Clean GREEN SMOOTHIES. How to, what to, and why to.

So I made my first green smoothie a few weeks ago and failed miserably. It tasted...green. Really really green. I put out a cry for help via Instagram and got SO many tips, lots of helpful and some not so helpful (love you guys anyway):

SO here is what I learned:

You can break it down like this:

Pick what you want to use, blend the liquid and greens together first. Then add in the fruit and powerfood toppings and blend well. Pour into a tupperware, chug as you sprint to catch the bus.

My favorite combos:

Apple Lemonade

• 1 cup kale
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 apples
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

Tropical Vacay Smoothie

• 1 cup kale
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup pineapple
• 1/2 cup mango (I picked up the "tropical fruit blend" at Trader Joe's for $3, it has the pineapple, mango and guava)
• 1/2 cup guava
• 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed
• Juice of 1 lemon

Classic Strawberry Banana

• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup almond milk 
• 1 cup fozen strawberries
• 1 banana
• 2 heaping spoonfuls of Greek Yogurt
• 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

Some tips:

• If using kale, you HAVE to include an acidic fruit to cut the bitterness. Lemon works great and so does pineapple. Or both. People on Insta also suggested ginger.
• My friend Lizzie swears by these. She throws in peeled beets, brussel sprouts (no joke), broccoli, and anything else nutritious in her fridge. She swears the lemon covers the taste of everything.
• These are great for "clearing out the system" if you know what I mean. It's amazing. I had a legit food hangover after a cheat night, drank one of these puppies and cleared the cheats right out. Felt 100 x better. Sorry for the overshare.
• I found whole flaxseed for way cheaper than the ground. I just put 1/2 cup of seed in my blender at a time, put it on "grind", and stored it in the freezer. PS: don't forget the lid on the blender. This is an easy thing to forget before coffee.
• You can use whole chia seeds, but whole flaxseeds pass right through your system. You can buy flaxseed ground, or grind it yourself in a coffee bean grinder or a blender.
• My friend Jeffrey turned me onto simplegreensmoothies.com- it has tons of recipes and challenges.
• Cleaning a blender can be a b*tch. Especially before coffee (hey bloody hands!). Fill the blender about halfway with water and a squirt of dish soap, put the lid on, and put it on blend for about 20 seconds. Now you have clean blades and cut-less hands!
• Frozen fruit can be a lot cheaper than fresh fruit during off season. Plus it makes the smoothie more frozen-y. Go for it, just NO canned fruits! Fruits and veggies lose lots of nutrients in the canning process!

Now for WHY green smoothies. I think the nutrition facts speak for themselves.

Apple Lemonade:

Tropical Vacay:

Classic Strawberry Banana:

What is your favorite green smoothie recipe? I want to try new ones!

PS: Need a blender? I ordered mine on Amazon 2 years ago and it's still goin strong after 2 years of frozen drinks and smoothies. 

Hope this helps everyone, so unlike me when you try you're first green smoothie you're not like:

 Or

But more like:

Linking up today at Tough it Out Tuesday, Turn It Up Tuesdays, Delicious Dish Tuesday, Mamade

Clean GREEN SMOOTHIES. How to, what to, and why to.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Clean Eating Breakfast Burritos

We ate at an amazzzinggg little breakfast spot in Encinitas where I had the most incredible breakfast burrito of. my. life. In an attempt to pretend I'm still in the beautiful weather eating delicious food with my best friends I made my own version of the breakfast burrito. Not quite as good, especially since I wasn't eating it outside in the sun overlooking the beach. I know, so dramatic.

Servings: 1
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 egg cooked to your preference (I did mine over easy, apparently 90% of breakfast burritos are made with scrambled eggs but whatev)
• 1/2 medium sized tomato, diced
• 2 slices avocado
• 1/3 cup sauteed spinach
• 1 scoop fat-free or low-fat Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 cup clean salsa (Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have lots of these options)
• 1 Ezekiel Tortilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• Optional: mozzarella cheese, hot sauce (duh) 

Combine all the ingredients in the tortilla, wrap it up and enjoy! All the protein and dietary fiber from the egg, avocado, Greek Yogurt and Ezekiel tortilla keep me full all morning.

