SMOOTHIE SEASON~MY FAVORITE!!

It's that time of year, folks. Whether we are ready or not~it's not too late so don't put off starting just because it's right around the corner. For those of us who have been "started"...it's time to kick it up a notch into HIGH GEAR!! One of my absolute favorite snacks this time of year is smoothies!! There are a gazillion recipes out there for them but I prefer to come up with my own concoctions. There are a few simple rules to follow when making your smoothies in order to make sure you have all the proper nutrients but not too much! The basics are:
* liquid- 1 cup (8 oz) is all you need. It's one serving.
Unsweetened Almond milk, Flax milk, Soy milk, Coconut milk, Fat Free Milk, Coconut water, or even just plain water.
*Carb~ there are a lot of variables here depending on when you are drinking the smoothie but I simply prefer uncooked, raw Oats. 1/4~1/3 cup. If it's after a hard workout or run I'll add a banana.
*healthy fat~almond butter or other natural nut butter 1 tsp., coconut oil 1 tsp., 1/2 avocado
*Whey~I never, ever, ever make a smoothie without Whey protein!!

other additives: flax seeds (ground), kefir (unsweetened, organic, low fat), berries & other fruits (frozen are perfect, Greens (spinach is my favorite)


I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes with you~play around and be creative!!!

YUMMY~

Jess

Cottage Cheese & Pumpkin

This is one of the easiest snacks and it's packed with power foods. Cottage cheese is a Superb source of protein and you know my love affair with pumpkin. I never thought I would say that cottage cheese is now one a staple in my diet~Wow!!
  

• 1/2 cup canned or fresh pumpkin 
• 1/4 cup lowfat cottage cheese (I use Nancy's Brand found at WF...it has the least amount of sodium)
• 1/2 tsp. Stevia
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• scant handful of pecans or walnuts 

Tip: Cottage cheese is the best food to have as a late night snack if you find yourself hungry before heading to bed. It has Casein protein which is a slow digesting protein and keeps the muscles from breading down while you sleep.
 

Sweet Potato & Cottage Cheese~

Yep, this is a sweet potato & Cottage cheese sprinkled w/ cinnamon & Stevia!!!!! Don't knock it until you try it. This was one of those things that I discovered by accident b/c I needed protein for my potato and didn't have anything ready to go & I must admit~I was pleasantly surprised...LOL! So yummy!


Now, depending on what you have on hand and available to you quickly, you can either have an entire small potato w/ the cheese OR if you are like me, and need a ton of protein at every meal (snacks are small meals) then you can  enjoy it this way, also!

With one meat muffin~Now, that's Grey Poupon on my meat.....I can't get enough...:-)

Yummo!!

Protein Bar Storage

Put them into smaller freezer bags first and remove as much air as possible. 

Store them in a "master" freezer bag, in the freezer (again, removing as much air as possible) so that you can grab only what you need for the next couple of days~They won't last more than 2 weeks, I promise....:-)

Pumpkin Protein Bars

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin~I simply can't get enough! One more fantastic way to enjoy getting your  muscle building protein & vitamins A,B, K, & E~Tastes like pumpkin cake...:-)


1/2 C. Sucanat (organic brown sugar cane)
1 - 4 oz. jar baby food applesauce or organic applesauce
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp.  clove
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
1 - 15 oz. can raw pumpkin
2 C Oat flour
2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 C almond milk (or any other unsweetened, non~fat milk variety)
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)


Preheat the oven to 350. 
Spray a 9 X 13 glass baking dish with non-stick spray. 
Combine first 11 ingredients and mix well. 
Add the final 3 ingredients (4, if adding walnuts), and mix until incorporated. Spread batter into the Pyrex dish and bake for 30 min. 
Makes 24 squares.

Lemon Protein Bars

These are my absolute favorite protein bars to date~I double the batch...xoxo

1 cup oat flour
2 scoops vanilla whey protein
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 qt mix Crystal Light (preferably without aspartame)
4 egg whites
1/2 cup Splenda, Stevia or Ideal
1 c.  baby food applesauce or organic regular applesauce
1/2 c.  water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix oat flour, vanilla whey protein, salt, baking soda and crystal light, in large bowl.
Mix egg whites, Stevia, applesauce and water in a bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together.
Spray 8x8 glass baking dish with non-stick butter spray. (if doubling, use a 9x13)
Pour ingredients into dish.
Bake 25 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.

 Makes 16 squares, 2 squares per serving. 

Recipe courtesy of Jamie Eason..:-)

**these do not have preservatives and must be refrigerated. Only keep enough in the fridge to last a couple of days and freeze the rest.