Cocoa Berry Smoothie

I love smoothies!  I love how many national food chains such as Panera and Starbucks are now serving smoothies!  I do NOT love how they tend to cost almost $4.00!  In an effort to not go broke by feeding my smoothie addiction, I have started making my own at home.  Here's one of my recent concoctions.  Enjoy!


Cocoa-Berry Smoothie
Serves: 1

3/4 cup Milk (I used 1%)
1 cup Frozen Strawberries
1 1/2 Tbs Fat Free Whipped Topping
3 tsp Chocolate Pudding Mix, dry

Add all ingredients to the blender:

Blend until smooth. If you find the smoothie too thick, add additional milk as needed. Depending on how thick you want it, you may have to stop and stir a few times.

 
Once smoothie has reached your desired consistency, poor into a cup and enjoy!  At first sip it tastes mainly like strawberries, but has a subtle chocolate flavor from the pudding.  If you want it more chocolate-y, you can always add more pudding mix to it. This makes about 2 cups, which I consider a good 1-serving. Enjoy!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nutritional Info*
Calories: 233
Fat: 2.5 grams
Fiber: 3 grams


* I have manually calculated this information, based on the ingredients I used. Your own recipe's nutritional information may vary, depending on the specific ingredients you use

Banana Walnut Oatmeal

To continue the celebration of the start of my blog, I feel it's only appropriate to share another great start to my day: Banana Walnut Oatmeal!   This recipe may not have won over my anti-oatmeal husband, who finds oatmeal "too mushy," but this is one of my favorite variations.  It almost reminds me of the Jiffy-brand banana walnut muffins my mom used to make for us on special occasion mornings. I can remember as a child getting ready in the morning and smelling the wonderful just-baked muffin smell wafting upstairs to my bedroom and knowing it was going to be a good start to my day!  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have!


Banana Walnut Oatmeal
Serves 2

3/4 cup Water
3/4 cup Light Vanilla Soy Milk
3/4 cup Quick Oats
1 Medium Banana, diced
1 tsp Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
Dash salt
2 tsp Chopped Walnuts
Drizzle of Maple/Pancake syrup

Add water and milk to a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat for a minute or two.   Do not let the milk boil.  Once it seems like it's getting pretty warm (you will see steam), add oats, diced banana, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and a dash of salt.  Reduce heat to medium-low and stir frequently for 2-3 minutes or until oatmeal has reached desired consistency.  I know some people like their oatmeal stiffer, some like more liquid.  I also try to mash up the bananas a bit while stirring so the banana pieces are smaller in the final dish.

Spoon into two bowls.  Sprinkle1 tsp of chopped walnuts on each serving. Drizzle with a little maple or pancake syrup, if desired.  After your first bite, you will not regret making this one!  Enjoy not only a healthy (in my opinion), but also a delicious and filling breakfast!

xoxo Melissa

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nutritional Info per serving*:
Calories: 227
Fat: 4.3 grams
Fiber: 5.1 grams

* I have manually calculated this information, based on the ingredients I used. Your own recipe's nutritional information may vary, depending on the specific ingredients you use

Apple Pie Oatmeal

As my first recipe post, I thought it might be appropriate to start with the first meal of the day... breakfast!   I don't know about the rest of you, but I wake up hungry and my first thought is "hooray, time to eat!"  I often go through food kicks and my current breakfast kick is oatmeal.  I know, I know, oatmeal may not be the most glamorous food, but boy are there a lot of ways to pep it up and make it pretty darn delicious!  Today I will share with you my apple pie oatmeal.


Apple Pie Oatmeal
Serves: 2

3/4 cup Water
3/4 cup Light Vanilla Soy Milk*
3/4 cup Quick Oats
1 Apple, peeled, cored and diced
2 tsp. Light Brown Sugar, divided
1 tsp. Cinnamon, divided
dash of Salt
drizzle of Pancake or Maple Syrup

To make the "apple pie" portion, put the diced apple, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of brown sugar in a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave apples in 30-second intervals, until apples are slightly softened.  I microwaved mine for 2 minutes total.  Stir at each 30-second interval.  Let cool while you make the oatmeal.

To make the oatmeal, add the water and milk to a medium sized saucepan. Heat for a minute or two over medium-high heat.  Do not let it boil. Once it seems like it's getting pretty warm (you will see steam), add the oats, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon,1 tsp of brown sugar and a dash (or two) of salt.  Turn the heat down to medium and stir for 2-3 minutes, until oatmeal reaches desired consistency.  Once this happens, add the apples and stir to incorporate throughout.

Spoon into two serving bowls.  Drizzle with a little syrup.  When you take that first bite, incorporating the comforting oatmeal, a piece of cinnamon-y apple and sweet maple syrup, boy is it good!  You might actually forget for a moment that you're actually eating oatmeal!  Enjoy!

xoxo Melissa

*Recipe hasn't been tested with anything besides light vanilla soy milk. I would assume it'd taste just as good with another type such as skim, 2%, etc. I happen to have a lot of extra light vanilla soy milk around the house right now because hubby got on a soy milk kick and I bought a new 1/2 gallon while grocery shopping without him... got home and he's now off soy! Gotta find someway to use it up! After this soy milk is gone, I will probably substitute either skim or 2%.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nutritional Info per serving*:
Calories: 207.3
Fat: 3 grams
Fiber: 4.1 grams


* I have manually calculated this information, based on the ingredients I used.  Your own recipe's nutritional information may vary, depending on the specific ingredients you use