Very Berry Smoothie Recipe

So, I'm sure you all were fascinated by my budget entry I posted last week. One thing I realized while looking at my budget is that I was charging an extra $20-$30/month at my gym from charging one of their delicious smoothies to my account nearly every time I worked out. Back at the end of May, I bought a blender and was obsessed with it... for about an hour! Then I just went back to buying them from my gym. After analyzing our budget though, I've decided to get back into making my own, which I really did love in the first place; I love to create new things!

So, I've begun using a chocolate whey powder called Lean MR by dotFit-- visit their site full of amazing fitness products-- and putting it into all of my smoothies as meal replacement, which is a convenient, healthy way to maintain or lose weight!

This is a smoothie I created Friday evening using frozen mixed berries from DOLLAR TREE!! If you live near a Dollar Tree store, please go visit their frozen food section! I was amazed!!

You'll Need:

1/2 Cup of mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)
1 Cup of Almond Milk or 1% milk (I use almond milk when I want to save some calories)
5 ice cubes
1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (and I'm sure it's just as good if not better with vanilla protein powder). Like mentioned above, I am currently using Lean MR by dotFit.
1 teaspoon of sugar or your choice of sweetener
1 tablespoon of non fat vanilla yogurt

Combine all in a blender and blend for 20-30 seconds. I also put it on the ice grater setting for a few seconds. You can add more ice for more of a milkshake effect!

I kid you not though, this smoothie tasted as good as it looks!!! My husband was very impressed too!!

 



Very Berry Smoothie--and I am sorry it's sideways!!

ENJOY!!!

My Signature Dish... Beef/Chicken Enchiladas Recipe!!!

Every young wife has that ONE dish that she can make that never fails, never burns or overcooks, and for years to come will be her husband's most favorite thing to have once or twice a month. For me, my Beef or Chicken Enchiladas is that dish! Recipe for 4-5 large enchiladas is below. ENJOY!!!

You'll Need:
1-3 pounds of cooked shredded chicken or ground chuck (depending on how stuffed you want them)!
1/2 Cup of light ranch dressing
1/2 Cup of light sour cream
1 Cup of salsa (I use medium or mild)
2 Cups of shredded mexican/taco cheese
1 can of refried beans (optional)
4-5 whole wheat soft tortilla shells


Directions:

Preheat oven to 385 degrees F.
In a small mixing bowl, mix the light ranch dressing and sour ceam with a spoon.
I prepare these on a large dinner plate, so grab one of those, and lay one of your tortiall shells flat on it.
With a large spoon, place a dollop of the ranch dressing/sour cream mix in the middle of the shell, and spread it around with the back of the spoon.
Next, spoon your chicken or beef onto the shell on top of the ranch dressing/sour cream mix.
At this point, you can place the optional refried beans, shredded cheese, and salsa in any order you like. I think I usually do salsa, refried beans, then cheese. (And I don't always include refried beans--I just happened to have a can of them when I made these the other night. They did add some flavor though!!)
Carefully roll up your stuffed tortilla--yes, it will be messy!!
Place fold-up on a baking pan, and sprinkle shredded cheese on top.

Repeat with your remaining tortillas!

Place in the oven for about 15 minutes--just long enough so that the cheese melts and gets gooey on the inside! While these are baking/heating in the oven, I usually prepare some instant Mexican/taco rice. We then put the rest of the salsa into a bowl with some tortilla chips as an appetizer while we wait, and I spoon out some avocado!

 

Strawberry-Banana Pancake Recipe

Strawberry-Banana Pancakes...

I've tried to write out this recipe before, and I feel like it's always an epic fail because I realize that I am my mother after all: I do not measure!!

The point of these pancakes is to eliminate some of the processed, instant pancake mix that I typically use for a pancake breakfast. I have tried homemade mixes before, following the recipes veryyyy carefully, but somehow it's always a disaster. So, instant mix it is and will be! 

But at least I have created a way to make instant mix somewhat healthy!

What you'll need:

2 heaping tablespoons of instant pancake/waffle mix (extra fluffy)!

