Overnight Green Monster Chia Pudding

So I know this isn’t the prettiest of breakfast, but it is still really good.  And requires no work-well some blending but that’s about it.  It’s my new favorite vitamin and nutrient packed breakfast all thanks to the lovely chia seeds.  Lately my favorite smoothies have been big green minty ones, so I wanted to make it into a chia pudding.  Between the spinach and the chia seeds you are getting a punch of calcium which is essential for just about everything in the body.  And since it’s green you know I am going to put some avocado and matcha green tea powder in there.  (Just keep in mind it won’t keep it green if you choose something with a lot of color)

You could put some chocolate chips in there and make it mint choc chip, but I just love the nuttiness of walnuts.

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh spinach/mix greens

2-3 tbsp avocado

1 tsp matcha green tea powder

1 tsp mint extract plus few tbsp fresh mint

1 banana

1 cup almond milk

1.5-2 tbsp chia seeds

walnuts for topping 🙂

Directions: To be prepared at least 2 hours before you eat it.

Blend everything but the chia seeds.  Then mix them in by hand.  I like to put the whole thing in a small jar to chill out overnight in the fridge.I love waking in the morning and not having to think of what to have for breakfast.  Just put it in your favorite bowl, garnish with toppings and devour!  Minty Chia Madness!!

1 Minute Belly Flattening Matcha Mint Chocolate Chip Muffin

It’s part 2 of my Magic Muffin Series & I know what you are thinking.  Is that a green muffin??  You have never seen a green muffin and will never eat a green muffin. Fortunately for you, I am about to change your mind.

Well that’s because this is a Mint Chocolate Chip Muffin with a few secret ingredients to give it its green color and it is not food coloring.  If you haven’t picked this up already, I love avocados and I love sneaking in Matcha Green Tea powder along with them.  This combo especially works with this recipe because the avocado gives the muffin incredible moistness. 

Now you are asking, how is this belly flattening?  Well the latest research on MUFAs state that foods high in mono unsaturated fatty acids reduce inflammation in the body-especially in the tummy.  They help to expel stubborn belly fat and foods especially high in this are Almonds, Avocados & Flax Seed-ding ding!  They’re all in there!  Even dark chocolate is considered a MUFA and that is in there too!

Well the most important part I am sure you want to know about is how does this taste good?  All of these bizarre ingredients (I may have snuck some spring mix in there as well 😉 ) go together?  This is all to thank to my favorite spring/summer herb- Mint!  Using fresh mint and a dash of mint extract gives this muffin the perfect flavor and covers up the bitter taste of matcha.

And of course, the best part of this recipe, it is part of my 1 minute muffin series which I wanted to call Melt Your Muffin Top 1 Minute Muffin Series-but that’s a little wordy.  So I kept it at 1 Minute Muffin Magic, because these muffins are soo tasty and healthy and really can help melt your muffin top!  When you feed your body food that is high in protein and has enough fat to satisfy your “fat tooth” (yes we have that too!) it will keep you fuller longer and help avoid blood sugar spikes that lead to craving junk food.  And even though these muffins are “low carb” since it is in muffin form you’re tricking your brain and making it think your eating a carb heavy meal.  This makes your brain release a neurotransmitter called serotonin which makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

So basically all you need to know is you need to try this recipe because it will make you happy and help shrink your belly.  The convenience of these 1 minute recipes leave you no excuses to not have breakfast, especially since you microwave them in a coffee cup, you can easily bring that with you and eat at work!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup almonds

1 tbsp ground flax seed

1 egg

1 tsp matcha green tea powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 serving avocado (2-3 tbsp)

handful of fresh mint

1/2 tsp mint extract or to taste

1 serving dark chocolate- I like Ghiradelli 60%

*optional sneaky ingredient- 1/2 cup spring mix or baby spinach

Directions: I do this in magic bullet, makes it super easy

-Grind your almonds to meal like consistency, I kept mine kind of crunchy for some texture – OR use almond flour

-Mix with flax seed, matcha and baking powder.

-Add egg, mint extract, fresh mint, avocado and spring mix is using.

-Make sure everything is well mixed and stir in chocolate chips.

-Put in coffee cup and microwave for 1 minute.  Check to see if the middle is cooked, and you may need to add 30 seconds because this is super moist.

This is the perfect way to start your morning & could not be any easier, healthier or tastier!

Calories 375– Flax Version 295

16g carbs

30g fat-you may substitute egg white reducing 5g, or subbing flax seed for almond flour shaving off 8g

16g protein

Magically Delicious Green French Toast & Minty Shamrock Shake!

So I must admit I am not big into St. Patrick’s Day or drinking green beer for that matter.  Either way, I knew I wanted to try to make something green without food dye of course so I went to my favorite green ingredients.  My favorite being matcha green tea powder which is incredibly healthy for you but also taste like powdered spinach so make sure you have some kind of sweetener.  I also have a lots of organic mixed spring greens as well as a perfectly ripe avocado which I thought would all help lend that green color.  As for the cream filling you’ll be happy to know this was SUPER easy to make and sugar free but still taste good of course. I used Katie’s Agar Whip Cream recipe and I used a bit of matcha and some sweetener- you could eat this stuff by itself.  (I buy my agar here as well as most of my other hard to find ingredients-very good prices)

As for the bread I recently bought my first loaf of gluten free bread from a big chain grocery store.  If you haven’t used gluten free bread to make french toast just be careful because it is more delicate and do not soak the bread for more than a couple minutes. This bread is very light and only 45 calories a slice.  Overall I was very pleased with how the recipe turned out having to only try it once was AWESOME.

