Pumpkin Madness

I am loving all the pumpkin goodies on the shelves.  My Mom and I went to Trader Joe's this week and they have all things pumpkin.  We got really excited and stocked up.  We are talking pumpkin spice chai, pumpkin granola, pumpkin butter, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancake mix, pumpkin coffee...you get the point.  We didn't get all of these things but we are enjoying the pumpkin granola and coffee.  This is a great chance to talk about the pumpkin smoothie I have made a lot lately.  I have been enjoying it for breakfast and really enjoy it.

Smooth, creamy and delicious

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp peanut butter (approx.)
1 tsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. chocolate carnation or nesquick
sprinkle cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
5 ice cubes
1 large ripe frozen bananas

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.  Enjoy

Fat Releaser Banana Chocolate Smoothie

It makes me giggle to write fat releaser on the title of this blog.  I made a smoothie I found in a Reader's Digest magazine and it was yummy.  The recipe was from an article promoting their Digest Diet book.  It sounded really good, so I had to try it.  I didn't change much.  I will say this, it would taste a lot better with peanut butter (but seriously, I need to be okay with not putting peanut butter in everything!).  On a side note, let me just say Reader's Digest is fun to take on road trips.  I always bring them and read the funny stories out loud to Cliff.  Time flies when you are having fun.  

 Light and creamy!

Fat Releaser Banana Chocolate Smoothie
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp. dry milk powder
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
5 ice cubes
1 frozen banana
1 tsp cocoa powder + 1 tsp carnation chocolate powder

Combine all ingredients into a blender and blend until frothy!  This is a very refreshing smoothie.  I told Cliff, this smoothie is going to release so much fat. 

Have fun with this one:)

By the way, while I am talking about this fat releasing smoothie, I have to show you this awesome dessert we had Friday night.

 These are pretty much the same picture

 But can you see how seriously delicious this was.  Dark Chocolate ice cream with peanut butter and Oreo's mixed in, with a waffle cone of coarse.  So good.
Happy Monday Everyone!

Enjoying the Weekend

Let's start with the new recipe I tried today.  Banana Biscoff Smoothie-need I say more.  Many of you are probably thinking, "What is Biscoff?"  It is high time you learned because it is so good I just want to drink it out of the jar.  It is not healthy in any way whatsoever, so don't get that idea, but it is a delicious treat.  Basically it is cookies that are blended with oil to make this beautiful, creamy, spreadable cookie.  My favorite way to eat it so far is on fruit, but it is also good in oatmeal.  They should pay me to sell this stuff (but they don't!).  It is kind of pricy, but I got lucky and found it at our Wal-Mart for $4.  Okay, on to the smoothie.

 I should have done a close-up, but here it is with our lunch of English Mufffin melts.

In the mix for 2:

1 cup milk
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup plain yogurt
9 ice cubes
1 large frozen banana
a sprinkle of cinnamon
2-3 Tbsp. of Biscoff
Blend until smooth and enjoy because it pretty much tastes like a milkshake!

 I made Whole Wheat Buttermilk pancakes for breakfast before church this morning.  This is my all-time favorite recipe.  You have got to try this recipe, it is very simple and easy

 I have posted the recipe before as a link but I think it will be easier if I just write it out so you have my variation!  We devoured them:)

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour (sometimes I put a little bran mixed with the flour)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk (or 1Tbsp vinegar mixed into 1c milk)
2 Tbsp. cooking oil (I usually use a little less-like 1.5 Tbsp.)
Chocolate chips (optional)

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (sometimes I do a sprinkle of cinnamon if I am in the mood).  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and set aside.  Combine the egg, buttermilk, and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be a little lumpy).
Lightly grease a griddle or skillet and let it get hot.  I cook mine on med heat.  Use 1/4 cup to scoop out the batter into about 3-4 inch pancakes.  Add chocolate chips now if you are going to!  Flip when the little bubbles start to disappear or you see the edges starting to set.  Enjoy with peanut butter, butter and syrup!

*Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

In other news, we gave away our old bikes today.  It is a little sad because we rode these bikes all over our college town Portales, NM.  Cliff's is a road bike and mine is a very rusty old mountain bike (Wal-Mart special about 8 years ago).  It was kind of sad to let them go

Goodbye Ol' Faithful!

Cliff made breakfast sandwiches Saturday morning!  They were amazing-bacon, egg and cheddar

I made tater tot casserole again.  Love this stuff, especially with a side of green beans

I pulled these amazing peanut butter chocolate rice crispy treats out of the freezer.  There is only one left which means I will be making them again soon

I am off to make calzone!  Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Busy Busy

Happy Friday everyone!  This week has flown by.  I have had the chance to cook a few good meals between all my running around.  One day we had baked black bean nachos! 

 So good.  Cliff had corn, beans and chicken and I had beef and beans.  I love them baked but don't always have the time.  I did these at 400 for about 10 minutes

 Topped with lettuce, tomato, avocado and salsa

Last night I made a really good vegetable alfredo pasta.

 I had opened a jar of alfredo for our pinky pizza, so I had been brainstorming how I wanted to use the remaining sauce.  I decided to sautee some zucchini and mixed frozen bell peppers in a little olive oil.  I added crushed garlic and a lot of Italian seasoning and poured my sauce in.

 I also added some diced ham and brought this to a simmer.  I boiled fettuccine noodles and added them to this pan.  It made about 4 servings so I am going to have this for lunch!

 Served with a little Cran-Grape juice (random I know, but it was leftover from when Cliff's parents came and I am kind of hooked on it).

This morning I woke up early so I could go to Body Pump early and get lots done before work.  I made a pumkin chocolate pb banana smoothie (still trying to use up my pumpkin).  It was not delicious but at least it was nutritious! 

My Dunkin Donuts french vanilla coffee was amazing:)

Have a great weekend everyone!

New Smoothie

I have been meaning to try this smoothie recipe for a long time.  I love pumpkin but I didn't seem to make any pumpkin stuff last fall which is sad.  I guess I am getting a late start because I finally had a pumpkin smoothie yesterday.  I have to admit I was pretty scared it would be awful (because if you don't use pumpkin right, it can make you gag!).  I guess this recipe is a keeper because I liked it so much I am about to make another one.

 I will post the recipe below, it kind of reminded me of the flavors you have in Chai tea.

I had this and some of the quiche for lunch and a chicken salad sandwich for dinner.  I decided to make apple cinnamon oatmeal at work for my late night snack, and it was so good...I need to do that more often!

I fueled up for my cardio class this morning with a granola pancake.  I added pb, pears, cinnamon maple yogurt and it was delicious.

Pumpkin Smoothie

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup vanilla yogurt

1/3 cup pumpkin

1 frozen banana

2 tsp. almond butter

5 ice cubes

a dash of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Enjoy

Good Afternoon

I opened up my blog page to start a new post and then next thing you know I was in my living room making cards!  I guess I am easily distracted.  My hunger got me in the kitchen to make a smoothie and when I went to take a picture I realized that I had not even started my post today.  As I type I am eating a delicious, creamy smoothie.  I have posted my favorite smoothie before, but lately I have been making a different one so it's time to post that.  This one involves lots of fruit and no peanut butter (I think my stomach needed a break from the crazy amounts of peanut butter in my smoothies!). 

 I love it with granola on top-it is the perfect little snack and it is a great way to get fruit and dairy servings.

Light and Creamy Smoothie (my next favorite)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup flavored yogurt (you can use plain but it will be more tart-I mostly use flavored but it depends on my mood)

1/2 frozen banana

3-4 frozen pineapple chunks

4-5 frozen strawberries

3-4 ice cubes (optional-ha today I forgot them)

Place all ingredients into your blender and blend until smooth.  Enjoy

 For lunch I had a turkey, spinach, laughing cow cheese, tomato sandwich.  I had it on the oat nut bread from Ben and Danielle and it was amazing!

