Breakfast of Champions

My hubby with his Breakfast of Champions!

We are living dangerously these days! We visited Costco this past weekend and bagged a humungous bag of MuscleMilk Protein Powder for our smoothies. I guess we actually boxed it, because everybody knows Costco doesn't have bags. Anyway, its for our breakfast shakes and we will be using lots of fresh fruits and vegies from our SLO Veg box, too!

Today I made a smoothie using protein powder, coconut milk, Greek yogurt, strawberries, blackberries, flax and chia seeds, and kale. It was really, really delicious, and the protein powder gives plenty of sweetness so no additional honey or anything is necessary. I made one a couple of weeks ago with our unsweetened protein powder and I wanted to add honey to it. I guess its all a matter of taste. I could lighten it up by using water instead of yogurt, and I may try it that was next time. But the coconut milk adds a nice flavor without much calories (50 cal per cup). The protein powder is 310 calories per scoop, which is considered one-half serving, so I used two scoops, but I think I will definately cut that back to one scoop per blender-full of smoothie. The berries were pretty sweet by themselves, and the kale gave it a nice balance. Chia and flax seeds along with the yogurt boosted the protein levels, so I think if I cut back on the powder I won't be losing much.

Lee and I are both overweight, so we are embarking on another try at Body for Life and we are gearing up for it now. Its supposed to be a lifestyle change, but its really hard to keep up that level of commitment to our workouts. I am hoping to give it 12 weeks and see some really big results. The eating part should be easy, but the getting in our daily workouts is the real challenge. I spend most of my spare time cooking or researching recipes, so I guess I will need to have it all planned out ahead of time make this work. I just need 30-45 minutes of workout time a day.

I have discovered I enjoy the simplier preparations of vegetables and fruits to complicated recipes, anyway, and since I have been practicing with my SLO Veg box of produce for the past year, I think I can do this. The plan calls for eating six meals a day: three basic meals plus three snacks. You eat about every three hours, so you don't really get hungry. The key is to eat carbs and protein in combination, like yogurt and fruit, eggs and oatmeal, an apple and cheese, stuff like that. Tonight we will be having grilled pork tenderloins cutlets with a small baked sweet potato and a half cup serving of quinoa. Tomorrow night we will probably have baked or grilled chicken with a zucchini/tomato/onion casserole. I should assemble that today to save time tomorrow. But I also need to go for a walk. Hmmm. Walk first, then cut up vegies, or cut up vegies now in my nightgown and walk a little bit later before running errands. Yeah, that works. Chop, chop!

 PROTEIN SMOOTHIE

1 scoop MuscleMilk Protein powder

1 cup Coconut milk

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

8-10 strawberries

12-15 blackberries

1 cup kale

1 tsp flax seeds

1/2 tsp chia seeds

Mix together in a blender until smooth. Pour into a nice glass and drink slowly, savoring each sip!

Casserole is done. Isn't it pretty? Okay, time for a walk. Blogger out!