The Ultimate Mounds Bar Breakfast Smoothie

No actual Mounds Bars were harmed in the making of this smoothie but I did technically have some chocolate for breakfast. I blame it on the third trimester. You come up with your own excuse and make this too. Actually, who needs an excuse to have a nice healthy fruit smoothie with a tad of chocolate sweetness in it? Not me. So feel good about having little chocolate in your breakfast. Just don’t sub Nutella for the Justin’s, there’s a huge difference in the sugar content. Nutella has almost 3 times as much sugar. In fact the first listed ingredient is sugar whereas with Justin’s hazelnuts and almonds come before the organic cane sugar.

It seriously does taste like a Mounds! Try it!

• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1 – 6 ounce container coconut yogurt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 3/4 cup frozen cherries
• 2 frozen bananas, broken into chunks
• 3 tablespoons Justin’s chocolate hazelnut spread

Method

• Place all ingredients in a high speed blender in the order listed. Run on “smoothie” setting. Serves 2.

Cherry Coconut Milk Smoothie

I’m in the midst of estimates. The estimates for flooring are over. Contractor chosen. Start date set. Now, we’re getting painting estimates. So far I have had 3 done and 2 more scheduled for tomorrow. It’s going to be a lot of work moving all of our small stuff out of the way and having contractors bombard our house for the next 3-4 weeks but it’s going to be so much fun to see our house transform into what we want it to be!

My craving for coconut has been out of control lately. From coconut yogurt, to coconut water, to coconut in protein bars and coconut flakes sprinkled on just about anything. I figured I needed to do something about it and incorporate more of it! I bought a coconut creme flavored protein powder and after two not so spectacular smoothie attempts, this version happened this morning. And may happen again tomorrow…

Strawberry Coconut Milk Smoothie

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 can full fat coconut milk (save the other half for the next days smoothie!)
• 1 apple, core removed, cut into large chunks
• 1 heaping cup frozen cherries
• 1 large frozen banana, broken into chunks
• 4 scoops Jarrow Formulas Greek Yogurtein coconut creme flavor
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

• Place all ingredients in a high speed blender in the order listed. Run on “smoothie” setting. Serves 2.

Tropical Coconut Matcha Smoothie

Another yummy smoothie recipe to share! Made with healthy (and pretty popular right now) Matcha green tea powder and packed with protein from the yogurt (13 grams per serving) this smoothie is guaranteed to keep you going until lunch. It worked for me and I’m always hungry right now!

“The health benefits of matcha tea exceed those of green tea because when you drink matcha you ingest the whole leaf, not just the brewed water. One glass of matcha is the equivalent of 10 glasses of green tea in terms of its nutritional value and antioxidant content.” (Source)

• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 2 – 6 ounce containers Siggi’s coconut yogurt
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 large frozen banana, broken into chunks
• 2 tablespoons flaked coconut (plus 1 tablespoon for garnishing)
• 2 teaspoons matcha green tea powder

Method

• Place all ingredients in a high speed blender in the order listed. Run on “smoothie” setting. Serves 2.

Chocolate Avocado Banana Smoothie

I thought the only fruit available for my smoothie this morning was bananas. I looove smoothies with “only” bananas. Was getting ready to blurt out the recipe for my banana spice smoothie but I’ll save it for another day…

Avocados are a fruit, so I was wrong, I did have another fruit besides bananas. I made an avocado smoothie a few months back and didn’t like the combo and just never tried again. Today the combo was excellent. Ripe avocados + frozen bananas (they must be frozen so the smoothie will turn out cold and thick) + chocolate protein powder + a little honey for sweetness = drinking it faster than usual because it’s so good.

• 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 frozen bananas, broken into chunks
• 1 heaping scoop chocolate protein powder (I use Garden of Life)
• 2 tablespoons local honey

Method

• Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender (like a Vitamix) on “smoothie” setting. Instagram it! Serves 2. Enjoy!

Smoothie Pina Colada

In my thoughts I had named this smoothie “Tropical Smoothie” but that’s before I tasted it. I always clean the blender before I enjoy my morning smoothie, so before taking my first sip Travis made an announcement. “It’s like a smoothie pina colada,” he said. Duh, YES. I totally thought of that first. Hello.