Clean Eating Breakfast Burritos

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Clean Eating Breakfast Foods: The Avocado Egg

I've seen this one all over Pinterest and finally gave it a try. Major lesson learned: while Pinterest pictures of eggs in avocados look so much more awesome and appetizing than any egg-in-avocado I will ever make (Pinterest -3 Me-0 but who's counting), they are still just as delicious and also while not as delicious contain the same nutrients. I think part of my problem was that I used a medium sized avocado and an extra large egg, which led to some serious egg overflow. So laugh all you want, but just know this: you don't have to have any kind of artistic food skills to make Pinterest-worthy food. Oh and it's 2 ingredients sooo... Love this one.

Oh also gotta love this one because avocados are SO healthy and cheap! They have more potassium than bananas and lots of healthy protein! So talk about a power breakfast right? PS did anyone know avocados are fruits? Whaa? Also- if you need to ripen your avocados try storing them with a banana in a closed paper bag. They'll be nice and ripe in about a day.

Servings: 1
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Avocado ($.50)
• 1 medium egg ($.10)
• Optional: Salsa, sea salt, black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Scoop about half of the avocado guts out of the avocado to make a little boat and set it onto a baking sheet. Carefully crack open the egg into the avocado boat and heat in the oven for 15 minutes.

Top with salsa, salt, pepper, or anything else you want. I think next time I'm going to try putting onions in the avocado boat under the egg. What else should I try?

Avocado boat!

This is me trying to take a decent picture of an egg in an avocado. So this is what my life has become.

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Clean Eating Breakfast Foods: The Avocado Egg

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Greek Yogurt + Almond Milk + Oats + Fruit = Clean Breakfast on the Go!

I've been seeing this one all over Pinterest and have been pretty skeptical considering it is sometimes called "porridge". I mean, porridge? I think in 2nd grade when we went to school for a day in an 1800's one room school house we had to eat something called "porridge" for lunch after we took turns "churning butter" because that's what kids in 1800s one-room school houses had to eat. But anyway, this is my new go-to breakfast for sure- make it at night in a tupperware, pop a lid on it, put it in the fridge and grab it on the way to work. It kind of tastes like a yogurt parfait- but it's clean and packed with protein and dietary fiber (what up full stomach all morning!).

Here it is:

Servings: 1
Prep Time: 5 mins (+5ish hours of chill time in the fridge overnight)
Cook Time: 0

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup fat-free Greek Yogurt*
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Almond Milk*
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats (can also use steel cut oats)
• Any toppings you want to mix in! (have fun and switch it up! some ideas: strawberries, honey, blueberries, apples & cinnamon, vanilla, chopped walnuts, maple syrup...you can really do anything with this) 

*If you want your's thicker, add more Greek Yogurt and less Almond Milk. For less thick, less Greek Yogurt and more Almond Milk

 Combine all the ingredients in a tupperware, mix well, and let it chill overnight in the fridge.

all mixed up!

Pop a lid on it and pop it in the fridge over night- grab and go in the morning

These nutrition facts do not include any toppings

Greek Yogurt + Almond Milk + Oats + Fruit = Clean Breakfast on the Go!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

How to: Hard Boiled Eggs

Can we just talk about hard boiled eggs? They are so simple yet so much can go wrong- the shells can stick to the eggs, the eggs can be too soft, the eggs can be overcooked... the list goes on. But last weekend was jam-packed with friends in town, a concert, and a post-church bottomless brunch that caused me to be completely worthless on Sunday night, meaning grocery shopping did not happen, meaning the only food in the fridge was half a tub of Greek Yogurt and 8 eggs. So I boiled some eggs for my breakfast for the week. Delicious, nutritious, and oh so filling.

Here's how I did it, including my secret ingredient that ensures those shells don't stick to the eggs (ugh really what is worse than spending approximately 30 minutes peeling an egg only to end up with half of the hard-boiled egg surviving the peeling disaster?) and that the eggs are perfectly boiled (what else can you ask for?). Plus this is so easy, it takes minimal effort (obviously since I did this after a bottomless brunch).

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• Eggs (however many you want)
• Water
• 1 tsp Baking Soda

Put the eggs in one layer in a pot. Add enough water that the eggs are covered with one inch-ish of water. Now add 1 teaspoon of baking soda (this is the secret ingredient that makes sure your shell doesn't stick to the egg! I read about 10000 theories on why this is and decided, hey it works I don't need to know why).

Place the pot on the stove with the heat on high. Bring to a rolling boil (example of rolling boil below- it's like warzone boiling). Let the rolling boil go for one minute (set a timer). Once the minute is up, remove the pot from the heat, cover the pot, and let the pot with hot water and eggs set for 10 minutes (set your timer again!).

