Saturday, February 26, 2011

Saturday Morning Breakfast!

I love Saturdays!  Today I slept in (till 7) and made an amazing breakfast bowl.  In a bit, I'm off to tutor and then meet with a family looking for a babysitter.  The day will end, and most Saturdays do, with a fun night out with my friends :)  Saturday is by far the best day of the week!

Here was my breakfast concoction this morning...
1 cup Strawberries
1/2 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Cinnamon Burst Cherrios
1 tablespoon of honey (since I'm not used to Greek yogurt)

It was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!  It's 4 Points Plus if you're doing WW.  Enjoy your Saturday!!!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Weekend with my Mom!

I tried out Rocks tonight with my mom since she wanted "American Food".  It's just down the street from my house.  Check out the dessert we split- not so healthy perhaps but yummy!  It's a fried snickers bar with ice cream :)

Tomorrow we're off for a spa day- my Christmas gift to my mom.  She's getting a 30 minute cinnamon sugar scrub followed by a 60 minute chocolate massage :)  I hope she loves every minute!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

The World's Most Amazing Green Smoothie EVER!!!

I have heard about all the amazing health benefits of green smoothies and have been wanting to read Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko to learn more and get some good recipes.  Luckily, a good recipe came my way in one of Amanda Skrip's classes.  It is honestly the best smoothie I've ever had!  I followed the recipe as is, but you could also add some hemp powder for additional protein, vitamins, etc.


Ingredients:
1 cup of almond milk
1 cup frozen mango
½ frozen banana slices
Juice from 1 lime
1 large handful of baby spinach
Squirt of honey if desired

Mix in a blender and serve! :)  It makes about 1 tall glass with maybe a bit of a refill!

So everyone try this amazing green smoothie!  It makes a great breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack... anytime meal!

AND- if anyone is wondering, yes that is my Christmas tree in the background... it is nearly March- it NEEDS to go back in the closet till next year and soon!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Speedy Weeknight Dinner!


Ingredients:
1 tub of refrigerated tortellini
1 tub pesto
Almost one full bag of sun dried tomatoes

Directions:
1.  Cook up tortellini according to the directions on the package.
2. Mix drained tortellini with 1 tub of pesto and sun dried tomatoes.  Add parmesan cheese if you wish.
Serves 5


This is a great dish to whip up on a busy weeknight and only takes about 10 minutes to make!  One serving is 9 Points Plus and you could easily add some extra veggies to it such as asparagus :)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Old Town Oil

In line with Friday's post is another favorite shop of mine in the city- Old Town Oil.  They sell more varieties of olive oil and vinegar than I have ever seen in my life.  The shop also allows you to taste test the oil and vinegar by taking mini shots of whatever you'd like to try.  It's a great store if you want to start with the best ingredients!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Oven Baked Edamame!!!

This is so good!  Follow the same recipe posted a few days ago for Crispy Baked Chickpeas but use edamame instead (in the produce department at TJ's).  It's so amazing and is only 3 Points Plus per serving!!!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Spices Galore

One of the MANY things I love about living in Chicago are all the specialty stores.  Last summer I went on an amazing food tour.  One of the places we went was The Spice House.  This store sells... spices!  Everyone who works there has a culinary degree of some sort and every spice that is out on the shelf for sale has been ground and packaged within the last 3 days (if I remember correctly).  You honestly taste the difference when you use the very freshest spices!  This store is amazing!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Yummy Alternative to Chips!

Late at night it's easy to want something to munch while you're watching tv.  I went to the 3rd session of Natural Foods Boot Camp today led by Amanda Skrip and got an amazing recipe for crispy baked chickpeas that were so tasty.  Here is my twist on the recipe based on what spices I had on hand.


Ingredients:
1 (12 oz) can of organic chickpeas
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of paprika
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
sprinkle of tumeric (because of it's anti cancer benefits)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 400.  
2. Toss drained and rinsed chickpeas with olive oil and spices.
3. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes or until browned and crunchy.  Sprinkle with additional salt and let cool.

Put in a tupperware container and keep for about 4 days (although you'll probably eat them all by then!!!).  2 Points Plus per 1/4 cup and WAY more vitamins than potato chips.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Super Bowl Sunday and A High Energy Breakfast!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!!  It's going to be a busy day for me and I knew I needed to start off with a good breakfast!  One of my favorite breakfasts that I always have on hand is my Yoplait Hemp Smoothie. Below is what you'll need to make it:

In a blender I mix 1 cup of almond milk with 1 serving of hemp protein powder.  Then I dump in the bag of Yoplait smoothie mix and turn the blender up to it's highest speed for a minute or so. 

It's 6 Points Plus for the whole blender full and it fills a tall glass.  I just used up my last bag of Yoplait Smoothie mix this morning so after this I might just use 2 cups of regular frozen fruit.  Yoplait smoothies are amazing but there is a lot of added stuff and the breakfast would be fewer points, less expensive, and "cleaner" if I used regular frozen fruit.

Out of all my yummy breakfast ideas, this one keeps me the fullest and gives me the most energy to start my day :)

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Saturday Lunch- Brown Rice 'Risotto Style' and Roasted Asparagus :)

After a crazy blizzard and two days off of work, I had plenty of time this weekend to whip up some new recipes.  The blizzard kept me cooped inside and I got many of my normal "weekend chores" done early!  Below is my favorite pic of the storm... luckily I do not have a car!

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Thursday night I was finally able to dig myself out and attend a cooking class at my local Whole Foods store.  The class was led by Amanada Skrip and focused on grains.  I learned a lot of good recipes that I'm not sure I would be daring enough to try without Amanda showing us how to whip them up.  What I liked best was that she was close to my age and seemed to understand cooking for one or two and cooking on a budget because all her ideas on using grains seemed pretty fast and easy!

Today for lunch I whipped up a brown rice dish that we learned how to make and also roasted some asparagus that I got on sale for a side dish.  It was a yummy lunch for a cold winter day :)  I hope everyone had an amazing weekend!  Buckle up for the super bowl tomorrow!!!