Chocolate Banana Almond Smoothie

This is my new favorite breakfast lately!  I kind of made it up and have been adjusting a little as I go.  My newest addition is the spinach.  You don't even taste it (proof- my son didn't) and it only changes the color a little. 

I thought I was doing great with this smoothie until I entered the recipe into Spark People.  There are quite a few more calories and fat than I expected.  Now I know that I will only drink half of this smoothie from now on.  My son can drink the rest. 

1 banana

3/4 cup (about) lowfat/fat-free yogurt or kefir

4 cubes of ice

1 ounce almonds

1 tbsp milled flax seeds or chia seeds

1 tsp dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 tbsp chocolate chips

1 handful of baby spinach

Nutrition Facts

(this is just an estimate)
1 Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 496.6
Total Fat 25.1 g
Saturated Fat 6.7 g
Cholesterol 11.0 mg
Sodium 147.3 mg
Potassium 1,242.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate 58.5 g
Dietary Fiber 10.0 g
Sugars 36.0 g
Protein 19.2 g

PBandJ - Updated Healthier Version

We love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at our house.  I have done my best trying to make them a little healthier by using fresh all natural peanut butter, reduced sugar jelly and whole wheat bread.  The biggest problem in this sandwich was the jelly.  Even with "reduced sugar" it still wasn't great. 

I found this idea in my new favorite book, The Eat-Clean Diet for Family and Kids by Tosca Reno.  This is a terrific book if you are looking to improve the diet of your family. 

Instead of plain peanut butter, I decided to make some of the healthy peanut butter dip (minus the chocolate chips) I made a couple weeks ago and use that on the sandwich.  It was perfect!  AND instead of the "reduced sugar" jelly I just used some sliced strawberries....no sugar at ALL!  I thought it turned out very yummy and so did my son.  It made a quick lunch after his baseball game today.

I am sharing this post at Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen, Make it From Scratch and Tasty Tuesday at City Wife, Country Life so come check out all of the wonderful soup, salad and sandwich recipes that others are sharing.   

Healthy and Clean Ranch Dressing

My son loves ranch dressing and will dip just about anything in it.  I found this recipe on The Gracious Pantry while I was seaching for information on Clean Eating and healthy recipes.  I am baby-stepping my way into Clean Eating.  My family is not really excited about it, but I am going to push forward anyway.  I have tried another recipe that I found for healthy homemade ranch dressing and we didn't like it at all.  This one turned out really good. 

I made some to dip broccoli in on our way to Texas tomorrow.  I have spent most of the day preparing food for our 550 mile trip and some for the week while we stay at my brother's.  I am determined to not stop at McDonald's tomorrow like we usually do.  I made chicken salad using this dip as the combining agent today and will make pita sandwiches with it (recipe coming soon). 

I will let you know how the trip goes and how our healthy eating on the road goes.  I am a little nervous, but I plan on doing my best to eat the right food most of the time. 

Check out The Gracious Pantry for more great recipes.

Healthy and Clean Ranch Dressing

(Makes about 8 tablespoons)

5 tablespoons low fat buttermilk
3 tablespoons nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste

Directions

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl until well blended.

Nutritional Content

1 serving = 2 tablespoonds

Calories: 10
Total Fat: 2 gm
Saturated Fats: 0 gm
Trans Fats: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 gm
Sodium: 55 mg
Carbohydrates: 1 gm
Dietary fiber: 0 gm
Sugars: 1 gm
Protein: 1 gm


This post has been linked up to:

Food Revolution Friday @ Notes from the Cookie Jar

Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade

Healthy Peanut Butter Dip

This makes a perfectly healthy mid-afternoon snack for the kiddos and for us, also.  I got the recipe from Meal Makeover Moms' Kitchen.    I added a tsp of vanilla agave nectar to sweeten it a little. 

We ate the dip with apples as you can see but I was thinking that it could go on our waffles in the morning, also.  Cameron wants to eat it with bananas.  YUM!


Healthy Peanut Butter Dip

1/2 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt (I used some of my homemade yogurt)
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup mini chocolate chips
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla agave nectar

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve with apples, celery, pretzels or anything else you can think of that will go well with peanut butter.

Corny Dog Muffins

I have been searching for a recipe for a healthy lunchbox meal for my son that he will actually eat. Up until now, the search has been futile.  I saw this idea on Lynn's Kitchen Adventures and knew that I had to try it.  I didn't use the recipe that she used but took the idea and ran with it.  I used the recipe for the cheddar and jalepeno buttermilk cornbread I made last month.  I changed a few things to make it a little healthier. 

This recipe made 36 mini-muffins.  That's a lot of lunches and after school snacks!  I let them cool and put 4 to a baggie.  I put several baggies in the refrigerator and the rest in the freezer. 

The results: they were very tasty right out of the oven and at room temperature.  My son's comment after school was, "my lunch was really good, Mom!"  He did request some marinara sauce to dip them in next time.  I know he's gotta be happy about having an alternative to PBandJ.

Ingredients:


1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Splenda
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese chopped in small chunks
1/4-1/2 cup jalapeno or poblano pepper finely chopped (optional)
6 hot dogs cut into bite-sized pieces (I used light turkey hotdogs)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray mini-muffin pans with nonstick spray.

2. Melt butter in microwave and stir in both sugars. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into butter and egg mixture. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Fold in cheese and peppers. Pour batter into the prepared pan (about 3/4 full). Push a hotdog piece into the batter of each cup.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.