This is a fun alternative to the classic french toast and although it has a super subtle mint flavor it still taste like french toast.  Maple syrup would have gone perfect but I wanted to have the green whip cream.  Some toasted coconut flakes went perfectly. (so would coconut butter yummm, but I didn’t feel like making any)  Putting the dredging ingredients in the magic bullet made this super fast to prepare and easily ready in 15 minutes! Talk about a magical morning 🙂

Ingredients:

2 slices your favorite bread

1 egg or egg substitute

1-2 tbsp avocado

1 small handful spring mix greens or spinach

1 tsp matcha green tea powder

1/3 cup almond milk

1 tbsp canned coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract and mint extract

few drops stevia or preferred sweetener

Directions:

-Put everything in magic bullet or blender until mixed well.

-Dredge your bread only 2-3 minutes.

-Turn frying pan on medium heat and melt 1 tsp coconut oil or just use spray.

-Fry 3-4 minutes each side or until bread turns light brown.

-Turn off heat after both slices are cooked and throw 1 tbsp coconut flakes into pan to toast- cooks quickly so don’t walk away.

-Top with Katie’s Agar Whip Cream that has been blended with some matcha green tea powder and sweetener if you want to turn it green.

Calories- Bread does not absorb everything so not completely accurate, probably less

243 kcal

Carbs 24g

Fat 12g

Protein 10g

Katies Agar Whip Cream around 40 kcal when the entire Agar base is divided into 3

Have alongside a Super Minty Shamrock Shake!

Minty Shamrock Shake

Like my attempted shamrock design?  Yeah I’m not that good yet 😉 but this is!  Surprisingly I was not expecting it to taste like a mint milkshake but it really does! And if I had some chocolate chips they would have definetly joined the St. Patrick’s Party that happened in my belly this morning.  My super green breakfast was sooo yummy and yet still managed to be healthy.  It was packed with Vitamin A out the wazoo as well as fiber, magnesium, calcium vitamin C… I could go on all morning.  This went perfectly with my green french toast and made for quite a super charged breakfast.  Mint smoothies have become one of my new favorites because they taste just like the mint chocolate chip ice cream which I know all too well.  And my new favorite additions to smoothies are throwing in whole almonds as opposed to almond butter.  It adds a lovely crunch and you are able to taste the almonds much more.  Plus when you chew things it makes your brain feel more satisfied and less like your meal is “only” a drink. 🙂

Ingredients:

2 cups mix spring greens

2 tsp matcha green tea powder

1/2 frozen banana

2-3 tbsp avocado

1/2 cup hemp & almond milk

1/8 cup almonds (roasted are my fav)

1 tsp mint extract

few ice cubes

*optional- tsp instant coffee granules.  Yes I will need to be admitted onto the show my strange addictions- it’s becoming a problem and I blame this delicious fr-enemy

Directions:

Seriously?? Throw it in a blender silly and slurp it down!

 Calories 322

Carbs 31

Protein 13

Fat 18

Liquid Crack for Breakfast

Warning!! This is addicting and disappears fast! Not meant for sharing!!

You see that tall, dark and handsome?? This has been my guilty pick-me-up for the past three days, and I finally thought I should share the love.  It is smooth, nutty and sweet- just the way I like my men 😉

I have become totally addicted to this and it has become my go to around that afternoon crash time, but this morning I started my day with it, who doesn’t love a little liquid crack to start their day?

This chocolaty, peanut buttery, banana-coffee drink would also be amazing on a super hot summer day when there is no way you are turning the stove on and you need a zing to fight the heat.

I used a combination of hemp and almond milk to get the benefits of both and a few tbsp’s of rolled oats because I like the texture as well as the cholesterol fighting benefits.  Any way I can sneak a fiber and vitamin packed avocado in a recipe I do, not only for the health benefits but also because I LOVE the thickness it adds to it.  So decadent!  I also snuck some matcha green tea powder- you cannot even taste it.  And now you are asking what makes it so crack like? Well a splash of brewed coffee and some instant coffee powder- aka AMAZING.  It gives it a robust flavor and wakes you up big time.  Just don’t use too much like I did at first because it will be super bitter and totally inedible.