After the ten minutes, transfer the eggs into a bowl. Fill the bowl with ice water and let the eggs set in the ice water for 5 minutes.

And that's it! You have perfectly easy to peel hard boiled eggs!

What other little secrets like baking powder are out there??

Here is an example of "rolling boil"

Nutrition Info for one large hard boiled egg:

How to: Hard Boiled Eggs

Monday, January 13, 2014

Clean Breakfast for the Week: Scrambled Breakfast Bake

This is one of my new favorite breakfasts- we both love it and may or may not have eaten it for the last 4 weeks...Because it's also super easy.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 12 eggs ($2.00)
• 2 tomatoes, diced ($1.00)
• 1 potato, diced ($.50)
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 lb of clean breakfast sausage (remember- 3 ingredients or less. I found 3-ingredient sausage made by Shady Brook Farms and it was delish) ($3.50)
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil/olive oil/oil of your choice
• 1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon garlic powder

In a medium sized frying pan combine 1 teaspoon of the sea salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, oil, onion and potato. Cover and cook over medium for 25 minutes (or until potatoes are tender) stirring occasionally.

While potatoes are cooking, cook the sausages in a frying pan over medium, covered, for about 8-10 minutes on each side. Once fully cooked, allow sausages to cool away from the heat. Once cooled, cut the sausages into little pieces.

Wisk the eggs with the seasonings and pour into the pan used to cook the sausages (the leftover flavor from the sausage will get sopped up by the eggs). Add the sausages and potatoes to the eggs and scramble together until the eggs are cooked the way you like them.

Mix in the tomatoes after everything is cooked (I hate how wilty those tomatoes get when they're cooked!)

Store in a big tupperware in the fridge and scoop some out for breakfast each morning. How easy is that??

Clean Breakfast for the Week: Scrambled Breakfast Bake

Friday, December 27, 2013

3 Ingredient Brunch Special: Fried Egg over Sweet Potato

So this was a weird idea that turned out FREAKING AWESOME. I know, it sounds weird but just try it. Also it takes 15 minutes to make. I know right?

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Servings: 1

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 small sweet potato
• 4 slices of onion, diced
• garlic powder

Grate the sweet potato and toss with the onion and garlic salt and place in a non-stick frying pan. Cook over medium heat 10-15 mins, stirring constantly. Once the grated sweet potato pieces are slightly crispy and sauteed, remove from the heat.

While the sweet potato is cooking, cook your eggs however you prefer (I always pick over-easy).

Place the egg on top of the sweet potato and enjoy this protein/fiber packed breakfast (and enjoy being full for the next six hours).

Sidenote: I know I've been really into sweet potatoes, but for good reason. They pretty much burn fat while your body digests them, they are packed with fiber which aids digestion and takes longer for the body to process i.e. preventing hunger, and are packed with vitamins. Oh and they cost $.88 per pound. And have less carbs than regular potatoes.

Oh and, as for eggs: a recent study found obese people who ate 2 eggs for breakfast 5 mornings a week lost 65 PERCENT MORE WEIGHT than those eating bagels. Yeah so, sign me up.

Doesn't it look funky?

double duty stovin

get in mah belly

3 Ingredient Brunch Special: Fried Egg over Sweet Potato

Friday, December 13, 2013

Breakfast for the Week: Clean Eating Berry Banana Oatmeal Bake

Is this hot oatmeal weather or what? This is our breakfast for the week and it's delicious/easy- cut out a square, throw in the microwave for 30 seconds and voila- hot oatmeal bake! Like an unsweetened oatmeal cookie with fruit. The house smells amazing while this bakes in the oven so enjoy.

Oh and sidenote: At first I was embarrassed to post pictures because I was all like but I don't even own a mixing bowl and I make huge messes and then I was like You know what? This just goes to show that you don't have to have anything fancy to cook clean. We literally don't even own mixing bowls, I mix everything in giant tupperware (woo DC kitchens with no storage space!) and I don't own anything like a whisk or a food processor (hence the reason things get a little messy). Someday when I win the lottery or change professions I'll invest in cute Pottery Barn matching mixing bowl sets, top of the line food processors, and a kitchen the size of a 2-bedroom condo with counterspace the size of a DC backyard, but for now it's working! So, cough cough, no excuses!

