My Morning Elixer: Strawberry Addiction Smoothie

My husband Noah and I can't live without our morning elixer.. A Smoothie! For this morning, I chose to make my Strawberry Addiction smoothie. It tastes so fresh, bright, light, yet incredibly satisfying and fulfilling, and naturally delicious! One HUGE smoothie has only 160 calories, 2g fat, 18g protein, and 5 g fiber! It's literally the perfect way to start your day! And on top of that, they have over 30% your daily value (dv) of calcium, 40% you dv of vitamin D, 120% you dv of vitamin C (great for fighting those winter colds!) and more! Seriously, stock up on these 3 simple ingredients needed for this recipe and get your mornings going right!

On the Menu
Strawberry Addiction Smoothie

Ingredients
2 Heaping Tablespoons of Herbalife Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix, Vanilla (link to buy below)*
5 Frozen Strawberries
3 oz. nearly Fat Free, High Protein Yogurt (I use Ralph's CARBmaster yogurts: 1 6 oz. container has 60 calories, 1g fat, and 8g protein)
6 oz. Cold Water
3 Ice Cubes


Directions
To a blender, first add water followed by Herbalife powder, strawberries and yogurt and blend until smooth. Then lift the blender's lid and add the ice cubes. Now, re-blend! Pour into a nice tall glass and enjoy! There might be some leftover as an added bonus!

*You can buy the Herbalife powder by clicking here

Peanut BETTER, Gingersnap Cookies!

K, take a breath, spend a moment and reread the title. Yes, these cookies have peanut butter in them, but they are SOOO much better than your average peanut butter cookies that you see in stores, bakeries and people's homes, that you must differentiate the two for a minute. I promise you, you and your guests will be salivating over how good these cookies are. They are so flavorful and satisfying that you will be incredibly satiated by just one cookie, or two or three!
Disclaimer: If these are not your new favorite cookies, I'll give you a full money back guarantee! (hehe)

On the Menu 
Peanut BETTER Gingersnap Cookies
Serves: 12   Prep Time: 35 minutes  Cook Time: 9 minutes 
Ingredients:
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda 
2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp. All Spice
Pinch of Salt
2 Tbsp Non Calorie Sweetener like Splenda
1 cup of Light Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Reduced Fat Peanut Butter
3 Tbsp. Smart Balance Light Butter 
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar or Low Calorie Pancake Syrup
2 Tbsp Egg Whites
1 tsp. Vanilla 


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside. 
2. In a medium bowl, stir together both flours, baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt. Set aside. 
3. Combine no-calorie sweetener and remaining 1 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. 
4. In another medium bowl, beat together brown sugar, peanut butter and butter - I use my hand and get really sticky. Its so hard not to lick my fingers clean! Now add Syrup/Agave, egg whites and vanilla. Beat again until smooth. 
5. Using a wooden spoon, stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture. It is going to be a stiff, yet gooey dough. Using your hands, shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll balls in reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on a cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart (they spread a lot when baking!)
6. Bake cookies for 9 minutes. They may appear undercooked but thats okay. They need to sit out and cool a bit to harden. Use a spatula to life the cookies from the pan- if you use your fingers, they might break. Enjoy!!!


Nutrition Breakdown:
Per One Cookie = 102 Calories, 3.4 g Fat, (1.6 g Saturated Fat), 2 g Protein, 0.8 g Fiber
Vs. a Standard Peanut Butter Cookie for 130 calories and 7 g of fat! I'd say, NOT BAD!!

Easy, Shmeasy Cholent (Yiddish Stew)

Hey there old friends, foodies, health- aficiandos and people questioning that good food can be healthy too!

My friend Abby asked for a Cholent recipe that could be healthy, easy to make and delicious, so naturally, she approached me with the challenge. Below find the recipe to this rockin' cholent.

On the Menu:

Easy, Shmeasy Cholent!! 

Serves: 12   Prep Time: 10 minutes   Cook Time: 20 hours!! 

Ingredients:

1 28oz. can of Bush's Best Vegetarian Baked Beans (Fat Free)

1 20oz. can of Cedar 6-Bean Blend 
Note: I just use the canned stuff because I don't want to waste my time soaking beans, but it's up to you

8oz. Bagged Dried Pearled Barley

1 lb. Chuck Meat (looks lean!)

1/2 cup of Ketchup

1/2 cup of BBQ sauce

2 cups of yellow onions, pealed and cut into 1" pieces

2 cups of sweet potatoes, pealed and cut into 1" pieces

Generous with Spices: Garlic Powder, Paprika, Black Pepper, Salt, Onion Powder and everything else you want (think hot sauce if you dare)

Splash of beer to help soften the meat (optional)

Directions:

In a crock pot, layer: 1. Dried Barley 2. Onions 3. Sweet Potatoes 4. All Beans 5. Meat 6. All Spices 7. Beer, BBQ Sauce and Ketchup

Then, add water so that it covers up to the top of all the layers.

Turn the crock pot on high for 2 hours, then drop to low for 20+ hours

Stir occasionally and add water as it evaporates 

Nutrition Breakdown:

1 serving (1 cup) = 250 calories, 1.5 g fat, 15.5 g Protein 7g Fiber!

Leftover Tip: use throughout the week:

1. On top of a Tumaros Gourmet Tortilla (Multi Grain, Low In Carbs) with salsa and 2 Tbls. Guacomole , shredded lettuce and diced onions and cilantro 

2. With Brown Rice and steamed zuccini for a well rounded Monday night dinner

3. As a dip for Baked Pita Chips (simply made by cutting up pitas and baking with cooking spray and seasonings)

After picture to come...

Semi-Homemade Tortellini's & "Meat" Sauce!

