Here’s a pic of my recent favorites when it comes to smoothie making.  My husband got me a Ninja recently (as you can see in the background), so now I feel obligated to make more smoothies.  While normally I like to eat my calories, I found a pretty healthy and tasty smoothie combo that isn’t so hard to choke down.  I like to make my smoothies healthy, but sometimes I try too hard to make them healthy and it ends up looking awful and tasting even worse.  This combo is healthy and tasty!

First off…let’s discuss PB2.  It’s powdered peanut butter.  Now, I LOVE peanut butter.  I saw this stuff on the grocery store shelf for a good six months before I actually bought it.  All I could think was ewww gross…and….what could you possibly do with powdered peanut butter?  Well, it never occurred to me to try adding it to a smoothie….until I saw it on Pinterest.  Delish!!  Two tablespoons of PB2 has 45 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbs (which includes 1 gram of sugar) and 5 grams of protein.  Basically you have peanut butter without the fat and oil.  The ingredients are listed as: roasted peanuts, sugar and salt.   Awesome!  It gives your smoothie a great peanut butter taste without the fat and oil.   If you cannot find it in your local store you can read more about it and order it here.  I see they have a chocolate peanut butter flavor out now too.  Must get!

My second special ingredient is Lifeway Kefir.  I’m not a huge yogurt fan, so I’ve been taking probiotic supplements for awhile.  However, my local store started carrying a few flavors of Lifeway Kefir, so I thought I’d give it a try.  Kefir has the highest concentrations of probiotics…more than yogurt, greek yogurt, probiotic yogurt, or even probiotic supplements.  Its good for your digestive system which in turn improves your entire immune systems.  Good stuff.  I heard it may help improve eczema too.  A win-win, either way.  Anyways, I used the plain, unsweetened kefir.  One cup has 110 calories, 2 grams of fat, 12 grams of carbs (12 as sugar (lactose)) and 11 grams of protein.  By itself, it has a very tart taste.  It needs to be complemented with a bit of sweetness.  A frozen banana is a great complement to this.

The last “new” ingredient….kale.  A good alternative to spinach for your smoothie.  You can’t taste it once its blended in and it provides a fantastic source of vitamins K, A, and C and also has over 45 different flavonoids which provides antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Here’s the recipe for a delicious Peanut Butter Smoothie

Handful of washed kale (stems cut off)
1 Frozen banana
1/2-3/4 cup kefir
1/2-3/4 cup plain almond milk
2-3 tablespoons of PB2 (go for three if you love PB!)

Enjoy!!  Then go workout….you’ll have energy and feel great!  : )

One of my very first posts was a Christmas quiche I made a couple years back.  I have recently revisited and simplified my quiche recipe so I can start including in my repertoire of meals I regularly prepare.  It’s a quick throw together meal that you can use with ingredients on hand and it offers a great alternative to a meat based meal.   Here is the link to the previous quiche, and here is the slightly updated simplified version:

Ingredients:
Approx 1 cup mushrooms
1/2 diced onion
1/2 diced red pepper
1/2 block of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
4 eggs
1 and 1/4 cup of milk
1 cup grated cheese of your choice (I used colby/jack)
frozen pie crust
salt/pepper/seasonings to taste

Chop and saute veggies in a little olive oil.  Add spinach last.  Season veggies with a bit of salt and pepper.   In a medium bowl lightly beat eggs and add milk.  Add a bit of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder or other seasonings or your choice.  (I use a couple shakes of each.)   Place frozen pie shell on cookie sheet and layer cup of cheese on the bottom.  Layer sauteed veggies over cheese.  Pour egg mixture over veggies.  Place in oven and bake at 350 for approximately 60 minutes.  Test with a knife to see if quiche is done.

One thing I’m slowly starting to learn with cooking is that it doesn’t have to be exact.  You can use what veggies, etc you have on had and season with your favorite spices, vice strictly following a recipe.  My standby seasonings are salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.  This is my base and I’ll add to it if I feel like it.  This was a great way to get rid of some left over veggies in the fridge too!  You can also sauteed lots of veggies and put what you need in the quiche and save the rest for a side dish for lunch the next day.

Oh..and I didn’t get a final shot of the baked quiche.  Everything was cleaned up and put away by that point…including the camera!

Enjoy!!

Recommended Workout: Long run.  Ugh.

Well, since I really do only have three readers, and I’m related to one of you, then you all win!

Manda, Meghan, and Chiara, you are all winners!  Please email me your Redd Tree accessory choice, and the address you would like it it delivered to, and I’ll get it shipped right out.  You can send your info to info@bakefit.com or you can convo me through my etsy shop here.

Thanks for entering!!  : )