Banana Cream Pie Breakfast Smoothie

Smoothies are one of my go-to, fast healthy breakfasts. You can put so much good healthy extras in there like spinach, quick oats, nuts, or ground flax seed meal (with its heart-healthy omega 3s). I went with ground flax seed meal today to emulate a graham cracker crust flavor.  I was inspired by both the two too-ripe bananas on my counter and the AMAZING Banana cream pie I had at Emerils restaurant this week! (It is necessary to splurge sometimes!) With smoothies, I like to make several servings and keep in the fridge in individual plastic cups, making for a quick breakfast on the go!

Banana Cream Pie Smoothie (350 calories, 6g fat, 25g protein)

2 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt 

1 cup skim milk

2 bananas

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon honey

4 tablespoons ground flax seed meal 

5-10 ice cubes (use fewer or none if you plan to refrigerate them, the ice will melt and make the smoothie thinner)

Put ingredients in blender and blend till smooth. Done! (To lighten the calories, make 3 servings rather than two-230 calories each).

Summertime Salads: Asian Beef Salad with Cucumbers and Peanuts

Asian Beef Salad with Cucumbers and Peanuts

Back on my salad kick--I feel so much healthier eating salads every day for lunch. It's nice and light, low carbs, you get your greens in and your lean protein. This is one of my favorite salads. Let's face it, you have to keep it interesting and flavorful to be excited about a salad for lunch. I always try to make all my lunches on Sunday and bring it in to work so I'm prepared for the week with healthy meals.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

1 lb London broil (top round) beef

1 container baby spinach

Roasted and salted peanuts

2 cucumbers, sliced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 shallot, sliced

3 green onions, sliced (only green part)

1 lime, juiced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Hot sauce to taste

Salt and pepper the London broil, both sides. Broil on high, both sides until medium rare, about 3-5 min per side depending on thickness. Let rest for a few minutes. 

Mix last 4 ingredients, then mix with cucumbers, cilantro, shallot and green onions. Slice London broil against the grain into thin slices. Chill if desired.

Assemble:

Pile the spinach onto a plate, top with cucumber mixture, beef, and garnish with peanuts.

About 300 calories.

Can't go wrong with bacon and cheese!

Had some Brussels sprouts from the Hollygrove market, which go amazingly with bacon. Made a simple meal of pasta carbonara with Brussels sprouts and mushrooms. So delicious and creamy! Not bad for you either, with the whole wheat pasta and lots of veggies!

Ingredients
Olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 slices bacon, chopped finely
2 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 eggs, mixed with a fork
1/2 cup pecorino Romano cheese, grated
4 servings Whole wheat pasta, fettuccine or what you have on hand ( I had penne and spinach spaghetti)
Parsley, chopped to garnish

Heat water for pasta and cook according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add garlic and let cook for a minute. Then add bacon and cook until almost crispy. Add Brussels sprouts, cook for a few minutes. Then add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms and Brussels sprouts are tender. Take off heat.

Drain pasta and add back to pot. Add eggs and mix well, add cheese and mix well. Add vegetables and toss to combine. Garnish with parsley and serve and enjoy!

Spiced Banana Bread

This is my favorite recipe for banana bread--it comes out so moist! I modified the recipe slightly to use nonfat yogurt instead of sour cream, lowered the sugar, and added the spices to enhance the flavor.

Spiced Banana Bread

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cardamom

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter with sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat.

In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients while mixing. Added bananas and yogurt and mix. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour.

What to do with kumquats??

On of the many reasons I love getting the Hollygrove market box is that I get to try new fruits and veggies that I would not normally try. One such example are kumquats. I've eaten these once before from the farmers market, and seen them growing in bushes around New Orleans in people's yards. They are like tiny oranges, so small and tender that you eat the rind. The flavor is somewhat bitter given the rind, but they are juicy and satisfying to snack on like grapes.

I searched for recipes and found this one from epicurious.com, a cranberry kumquat chutney. Super simple and I already happened to have a bag of fresh cranberries on hand in the freezer, so no need to buy additional ingredients.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cranberry-Kumquat-Sauce-240550?mbid=ipapp

Here is the result. It is a beautiful garnet color with the orange kumquat pieces, and it is delicious too. I put it over simple baked salmon and it is an incredibly flavorful pairing. I eat salmon often for health benefits, so I'll freeze some of this chutney for a tasty and quick dinner later on.