Servings: breakfast for the week for 2
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Old Fashioned Oats (or Steel Cut) ($.50)
• 3/4 Cup Natural Maple Syrup ($.50)
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 Cup Raspberries ($4.00)
• 1 Cup walnuts, chopped (huge bags for $4.99 at Giant- these are freezable)
• 2 Cups unsweetened Almond Milk or Coconut Milk ($.75)
• 1 large egg ($.25)
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Bannana, peeled and sliced($.10)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl (or large tupperware), combine the oats, syrup, cinnamon, baking powder, half of the raspberries and walnuts. Mix well.

In a separate bowl (or tupperware) combine the milk, egg and vanilla. Stir until the egg and vanilla are totally beaten in.

Spray a brownie pan with cooking spray or olive oil or coconut oil, anything to keep this concoction from sticking to the pan for life. Spread the oatmeal mixture out evenly in the pan. I know it seems super thin, but I promise it turns out fine! Now dump the milky-eggy-vanillay mixture evenly on top. Shake the pan a little if you need to get that milk to settle in.

Top it with the remaining raspberries and banana slices and throw it in the oven for 35-40 minutes and enjoy the amazing smell. Let it cool awhile before you eat it.

Yep. Tupperware as mixing bowls.

The milky eggy messy concoction

Look I have terrible hand-eye coordination so when I'm doing two things at once, the pix are gonna be REAL ugly

This is where I was like, um this just looks like oatmeal. I have a bad feeling

Breakfast for the Week: Clean Eating Berry Banana Oatmeal Bake

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Freezable Breakfast Burritos for the Week

I'm a creature of habit and routines meaning my morning routine is planned down to the minute (if I wake up at 6:17 and drink the coffee by 6:28..) and I really don't have time built in to make breakfast. Enter: Freezable Breakfast Burritos! Made a batch Sunday, wrapped them in foil and threw them in the freezer. Every morning I get up and microwave them for 2 minutes and enjoy  (or when I was late yesterday I threw a frozen one in my bag and heated it up at work and it was fine!).  You can put anything you want in these puppies, I used the usual suspects: beans, spinach, eggs, turkey.

Servings: 7
Cook Time: 10 mins
Prep Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 7 eggs ($1.25)
• 1/2 lb lean ground turkey ($2.50)
• 3 handfuls of baby spinach, shredded ($1.00)
• 3/4 cup salsa ($1.00)
• 1 cup black beans ($.88)
  7 Ezekiel Tortillas (the website has a store locator, I found mine in the freezer section at Whole Foods) $($3.00)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

In one frying pan, scramble the eggs while you cook the turkey (with salt and pepper) until brown in the other pan. I only season my turkey with salt and pepper because my taste buds are not ready for much pizzaz in the early mornings, but if your's are season away.

Mix together the scrambled eggs, cooked turkey, and black beans. Scoop onto tortillas. Top the mixture with salsa and spinach. Fold the burritos Chipotle-style (tuck in the ends, fold the sides) and wrap in aluminum foil and throw them in the freezer! I like putting a scoop of Greek Yogurt on mine in the morning too. Adds a nice texture.

Don't forget to label them if you share with someone who doesn't like salsa...

Freezable Breakfast Burritos for the Week

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Perfect Poached Eggs

just look at that. Perfectly poached.

"Poached Eggs" just sounds straight up bougie. Needless to say, this is my favorite way to cook eggs. After experimenting (and failing) with poaching methods I found the perfect poached egg. This is a quick and easy go-to breakfast. I like mine on top of Ezekiel bread and sliced tomatoes, and top it with sea salt and hot sauce. And I prefer to couple it with (bottomless) mimosas of course.

Step 1: Fill a sauce pan with 3-4 cups of water. Add a capful of distilled white vinegar (this keeps the egg from falling apart in the water) 

Step 2: Heat the water and vinegar on high until it gets to that point right before it boils, where the bubbles are coming up the sides like this:

 

 Step 4: Crack an egg (or 2 or 3) and put it right into the water. Reduce the heat to medium. It's going to look like a mess- don't panic! Do you hear me? Step away from the stove! It will be fine!

See it looks fine at first...

Don't panic at this point! It's fine!

Step 5: Let it set in the water over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, pull the egg from the water and let it drain a little.

do a little dance, let it drain, jiggle it around

 Step 6: Enjoy your clean, bougie breakfast any way you like. May I suggest with peach champagne and OJ?