1/8

1 whole medium banana

4 strawberries (cut into small pieces)

Just a splash of milk (see, I don't measure!) And I use 1%. Don't even get me started on the whole "YOU SHOULD USE ALMOND/SOY MILK" bullshit. No. 

Combine water and pancake mix into a bowl. Determine whether or not you need more water. If it's too runny, don't add more mix. The banana will usually fix this!! With a spoon (and I usually do this in a teacup), mash up the banana as if you were going to feed it to a baby. Spoon it into the pancake mix. Next, add the chopped up strawberries (you can also puree these, but it takes a little more time, and I was pressed for time this AM!) Mix this all up, then if you so desire, add your splash of milk. Even when I feel like I don't really "need" it, I just like the moisture it adds to the pancakes! 

Proceed in making pancakes in a skillet as usual! Yes, it's that easy!! And soooo good! 

I realize that not everyone will love this recipe: case in point, my dad and brother REFUSED to try these when I tried to make them at home once. But still... I'm not a parent, so I don't know about stubborn children, but if you have picky eaters who love pancakes, this is a great way to get them to eat some fruit!! Strawberry-Banana Pancakes make me look forward to Sunday morning cooking!! I ate mine this morning with 3 eggs (one whole egg, 2 egg whites) and 2 slices of low sodium bacon. 

Yummy!!!

Not-So-Fried-Fries (Baked Fries) Recipe

You shall need: 5 small russet potatoes (this makes a bunch of them). 

About 1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Regular Salt

And I used some of our lemon pepper seasoning, only because we are almost out of it. Plus, it's my favorite seasoning! I put it on almost everything. 

Step One: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the potatoes in a bowl of cold water and allow them to soak for about 10-15 minutes. Pretty sure I used this time to vacuum our bedrooms!

Step Two: Cut the potatoes long-way like French fries (see first picture). I then placed them all on a paper towel and tossed a pinch of salt and lemon pepper seasoning over them. Since they were still wet from soaking, this allowed the flower to seep in. 

Step Three: In a bowl, combine EVOO, dash of pepper, pinch of salt, a couple dashes of garlic powder, and a dash of lemon pepper. 

Step Four: Place your cut-up potatoes in the bowl, cover with a lid (or improvise with aluminum foil if you're like me and can't keep up with lids), and "shake and bake" for about 30 seconds. 

Step Five: spray a flat baking pan (I had to use two) with cooking spray (I used vegetable oil) and spread your potatoes evenly over the pan. Place in the oven and set your timer for 15 minutes. 

Step Six: After 15 minutes, pull them out and flip them the best you can. Put back in the oven for about 5 more minutes. When you pulled them out, they should have been sizzling a bit (or maybe a lot). Use this to judge how much longer you need to bake them. 

Once they're done, take them out and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. After allowing myself to snag like a dozen of them, I put them in a container for the husband and I to munch on this week. Whatever you plan on doing with these, PLEASE do it quickly because these things smell sooooo dang good, they'll be irresistable; if you're planning on saving them for later, it ain't gonna happen unless you get them out of your sight ASAP. The smell is heavenly as well! When my husband came home from work an hour after I pulled them out of the oven, he said he could still smell the seasoning--and that is a compliment!!

ENJOY!

6:25AM... MY FIRST 10K!!!

I'm at my breakfast table eating my favorite runner's breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, as I anxiously await 8AM, at which time I will begin running my first 10K race!! It's a cool September morning; PERFECT weather for running, and I'm so excited.

I began running in March of 2012, and since then, I've been hooked. Running is one of my favorite, most relaxing things to do. It is a mind-clearer and destresser for sure!

On February 2nd of 2014, I'll run my first half-marathon (13.1 miles) in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the Rock-n-Roll marathon.

I consider myself extremely blessed to have been gifted with the ability to run, and I'm extremely grateful for every finish line I cross. Please keep me in your prayers today :)

Three Years and a Marriage Later....

Here I am, three years later and no longer the vain little princess I was at 19 when I created this blog, I'm liking the married, 22-year-old me a lot better. I graduated from The University of Mississippi and am now a certified high school English teacher.

I'm coming back to finish what I started in hopes that I can be connected with some of you soul-searchers. I want to call myself a blogger.