This yogurt is thick and rich and made better by whirling it into a smoothie. Then you have yogurt perfection. (there I go stealing lines again)

The yogurt is full-fat (13 grams per serving) and I’m sure that’s part of reason it kept me full until lunch. The protein in the almond milk and the banana and pineapple in there helped too!

Where’s the rum?

For 2 smoothies:

• 2 cups unsweetened, vanilla almond milk
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 large banana, frozen and broken into chunks
• 2 containers of Liberte coconut yogurt perfection (hahaha)

Method

• Place all ingredients in high power blender on “smoothie” setting. ENJOY responsibly! 🙂

Weekly Eats

The latest installment of my week in food:

Sunday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, peaches, banana, cinnamon, flax seeds and organic peanut butter

Lunch: Leftover tuna steak and noodles with kimchi on the side

Dinner: Spaghetti night! The noodles were DeBoles organic artichoke pasta (angel hair). The sauce was organic marinara from Fresh Market. The meat was garlic, parsley and orange zest sausage from Sausage Craft. Served with Whole Foods frozen Mediterranean blend veggies…corn, edamame, shredded carrots and broccoli…GOODNESS!

Monday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, blackberries, banana, chia seeds, cinnamon and organic almond butter…very bitter…I think it was the blackberries

Lunch: General Tso’s vegan chicken (from Whole Foods) and edamame pods sprinkled with sea salt

Dinner: Alamo – chicken burrito (salsa, rice, black beans, guacamole, cheese)

Tuesday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, pineapple, banana, flax seeds and organic almond butter

Lunch: tuna and avocado sushi made with brown rice and red quinoa…from Whole Foods and eaten in the car on the way home from shopping!

Dinner: Sauteed turbo fish. It was on sale at Whole Foods and the fish-monger recommended it. It was ok but compared to all the fresh fish we had in the past month it lacked in flavor. Served with roasted brussel sprouts and quinoa mac-n-cheese

Wednesday

Breakfast: granola bowls

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: turkey meatloaf, potato salad (at Travis request…I ate only a spoonful) and peas

Thursday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, banana, flax seeds, cinnamon, cardamom and organic almond butter

Lunch: Sushi from Ellwood Thompson

Dinner: Eat your greens Asian chicken salad

  

Friday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, banana, strawberries, navel orange, flax seeds, cinnamon and organic almond butter

Lunch: Chipotle burrito bowl. I tried the new vegan marinated tofu…de-lish!

Dinner: The Boathouse – raw oysters, a wedge salad and a fire-roasted crab, brie and asparagus pizza…all shared with my man!

Saturday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, banana, pineapple, flax seeds and organic almond butter

Lunch: scrambled eggs with mixed sliced mushrooms and goat cheese. I also ate some edamame a couple hours later.

Dinner: Kona Grill with friends! Happy 36th birthday Chris!!! 

Weekly Eats

The latest installment of my week in food:

Sunday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, cherries, banana, cinnamon, nutmeg and almond butter

Lunch: salad with spinach and mixed greens, cucumber, goat cheese, leftover chicken thighs and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner: Seared salmon, zucchini “noodles” and a little side of kimchi.

Monday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, cherries, strawberries, banana, cinnamon, flax seeds and almond butter

Lunch: Leftover zucchini “noodles” topped with black beans, a fried egg and served with salsa, cheese and sour cream

Dinner: Pasture – I had the seafood stew

Tuesday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, raspberries, blueberries, banana, flax seeds and almond butter

Lunch: a big bowl of pho at Haiku 

Dinner: Chicken-tortilla-soup aka my favorite soup ever-ever. 

Wednesday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, banana, blueberries, cinnamon, chia seeds and almond butter

Lunch: Leftover soup

Dinner: shrimp and quinoa “salad” and steamed fresh green beans…”steamed” by me…not the “steam fresh” brand…whatever

Thursday

Breakfast: granola bowls with plain greek yogurt, strawberries, blackberries and granola

Lunch: chicken salad and marinated cucumbers from

Dinner: Edo’s Squid – seared tuna (rare) and garlic noodles

Friday

Breakfast: granola bowls with Noosa “tart cherry” yogurt, strawberries, blackberries and granola

Lunch: odds and ends from the salad bar at Whole Food

Dinner: Grilled london broil (Travis picked it up and it was not very good to me…he liked it though) and roasted cauliflower. I also ate some pita chips and edamame hummus while waiting for the charcoal.