 My homemade oatmeal with blackberries, peanut butter, and granola!  This fueled me up for my intense body combat class (I have a new class to go to!)

Check out the new quilt I got yesterday at Kohl's.  We got a king bed recently and did not have anything but two old blankets to put on it so it was time to get a comforter.  I really like it and it is reversible.

 
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.

1 John 5:18

Good News

Remember this weekend when I made cinnamon french toast?  I said I really want to try this with cinnamon swirl bread...well what do ya know I got a loaf of cinnamon raisin swirl bread last night from Ben and Danielle:)  What do you do when you have cinnamon swirl bread?  Cinnamon Roll French Toast!!

 I didn't use quite as much butter as this weekend because I try to keep my weekday breakfast on the healthy side.  A little butter in the skillet.  I whipped 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk, 1 tsp. brown sugar, touch vanilla and cinnamon to dip my bread in.

 With some delicious coffee.

 This was very tasty.  I still had a little cinnamon cream cheese glaze from the weekend:)  I recommend making this if you like french toast and cinnamon rolls-its make a beautiful collision of the two.

I snacked on some cuties and did some more applying.  Danielle went for a walk with me and then I made a green monster (I know, I am addicted, I usually do that with food and then one day I will look at it and say I am not having this for a long time-maybe I need to pace myself!).

 

I was excited because it looked more green today.  It tasted great and I have decided the key to a good green monster is using some kind of sweetened yogurt (strawberry or vanilla for me).

Anyways, back to crafting an applying for jobs!  I am having leftover meatloaf for dinner so maybe you will actually get a picture of the meal I worked so hard on:)  Have a great Wednesday afternoon.

Job Hunting

I am not a fan of job hunting.  I am trying to be patient and mindful with my current search which does not come easy for me.  If you don't already know, I like being on the go!  I like being active and I like working...but it has been hard for me to find work that I truly enjoy.  Anyways, I have not been hunting long, so I just need to buckle down and enjoy some down time:)  You would think with all this time that I would be cooking up amazing things.  Truth is, Cliff is out of town and I have been trying to eat up my leftovers!  Yesterday my food was pretty boring-green monster, leftover nachos, and then this yummy snack you see here:)

This was my afternoon pick-me-up!

Dinner: I know, weird but it is what I was craving.  It is my homemade instant oatmeal (recipe is perfected and I am happy)!  I went to work from 6-10pm and snacked on some awesome cranberry chocolate trail mix on my way home:)

This morning I went to Pilates (the Pilates I am used to is really hard-but this was basically yoga..it was nice to relax and stretch).  My body needed it after body pump yesterday!  I was craving eggs when I got home

1 egg, 1 egg white, whipped with milk and into the skillet.

Flip and fold and place on bread.

These are awesome bagel thins from Ben and Danielle.  I put a little jelly on there too!

Yummy:)  Next time I will use real cheese (not the american slices-I think the real stuff is better on eggs)

I also just got through eating the best smoothie ever!  I have been on a green monster kick, but this was the best one yet:)

 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt, about as much spinach as you see here, 2 tsp. dark cocoa powder, 1 tsp carnation, 2 tsp flax, 5 ice cubes, 3/4 frozen banana, 5 frozen strawberries.  At the end add 2 rounded Tbsp. of peanut butter and 2 Tbsp. oats.  Oh man this was SO good.

 I could have drank another (but that would make me way too full).

Went for a walk with Danielle and check it out.  It flooded in some parts of Houston yesterday.  This is usually a small creek, but there are a lot of drainage systems that go into it!

I'm off to apply for some jobs!  Hope everybody is having a great day:)  Here is some encouragement for the day:

Fear not, for I am with you;  be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, yes I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Lean Green Cleaning Machine

GREEN MONSTER!  I made one and can hardly believe it.  The first time I saw a smoothie that had spinach in it I thought, "I don't think I will ever be that healthy-that's going a little too far..."  I gave in after reading so many benefits from several different blogs.  Iowa Girl Eats is who finally convinced me.  I think the benefits that stuck out to me were:

• Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin A, C, K, iron, fiber, folate, and lutein (since I have been eating less meat, I need more iron).
• People who drink them usually talk about how much energy it gives them.
• Good source of fiber and easy way to get vegetable servings in early in the day.

