Monday, July 1, 2013

Meal Planning: Smoothies

Meal Planning photo f845f3fe-a1d0-487f-8007-2ccf92c3455d_zps0b9c7b93.jpg 

Last weeks post about vegetarian meals sparked some even further research and imagination within me.  I have been looking into the advantages of a vegan lifestyle.  I can't pretend that I would follow it 100% of the time, but I have been inspired to limit my intake of meat and diary.

There is lots of information out there about the benefits and disadvantages of a Vegan diet, but my main motivation is my fear of food.  I am famous for pouring milk down the drain well before the expiration date or tossing meats that are still perfectly fine.  I am totally disgusted by the way most meat and diary is handled and acquired, not to mention the antibiotics and growth hormones used on the animals.

So, anyway.

Since the weekend was pretty sticky and rainy, I thought that trying out some smoothie recipes with the kids would be fun.  Thanks to the Groovy Smoothie on The Fresh Beat Band, my kids LOVE the idea of smoothies.

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 Keep in mind, this is my first attempt at a green smoothie so I used what we had in the fridge/freezer.

  • 1 cup fresh spinach
  • 1 6 oz. banana yogurt
  • 3 cups frozen berries (I used a mix of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries)
  • 1 cup water 
This made four 8oz smoothies, plus a little extra
And since I had opened a giant bag of spinach and already how the blender out of storage I came up with the brilliant idea of pureeing the rest of the spinach to freeze for other recipes.  I was so proud of myself for coming up with idea and then I got on Pinterest this morning and found that I was, like, the millionth person to think of it...  Still a good idea though ;)

Then I remembered that I wanted to try the frozen banana ice cream recipe that I have seen online.  I have been saving our old bananas for just this occasion (by occasion, I mean getting the blender out of the back of the cabinet).

  • 5 frozen bananas
  • 1 Tbs peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup water (or milk if you want it creamier)
This made one pint
Delicious!

So how does this fit into meal planning you ask?

I think that this should be my regular breakfast.  And it is going to require some planning ahead since this will be just one more step to getting out of the house in the morning.  I would recommend freezing batches, but I am currently drinking a leftover.  While it tastes good, the consistency is a little weird.  I also want to try a more protein rich recipe without dairy.

In addition to the smoothie I shared above, here are four more recipes for weeks worth of breakfasts :)


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