The Perfect Poached Eggs

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Garlic Tomato Balsamic Vinegar Chicken

Mmm look at thaaat!

I fell off the chicken bandwagon in college after eating chicken breasts with barbecue sauce for dinner every single day my junior year of college. This was during my Weight Watchers days (or in college as we liked to call it, Weight Watchers Anonymous) in which I was attempting to lose the 20 lbs  all-you-can-eat dining hall freshman year and the sorority house (with our own cook and 24-7 access to leftover dessert and cereal) and years of living across the street from Gumby's caused me to gain, and it was just a lot easier to track points when I ate the same thing every day (college mindset right? Like I said, I was a stain). After a year of that I spent years thinking I was going to throw up if I saw one more Sweet Baby Ray's coated chicken breast. Sidenote: I know I'm not the only Weight Watchers Anonymous college student who ate vegetables all day to save points for boozing right?

Anyway, my friend told me she tried an amazing balsamic chicken and I was like,  you know what? I think I'm ready to revisit my old friend, Chicken. Welp I'm back. Thank you, chicken for your fabulous supply of protein and extremely low fatness. {click "read the whole post} for recipe

Garlic Tomato Balsamic Vinegar Chicken

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Healthy Avocado Deviled Eggs {with a kick}

I finally got tired of breakfast casserole. The idea of waking up and eating one more square of egg/veggie/meatness made me gag a little, so I tried eggs another way: Deviled! I assume they are called "deviled" eggs because just one tiny half egg contains at least 5 grams of fat, meaning if you eat 2 halves (in my book 2 halves = 1) you have consumed almost 20% of the recommended daily fat for a 2,000 calorie diet before 8 a.m. And if I'm at a party, AS IF I would ever just eat 1-2 of these babies. So yeah, that's not for me. I experimented with a few different ways to keep the texture but cut out the fat, and this was my favorite. The cilantro and lime added a nice kick, but my conclusion is that I'm down with hard boiled eggs for breakfast but maybe deviled eggs can stay a party food.

Healthy Avocado Deviled Eggs {with a kick}

Monday, September 30, 2013

Cleaned-Up "Hashbrown" Bacon Veggie Breakfast Casserole

All the breakfast goodness in one casserole

My favorite breakfast foods: eggs, eggs with vegetables, hashbrowns, bacon. Oh hey why not throw it all together to make breakfast for the week? I know turkey bacon isn't exactly clean, but hey gotta live a little sometimes. This was a huge hit with the BF who ate 1/4 of the casserole for breakfast on the first morning. I chopped up my potatoes long and stringy to look like hashbrowns- funny how if they look like a hashbrown and taste like a hashbrown (without the grease) one thinks they have hashbrowns in their casserole ("Oh hey I love hashbrowns! Didn't know they were clean!" -BF).

Cleaned-Up "Hashbrown" Bacon Veggie Breakfast Casserole

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Clean Eating Mexican Breakfast Casserole

"Casserole sounds like something I have to eat as a punishment" -the BF

Miraculously, the person from who's mouth that quote came, pounded this breakfast casserole and requested it again. This protein-packed breakfast was awesome and tasty and lasted us all week. Here's the breakdown

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Servings: Breakfast for 2 for a week

Ingredients:

• 8 large eggs- 4 WHOLE eggs and 4 egg whites ($1.50)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or soy milk ($.10)
• 1 lb lean ground turkey ($3.50 at Target!)
• 1 red pepper, chopped ($.80)
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped ($.50)
• 1.5 cups of clean salsa ($1.00- Trader Joe's has a lot of options)
• 4 scallions, sliced ($1.00)
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped ($1.50)
• 1/2 bag spinach, chopped and sauteed ($1.50)
• 1 tsp dry mustard 
• 1 tsp ceyenne pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the lean ground turkey with the ceyenne pepper, black pepper and sea salt and cook on the stovetop until browned. While turkey is cooking, combine red pepper, yellow onion, mushrooms and spinach into a frying pan and cook over medium until onions are translucent. Beat together eggs, egg whites, dry mustard and milk. Spray a 9x11 pan with a teeny bit of cooking spray. Layer the veggie concoction. Top this with a layer of the salsa. Top the salsa layer with the cooked turkey. Top this with the egg concoction. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the egg is completely cooked. 

In the mornings I topped mine with avocado spread or Greek Yogurt. Yummmmmyyyy!

Clean Eating Mexican Breakfast Casserole

Sunday, September 15, 2013