My husband, Noah, has been on healthy eating overdrive and I can tell that he is starting to crave some serious carbs. By stating "serious carbs," I'm alluding to the fact that even our tortilla wraps have more grams of fiber and protein than they do carbohydrates! So I decided to indulge him in some genuine tortellini's and meat sauce. But of course, I had to do it my way: healthily, easily, and inexpensively. And the reviews were absolutely scrumptious!!
On the Menu
Tortellini's and "Meat" Sauce 
Serving Size: 20 tortillini's and 1/2 cup of meat sauce  Servings Per Recipe: 4
Prep Time: practically non-existant Cook Time: 10 to 15 minutes

Ingredients: 
1 box of New York Pasta Authority California Sun-dried Tomato Tortellini...270 cals, 3g fat, & 6g fiber per serving (brand uses enriched flour so the tortellini maintains a high fiber content)
For the Sauce
2 cups of Morningstar Soy Meat Crumbles ("Grillers Recipe Crumbles")
Suggestion: Forget about the ingredients listed below and just use 1 1/4 cups of an awesome ready-made tomato sauce (less than 3g fat and 90 cals per serving)...or else use, 
1 small can of Tomato Paste
2 tsp. of Vegetable Consume 
2 Tblsp. Crushed Garlic
2 Tblsp. Herb Seasoning Blend to Taste
1 cup of water 

Directions:
Boil the box of tortellini according to the box directions. It is super easy, prepare as you would pasta.

Next, take out a sauce pan and combine all ingredients for the meat sauce aside from the Morningstar Meat Crumbles (if you followed my suggestion above, you would just be adding the jarred tomato sauce to the pan- Now, that was easy!!!). After 2-3 minutes on sim to low heat, add the meat crumbles and stir. 
Tip: feel free to throw in meat crumbles straight from the freezer. 

Now just make sure you count out exactly 20 tortellini's so you don't overdue it (or take more, just keep track of it!) and add your yummy meat sauce! Bon Apetite!

Tip: Grab a grater and grate a folded slice of low fat swiss cheese for a nice kick! 

Serve With: 
I steamed up some giant artichokes (my favorite at just 70 calories a piece) and made Tabachniks 100 calorie Cabbage Soup! 

Used the Fork to Illustrate the Hugeness of this Artichoke! MMM

Nutrition Breakdown:

For the Tortellini & "Meat" Sauce, per serving: 361 calories, 4.5g fat, 11g fiber, 20g protein

Add Soup and Artichoke: 531 calories, 5.5g fat, 22g fiber, 25 g protein

Cost: $$ 

About $5.50 per serving (including side dishes) 

Note: Tabatchnick soup was on sale for $1.99 and includes 2 servings. Artichokes were priced per item instead of per pound, so I took the largest ones they had! SCORE!

I'm-a-Fraud-Spaghetti-&-Meatballs

I am proud to introduce the star of my blog post!!.... Spaghetti Squash! I've heard so much about it but it wasn't until I watched my brave best friend, Abby, make it that I was willing to give it a shot and boy- I'm so glad I did!

On Today's Menu 
I'm-a-Fraud-Spaghetti-&-Meatballs
Serving Size: 2 big Cups of "Spaghetti" or apx. 1/4 of a Spaghetti Squash and 1.5 Tofurkey Sausages worth of Meatballs! aka HUGE!!
Serves: 2.. easy to double the recipe for 4 people but take a look below at what I do with my leftovers!!

Ingredients:
1/2 Spaghetti Squash
1/2 Jar of Your Favorite Marinara Sauce (watch the fat content.. should have less that 3-4 g fat)
1/2 Onion
1 Package of Your Favorite Flavor Tofurky Sausages ( You will only use 3 of the 4 in the package)
Mushrooms (optional)
Garlic (optional)
Parsley to Garnish (optional)

Directions:
Microwave the whole squash for about 5 minutes until it's soft enough to cut in half, lengthwise. Next, place both sides (you might as well cook both sides right away.. the other half refrigerates great once its cooked) in baking pans and cook at 375 F for about an hour (might even take longer!!) until the squash falls apart easily using a fork.

P.S. Don't listen to cooking sites that say you have to boil the squash in water or anything like that. I experimented with that and it took away the flavor of the squash and tasted bland.. Yuck!

While the squash is baking, cut up your Tofurky Sausages into chucks aka Meatballs!

Then throw into a sauce pan with Your Favorite Marinara Sauce! Here is your chance to add additional spices, garlic, mushroom and onions if you like.

When the squash is ready, use a fork (metal not plastic, plastic will melt!) to pull apart the meat of the squash (no! not literal meat, silly!) and scoop about 2 cups worth on to each dinner plate. Then pile the "Meatballs" and Sauce right on top! Garnish with Parsley if you like (I'm not that fancy for a Tuesday night dinner) and Voila! You got Ilana's take on "Spaghetti & Meatballs"

Tip: Mix it all together before you take that first bite, you want the sauce to coat all of the spaghetti.

Nutrition Breakdown: 489 cal, 19 g fat (not terribly low so eat lower fat foods the rest of the day, it'll be worth it!), 14g Fiber (wowza!), 45 g Protein (woohoo!)
Note: Its a massive portion, so if you eat less, it will be less!

Cost: $ The spaghetti squash was $5.67 for the whole thing.. meaning just $1.42 per huge serving. The Tofurky Sausages are $5-6 for the pack of 4... just $2.10 per serving. And the sauce is up to you but, you will probably use about $1 per serving.
Total: $4.52 for a bangin' dinner!! Me likey!!

What To Do With The Leftovers You Ask??
I threw the spaghetti into a delicious stir-fry with boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut up veggies! Perfection!