! It will be fresher and organic! Yay for my body!

Next comes adding fiber. Does anyone know how many grams of fiber you are to eat in a day? (guessing, guessing...) You all might be right.. as the range is 20-35 grams!! (ADA recommends 25-35g) I used the Sprinkle fiber on the left that I bought at the local nutrition store Campbells but I put a picture of a common brand name on the right: Benefiber. These powders are great because you can toss them into just about anything: regular food, sauces, soups, beverages. They are flavorless and don't change the consistency of the food items. Benefiber even has convenient single serve packs for on the go.

 I tossed in a smidge of fresh frozen coconut that I picked up at the Indian grocery. I'm sure regular coconut would work. Or try dried, hydrate it, then freeze.

Dole makes these great pre-packaged frozen fruits. At first I thought they were too pricy for my taste. But if you watch the sales and use coupons they are well worth the price! Especially for the unique fruits like mango. Since you only need a few cubes at a time they last forever and convenience wise its fabulous. Plus we all know most of us are more likely to eat healthy if its easy. Plus I thought it was fun to know my mango came from Peru!

Fill the blender to the top with spinach. Push blend and away we go! I usually have to use a rubber spatula to gently push the spinach down abit. I also needed to add just 2-3 oz of cold water this time to make it blend up nice. It always depends. Just eyeball it.

Finally here's the little Green Monster himself. This will totally fill up your gas tank- promise!

Popeye the Sailer Man

Spinach- Will this leafy green do as much for you as it did for cartoon character Popeye? Perhaps.. but not because of the iron content it was once thought to have. Spinach provides an array of nutritional benefits as it's packed with carotenoids, antioxidants, vitamin K, coenzyme Q10, B vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, polyphenols, betaine and plant-derived omega-3 fatty acids. To name a few!

Read some of the disease prevention benefits these little green leaves pack:

• Cardiovascular disease including stroke and coronary artery disease
• Cancer including colon, lung, skin, oral, stomach, ovarian, prostate and breast cancer
• Age related macular degeneration (AMD) (a disease related to the eyes, usually in the elderly)
• Cataracts

Researchers believe it's the supply of vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytonutrients that help prevent age related issues such as cancers, eye health disorders or cognitive decline.  So not only was Popeye strong.. he was pretty darn smart too! ;-)
Need more reasons to eat your spinach? Vitamin C, beta-carotene and a few other nutrients join together to prevent cholesterol from building up in the vessel walls. Folate, B6 and betaine lower serum levels of the amino acid homocysteine. It also contains potassium and magnesium. All in all what this means for you.. a happy heart!

In the recipe below I also included fresh oranges. The outside of an orange is called the peel and is made of two distinct parts. The zest or the 'orange part' and the pith or 'the white bitter interior'. I removed the zest of the orange but not the pith. I did this by taking a sharp knife and carefully slicing just under the zest at an angle to remove all the 'orange' of the peel. (Place the zest in your garbage disposal. You''ll instantly have a fresh citrus scent in your kitchen!) One of the main nutritional aspects of using these outer coverings is that they contain the phytonutrient herperidin. This flavanone has shown to decrease blood pressure, lower cholesterol and has strong anti-inflammatory properties. All of these items increase your cardiovascular health.

Check out my creation this morning. It was green. It looked yucky. But it tasted oh so delish! (you couldn't even taste the spinach) And based on the above information it seems to indicate your mom was right- eat your fruits and veggies. Try taking this smoothie to the office. It will certainly provoke immediate attention and conversation!

Spinach Smoothie
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (plain would be more ideal if you are wanting to cut out sugars)
1 tsp+ vanilla flavoring
1 tsp flaxseed
1 tsp wheat germ
1 scoop orange whey protein
2 whole oranges roughly chopped, remove the zest but keep the pith remaining
2/3 cup water (or so)
Organic baby spinach- two to three handfuls (fill blender to 3/4 full appx)
5-6 ice cubes
*I also included a couple teaspoons magnesium powder. You can purchase this at your local natural and organic market/section. It provides tons of benefits.

Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend on high speed to liquify. Pour in a BIG cup and enjoy!

Servings:

This made appx 36 oz. Waaay more than I could finish- super filling!