Saturday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, banana, cinnamon and peanut butter

Lunch: Leftover soup

Dinner: Stuzzi pizza – I had the vegetariana

Weekly Eats

The latest installment of my week in food:

Sunday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, banana and organic peanut butter

Lunch: a chicken burrito (rice/black beans/salsa/cheese) with guacamole from Alamo

Dinner: We heated up the grill – charcoal style – and enjoyed a filet. Served with soba noodles tossed with sauteed zucchini, sliced green onions, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and lime juice. Kimchi on the side!

Monday

Breakfast: granola bowls with vanilla agave yogurt, strawberries and blueberries

Lunch: Leftover soba noodles and a few slices of leftover steak

Dinner: Homemade pizza with broccoli, shallots and lots-O-mozz cheese

Tuesday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, strawberries, banana, chia seeds and organic sunflower seed butter

Lunch: I visited my sister Angela and my nephews for the day. We always have lunch together when I visit so I came prepared with some leftover pizza dough, an avocado, a lemon and some cheese. I had the idea to pre-bake the crust with a little olive oil, mash the avocado with some lemon juice, salt and pepper and then top it with a little cheese. My sister had a roma tomato so we decided to add that in. My nephews both LOVE tomatoes….errr “manos”….that’s their pronunciation!

Here’s the crust getting smeared with avocado…

…and with all the toppings. After this step we baked it for about 2 minutes to melt the cheese…and then there were no more pics because we devoured it!

Dinner: We were invited to our friends Ashley and Cade’s house for dinner. They started a fire in the fire pit and got their charcoal grill going. Soon they were cooking up salmon fillets and roasting romaine which had been drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. There was also some warm rosemary bread to go with it. It was too delicious and too much fun for a standard Tuesday night! I a-l-m-o-s-t felt guilty!

Wednesday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, banana, cinnamon and organic sunflower seed butter

Lunch: Leftover cold soba noodles, steamed broccoli and a fried egg

Dinner: Maple Dijon Chicken and spinach & mixed greens salad with diced tomatoes, diced cucumbers, walnuts, chunks of brie and lemon vinaigrette

Thursday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, blueberries, banana, cinnamon, ginger, flax seeds and sliced almonds

Lunch: a vegetarian burrito bowl with guacamole from Chipotle (it’s been forever since I had one of those!)

Dinner: grilled skirt steak, smashed potatoes and the same type of salad we had yesterday (minus the walnuts because I didn’t have any more)

Friday

Breakfast: granola bowls with vanilla greek yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, pineapple…and GRANOLA hello!

Lunch: My fiance’s grandfather passed away this week. At 96 his funeral today was a celebration of his life. I will miss his wit and charm. He couldn’t hear yet refused to wear a hearing aid and this caused endless laughs with his misunderstandings what he thought he heard. Though I believe sometimes he was just playing. For a long time he has called me his daughter-in-law even though I’m engaged to his grandson (doesn’t that make me his grandaughter-in law?). Every time we visited he asked Travis, “when are you going to marry that girl? If I was 50 years younger I’d do it for you.” You couldn’t visit Walter Haney Carper without leaving with a smile on your face! Today I snacked for lunch: ham, a deviled egg, a little pasta salad, fruit and 2 small cookies

Dinner: Back over to Ashley and Cade’s house. She made these incredible bowls with slices of pork loin, broth, sliced cabbage, carrots, avocado and cilantro. It was a little like pho without the noodles.

Saturday

Breakfast: granola bowls with vanilla greek yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, banana…

Lunch: black beans, avocado, cheese and Mother in Law’s kimchi

Dinner: Mom’s Siam for some thai food on the patio. I had a dish with watercress, ginger, broccoli, green beans and shrimp. Super yum!

Weekly Eats

Our 3rd week in Key West ended on Friday with an 18-hour ride back to VA. Many good memories and good times!

Sunday

Breakfast: a papaya- mango yogurt cup and a half of a Kind bar

Lunch: Lagerheads Beach Bar – we ordered fish tacos and crab cakes (comes with 2 cakes topped with the same mango salsa that are on the tacos). Then we each had 1 taco and 1 crab cake. A cantaloupe slice and a small chocolate chip cookie also came with it.