Now for my last trick, let me introduce you to my new favorite love.  It’s called PB2 and it is kind of an impostor. Well, in that it looks and taste like peanut butter but when you check the calorie count you will be taking a double take.  That’s because when this is made they extract the oil from the peanuts making it only 45 calories per serving.  Yeah I know, shut up.  I may have bought 3 more jars of it yesterday because it goes quick.   And because it is so guilt free, I may have had 2 servings of it this morning to make a substantial breakfast shake with lots of protein.  Mission accomplished and it does not fail on flavor. See that peanut butter swirl?? Are we tripping??  I will never tire of having peanut butter for breakfast-hmmm

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup hemp milk

1 cup almond milk

1/2 small avocado

1 tsp matcha green tea powder

2 packets stevia

1 heaping tbsp dark cocoa powder

1-2 tsp instant coffee powder

1/4 cup brewed coffee

4-5 ice cubes

3 tbsp rolled oats

2 tbsp pb2, but I used 4!!! (still not even 100 calories and 10 g protein-woohoo!!)

Directions:

Put.

In.

A.

Blender.

&

Eat/Guzzle.

Not too fast-

but it is like crack so I understand.

Calories 396

46 g carbs-(cut out banana if you want lower carbs)

18 g fat (healthy mufas and pufas)

16 g protein

My Kryptonite

So I have a dirty little secret, but if you know me it’s really not a secret.  My absolute weakness over anything else is Fro Yo.  I could be off sugar and feeling great, but once I start thinking about it my will power is out the window.  I am totally fine with not eating lunch and just eating an overflowing pint of fro yo.  I try every time not to fill my cup, but I find myself stopping at every self-serve spout anxious to try every single flavor.   No toppings necessary when usually I am a peanut butter sauce freak.  Seriously, when I go and get regular soft serve I say just give me 1/4 ice cream and 3/4 pb sauce.  But I could talk all day about that &  could do a whole ‘nother post on {in the works as we speak ;)}

So after making my own homemade greek yogurt-(yeah it’s pretty awesome and there is a reason I have been hiding it from you, you will find out soon), I used half of the batch and made some fro yo.  I tried two different flavors, Mint Matcha Green Tea and Pumpkin.  Two of my top obsessions & and the best part about these is there is no added sugar.  Usually that is my only beef with fro yo is that they add a lot of sugar & all this has is the naturally occurring sugar in milk.  They came out sooo rich and creamy and it was so easy to make. I just blended my ingredients, put them in a ziploc bag and froze them for a few hours.  When your ready throw back into your blender and put your favorite toppings or just straight up. Enough chit chat, go make this now!

Oh and for the record, they were not bad together, but I just wanted to try both the flavors & tossed them both in there.

 Pumpkin Fro Yo:

1 cup yogurt- I used homemade greek

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

sweetener of choice, I used Stevia dropper 3-4 drops

2 tsp ginger, cinnamon and pinch of nutmeg

for super richness add 1/4 cup fat free half n half or your favorite creamer

-Blend everything, freeze in ziploc bag and pull out of the freezer just a few minutes before you blend

Mint Matcha Green Tea:

1 cup yogurt

1-2 tsp matcha green tea powder

1 drop mint extract if using imitation because it is very strong, I would only do 1 drop at a time and taste each time-fresh mint would probably be best but I didn’t have any

3-4 drops stevia or sweetener of choice

optional-1/4 cup fat free half and half

-Blend everything, freeze in ziploc bag and pull out of the freezer just a few minutes before you blend

*I plan on trying lots of flavors once it gets warmer out so stay tuned.

Tropical Matcha, Avocado and Pineapple Smoothie

Good Morning!

Today for breakfast I was craving something light, healthy and sweet to have a few hours before the gym.  Lately I have been obsessed with Match Green Tea, either putting it into different recipes or have it in teas.  If you have not had it before I definitely recommend trying it.  The health benefits in one teaspoon of Matcha are equal to 6 cups of regular green tea! I love starting my day with it, it just perks me right up.  To pair with it I found a pineapple that has been hiding in the back of my fridge and it helped balance the bitterness of the matcha. To add some richness I thought avocado would be perfect especially since I cannot seem to get enough of it lately.  It is such a versatile fruit it works great in smoothies, for lunches as a spread, in salads and especially in desserts!  To make this breakfast even more perfect I had just enough coconut milk left over in my fridge to make it that much more decadent!  Such a refreshing and invigorating way to start my morning, making my morning laundry feel less daunting.  (I am going to pick up pretty dishes so I can have pictures to show these wonderful creations, but I thought the magic bullet cup just didn’t do this justice so I decided not to post it, you will just have to trust me! 🙂

Ingredients:

1/5 avocado (roughly 2 tbsp)

1 cup almond milk

1/4 canned coconut milk

1/4-1/2 cup fresh diced pineapple

1 tsp-1 tbsp (I like a lot of matcha)

2 packets stevia

2-3 ice cubes

-Mix all in blender, I used magic bullet.

-Other additional add-ins could be Chia or Flax seeds, any nut/seed butter or even banana to make it a truly tropical Pina Colada get-away.

Health Benefits:

High in vitamin C and manganese.  Manganese helps thyroid function, helps your body metabolize fat, and helps balance blood sugar.

Matcha’s ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) 1300, in comparison blueberries are 90 which is considered high.

Almond milk is high in vitamin E and calcium, providing significantly more than dairy milk, in addition to being low calorie.

Avocados are a power house high in health MUFAs, vitamin E, fiber, vitamin K and not to mention they are great for your skin!