So, after my short pilates video I headed in to the kitchen to make the monster.  I got the original recipe from Oh She Glows.  I modified mine just a little.

This was my last blending stage.  I put about 2 Tbsp. Peanut butter and 1 Tbsp. raw oats!

 It looked more green than this but you can tell it is smooth and creamy!

 It was not as green as expected but it still kind of freaks you out to drink a green smoothie...ha!

I have to give you my pros and cons and it should help you decide if you should go for it (you should).

Pros:

• It kept me full for about 5 hours
• I felt really good after I drank it and throughout the entire day
• It tasted good and it can be made many different ways
• It is creamy and frothy and it is cool to say I had a green monster for breakfast...it feels like you accomplished something
• The flavor of your smoothie stays about the same...so spinach could be added to your favorite smoothie (next I am going to try it with My Favorite Smoothie).
• Nutritionally a great start to your day with 1 serving of veggies, 1 serving of fruit, 1 serving of dairy, 1/4 serving grains (flax + oats), 1 serving protein (from peanut butter + protein powder), fiber (fiber always make me excited lol because it helps keep you full and regular)

Cons:

• The color kind of freaked me out (but you get used to it)
• The texture is a little different.  I recommend you blend it very well.  Occasionally I could kind of feel the spinach (it was very small and it was not bad, but again it is something in you mind saying that is spinach in your smoothie). Don't worry because it is NOT slimy!

Basically, after you start drinking it and get used to the color and texture (which is not bad to begin with), it is really good.  More importantly, I will be making this again!  I will probably try to have it about 2-4 times a week.  To be honest I am already craving another one.  Here is my adapted recipe:

Green Monster (Lauren Style)

2 cups spinach

3/4 cup milk (I used 2 %)

1/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt (would be good with vanilla also)

4-5 cubes ice

1/2 scoop protein powder (prob. close to 2 Tbsp.)

2 tsp. flax

1 sliced, frozen banana

2 Tbsp. peanut butter (add last as seen above)

1 Tbsp. oats (add last as seen above)

Place ingredients in blender in order listed.  Blend until very smooth (spinach should get super tiny).  Add peanut butter and oats at the end and blend until well mixed.  Pour into a glass and enjoy!

My Mom asked about the calories so I figured it up and it is approx 550 calories.  There is a lot of protein because I used peanut butter and protein powder (if I had vanilla yogurt, I would omit protein powder most likely).  Like I said, this kept me full for a long time so the calories don't bother me!

Danielle and me went for a power walk today (good thing I had a lot of energy).  I got to cleaning when I got home and our apt is looking really nice now!  After a cleaning for a while, I was ready for a veggie burger.  I used to have veggie burgers all the time in college (especially when I lived alone).  Since I am trying to eat less meat, I decided I needed to get some veggie burgers.  I bought Morning Star Garden Veggie Patties:

This may be my new favorite.

 Pickles, tomato, honey mustard, spinach, cheese, ketchup.

 On a delightful bagel thin from B & D.

This was so delicious!!!  I can't wait to make another.  The box says the dietary exchange is 2 veggies and 1 lean protein.  I will say this, if you have never had a veggie burger, don't expect it to taste like beef.  It tastes similar to a burger because it had the same toppings, but it does not taste like beef.  I love them.

My snacks today were fage mango yogurt and 2 cuties!  I did a puzzle with Danielle and headed to the grocery store before dinner.  I didn't really feel like cooking so I just whipped out some good ol' mac and cheese and made that with green beans.

 I like to rinse my green beans before putting them in the skillet with a little olive oil.  I followed the package directions on the mac.  This three cheese flavor was really good!