Dinner: Smokin’ Tuna – yellowtail in a soy-ginger sauce with cole slaw and corn on the cob on the side.

Monday

Breakfast: homemade yogurt, granola and fruit bowls.

Lunch: Bad Boy Burrito – a burrito with chicken, mango-habenero salsa, avocado, red onion, cojita cheese, sour cream and their rice/black beans. Eaten by the pool at Southernmost Mansion!

Dinner: We grilled out with our friends Emily and Rick on their boat. Steak, sausage, hot dogs, cole slaw and cauliflower. Very good!!

Tuesday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk,  banana, blueberries, peaches and blueberry cardamom yogurt. Then I spilled one of the smoothies all over the counter. Smoothie-abuse!

Lunch: I sauteed more of our freshly caught fish and served it with cole slaw and a side of black beans, topped with a fried egg, a sprinkle of cheese and some salsa.

Randolph and Walter got a haircut and bath today!

Dinner: Santiago’s Bodega – we sat at an outside table and shared a greek salad, the mako shark special, the lamp chops and the camembert wedge with roasted red pepper/almonds/apricot. Then Travis had to go and order the bread pudding! What?! Of course, I want some…

Wednesday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, banana, frozen cherries…topped with a little granola for crunch and some strawberry slices. Chomp-chomp!

Lunch: We grilled up 2 small super-thin steaks and served them with more of the coleslaw and some potatoes and onions cooked together with a fried egg on top. Salsa on the side. SO good after spending a couple of hours on the beach that morning.

Dinner: Sushi at Origami

Thursday

Breakfast: a yogurt-fruit-granola bowl made with dark cherry chai yogurt. Super yum!

Lunch: Lagerheads Beach Bar – shared a hamburger with my man

Dinner: Abbodanza – Our friend Rick’s fav spot so we ate dinner together on our last night in Key West. I had the pasta primavera. 

Friday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, banana, frozen cherries, strawberries and a vanilla agave yogurt cup.

Lunch: a lobster roll (local spiny lobster) at a small local fishery in Marathon, FL

Dinner: Sushi, edamame and miso soup in Jacksonsville, FL

Saturday

Breakfast: smoothie with almond milk, protein powder, blueberries, pineapple and banana

Lunch: leftover pasta primavera

Dinner: The last of our Key West fresh-catch snapper. I roasted them with salt, pepper, EVOO and lemon slices. Fresh asparagus and pine nut cous cous on the side.

Weekly Eats

The latest installment of my week in food:

Sunday

Lunch: Local sausage from Sausage Craft, cheese grits and a fried egg. I also ate some leftover veggies with mine.

Dinner: Tacos with ground turkey, homemade taco seasoning, lettuce, cilantro, salsa, cheese, sour cream, diced onions, pickled jalapenos. Whew…I think that’s everything!

Monday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Roasted bok choy (with a bit of mirin tossed in when it was done). Sauteed yellow squash. Roasted shrimp. Soba noodles rinsed in cold water, drained well and tossed with sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and sesame seeds. Served separately and eaten together like a deconstructed noodle bowl. 

Tuesday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Roasted chicken breasts (on the bone) served with leftover veggies.

Wednesday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Seared salmon served with braised cabbage and sweet potato, walnut and goat cheese quinoa salad.

Thursday

Lunch: Tarrants Cafe!

Dinner: Chili and cornbread muffins for the boys. It’s book club night for me! That means awesome snacks and wine pot luck style! We read The Husband’s Secret which I finished in just a day and a half. Unanticipated and eventful. A good book!

Friday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Some our friends rotate what they call “family dinner” every Friday night. We haven’t participated in a while (like Thanksgiving!) but I offered to host on Valentine’s day. It’s a horrible night to go out to eat and since we always go out we like to save nights like this for the amateurs! We grilled flank steak. I made chimichurri again since it turned out SO good last week. I roasted brussel sprouts and asparagus. Made shrimp, tarragon and arugula pasta. My friend Ashley brought a salad. Also…BANANA CREAM PIE!!!!!!!!

Saturday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Thin crust pizza from Bottom’s Up…delivery!