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!

Spark Smoothie

Just made the best smoothie! I used Greek yogurt, spinach, a peach, raspberries, coconut milk and honey. I mixed it up with a scoop of Spark energy drink mix and a scoop of vanilla protein powder. I am taking a cup to work tonight!

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

I was going to make some kind of tart or strudel using phyllo dough...then I came across this recipe from A Spicy Perspective's blog. Strawberry Yogurt Cake? I'm down!

I had saved this on my Pinterest dessert board and saw it again while browsing for a good dessert idea. I have strawberries--two baskets--from this week's SLO Veg delivery. My girls are coming over for dinner on Sunday, and this will be the perfect finish to our family dinner. I am so excited!

I was thinking of making rice pilaf with peas, and some kind of pork-something...maybe kabobs. I might make a Strawberry and Spinach salad, too. Do you think that will be too much? I am in a strawberry mood!

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Actually, for the main dish, I ended up getting a couple of pork tenderloins and putting Lee in charge of them with a new recipe where they are seared in a hot oven at 500° for 5-1/2 minutes per pound. The package weighed 3.16 pounds, so he even did a mathematical calculation to come up with the exact cooking time. Then the oven is turned off and the tenderloins sat in the warm oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour without opening the oven door to peak at all! It worked! Perfect pork tenderloins!

I also made roasted green beans with the tri-colored beans from SLO Veg. That, a mini-caprese salad, the pork and the rice pilaf completed dinner, then we had the Strawberry cake. Good thing we ate dinner before dessert or we would have devoured the whole thing. 

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http://www.aspicyperspective.com/2010/05/farmstand-fresh.html

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 Tbs. lemon juice, divided
Zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
8 oz. plain or vanilla, Greek yogurt
12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan (10-15 cup pan.) Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tbs. lemon juice and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of cake

Baked Nectarines with Greek Yogurt and Honey

Baked Nectarines with Honey and Greek Yogurt? I'm down. These recipe from SLO Veg is super easy and so, so good! Of course, I sort of combined the two recipes: I baked nectarine halves sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Then I drizzled the fruit with honey, topped it with yogurt, and drizzled on more honey. I baked the nectarines at the same time as I baked my ramekin full of Chicken Spaghetti. By the time I had eaten my spaghetti dinner, the nectarines had cooled off a bit and I added the Greek yogurt and honey and ate that up too!

 

This looks really cool when photographed on top of my glass-topped coffee table, huh? 

http://www.sloveg.com/printRecipe.cfm?recipe_id=187

Baked Nectarines with Greek Yogurt and Honey 

Servings: 4  Level: Easy  Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Ingredients:
4 nectarines, pitted and cut into 8ths 
4 tablespoon honey, plus more for drizzling 
1 cup Greek yogurt

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Core the nectarines and cut into 8ths. Take 4 (12-inch) pieces of foil and divide the nectarines in the middle of each foil sheet. Drizzle the nectarines with the honey and fold foil over creating a packet. Place packets on a baking sheet and in the oven for 10 minutes. Once nectarines are soft remove the nectarines from the packet. Serve on a 4 plates and top with 1/4 cup Greek yogurt. Drizzle with honey and serve.

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http://www.sloveg.com/printRecipe.cfm?recipe_id=214

Ricotta Stuffed Oven Roasted Nectarines (Nectarines) 

Servings: 4  Cook Time: 12 Minutes  Level: Easy

Ingredients:

1/2 cup orange juice, heated 
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 
6 nectarines, halved lengthwise and pitted 
2 tablespoons sugar 
3/4 cup skim milk ricotta 
3 tablespoons honey 
Cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions: Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pour the orange juice into an 8 by 8-inch pan. With the tip of a sharp knife, scrape the insides of the vanilla bean into the pan, reserving the outside pod. Place the nectarines cut side down in the pan. Sprinkle with sugar and lay the vanilla pod on top of the nectarines. Bake until the nectarines are slightly slumped and feel a little soft, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool in the pan to room temperature, then remove the nectarines from the pan and chill until ready to serve. Reserve any pan juices to pour over the nectarines later. Meanwhile, blend the ricotta with the honey in a food processor until smooth. Chill until ready to serve. To serve, turn the nectarines over and spoon the cheese filling into the cavity. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (if using) and serve immediately. Place 3 on each plate and drizzle the reserved pan juices over the stuffed nectarines.