Hit the spot.

Finished with a delicious peanut cluster!

Hope everybody has a great weekend!!  I am really excited to hang out with Cliff. 

Pump It

I was so happy I went to the 6:45am Body Pump class this morning.  I was thinking it would be really hard to get out of bed (since I have been on a break), but it wasn't bad.  The class was fun.  Came home and wondered around my kitchen trying to figure out what to eat.  Finally, I decided on My Favorite Smoothie.  I knew I would be eating a late lunch with friends so I needed something that would keep me super full (but I did not like feeling cold after I finished it :/).

Milk, yogurt, cocoa powder and carnation chocolate, banana, strawberries, ice, peanut butter, oats.  Good stuff and I did not get hungry until about 12:30pm.

I spent most of the day with Danielle and Amber (remember my cookie-making buddies).  We went for a 50 minute walk on the trail then headed to Panera for lunch.  I even remembered to take a picture yipee.

Delicious!  Tomato & Mozzarella panini with vegetable soup.  I forgot they give you bread too (I saved it for dinner because I was pretty full).  BTW, you should see how many times you can spot my pink nalgene in pictures because it is a lot.

After lunch we watched One Night With the King about Esther in the Bible.  It was pretty good-but it was not completely accurate-we still had fun!  The rest of the day I ran a few errands and started putting away the tree.  It is pretty dry at this point so I am going to have to clean up a lot of needles!  I ate an early dinner of delicious leftovers.  Have I ever mentioned how much I like leftovers?  Cliff and me go to restaurants that give huge portions so we will have leftovers!!!  We went to Olive Garden earlier in the week and Cliff is traveling for work, so I got his leftovers.  Of coarse I added a few things to it to pump up the nutritional value.

 In the skillet I threw in some zucchini with olive oil and sauteed it until it started to soften a little.  I turned off the heat, added a little more olive oil, tomatoes, and fresh spinach.  In the meantime, I heated Cliffs leftovers: some sort of lasagna chicken Alfredo dish-delicious.

 It originally had spinach so I got lots of yummy spinach.  There is my leftover bread from lunch:)

Once again, leftovers jazzed up to beauty.  I did a little blogging after dinner and grabbed a giant peanut cluster to eat on the way to church.  We have prayer meeting on Wednesdays...I don't get to go very often because of my schedule, but tonight I was free.  It was a great service as usual and we prayed about Jeremiah 33:3.  

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

This is a beautiful, comforting verse.  I am learning about listening to God-I am "good" at talking to God, but He wants to tell me great and unsearchable things and often I don't take time to listen.  What does that mean?  Take time and listen...you may think that sounds crazy or hard.  It can be hard, but I think it means trying to quiet our minds and asking God to talk to us and help us to listen.  I heard in a sermon not to over think it.  If something comes into your mind while you are focusing on God, then try to focus on it and God will make it more clear.  Let me also say this, don't feel pressured.  Maybe there will be silence (that is ok to have silence in the presence of the Lord), maybe you will feel comfort, maybe He will lead you in a certain area.  Who am I to say how God is going to speak to you but he will answer us and tell us great and unsearchable things we do not know when we call to Him.  If you ever have questions about it let me know! 

*******

Okay, one of my goals this year is to give a nutritional breakdown a couple times a week.  When I say nutritional breakdown, I mean mostly over-viewing the food-groups. 

Breakfast:

• 1 serving of dairy (milk/yogurt)
• 1.25 servings of fruit (3/4 cup strawberries + 1/2 banana)
• 3 oz protein (3 Tbsp. peanut butter)
• 1/2 serving grains (1/4 cup oats)
• 50 empty calories (carnation instant b-fast and sugar in coffee)

I found this helpful to find out what some foods qualify as.  I got a degree in Family and Consumer Science, so I have a lot of background in nutrition.  I try to follow the food pyramid mostly, but that has changed to myplate.  So, here is a cool link to help you figure out what foods count in what food group.  Hope everyone has a great day...it is almost Friday!