Simply Sweet Smoothie

Last night I went grocery shopping for the first time since mid-April. That's a crazy long time to exist without any fresh produce in your fridge. I don't recommend it! With out of town vacations book-ending a very busy couple of weeks, I had been worried about buying, and consequently wasting, too many perishable goods; so I decided to forgo groceries altogether. I have, of course, enjoyed frequenting my favorite restaurants, food trucks, and takeout spots on a near-daily basis, but I have also missed having fresh ingredients on hand!

It could be said that I am not a morning person. I'll typically hit the snooze button for 45 minutes before finally dragging myself out of bed and into the shower. But today? Today I was up an' at 'em after only 10 minutes of snoozing. I was anxious about leaving myself enough time to whip up a breakfast smoothie before work. I'd been craving the wholesome goodness of a green smoothie for weeks, and I didn't want to have to wait until this evening.

I now have such an abundance of fresh and frozen fruit options that it was hard to decide what sort of smoothie to make. I often turn to Pinterest for inspiration, but this morning I decided to wing it. I was delightfully surprised with the results, so I figured I should share it with you! This recipe is a simple one. The only ingredient I actually measured was the almond milk, the rest of the measurements listed below are estimates. You should feel comfortable eyeballing it too, and be sure to adjust the recipe according to your taste preferences. It's that simple! Isn't that one of the many beauties of the smoothie?

 

Simply Sweet Cantaloupe Smoothie

Servings: 1 Serving Size: drink it all! Points Plus*: 5 pts

Ingredients

1/3 cup Almond milk (I used Blue Diamond's sweetened vanilla flavor)
1 cup Cubed cantaloupe
1 cup Fresh leaf spinach
1/2 Frozen banana
5 Frozen strawberries

Directions 

Add your ingredients to the blender in the order pictured below. A general rule of thumb for easiest blending is to start with your wet ingredients in the bottom, next you should add your soft ingredients, and then toss your frozen items on top.

Blend well. Once it was clear that my blender was up to the task, I ducked out of the kitchen to finish getting ready for work (my apartment is tiny, so it was easy to multitask while keeping an eye on the blender). By the time I finished brushing my teeth, I had a perfectly blended smoothie.

If you remember learning about color mixing in high school art class, you already know that red and green are complementary colors. You might also recall that when mixed in almost equal parts, red and green create a shade of muddy brown. So, the spinach/strawberry combo in this smoothie makes for a slightly swamp-hued concoction. Don't let that scare you, though. Believe me when I tell you that this was one heck of a delicious and refreshing way to start the day!

Serving Suggestion:
I added a few ice cubes to my travel mug to ensure that my smoothie would still be cold when I got to work.  


*PointsPlus values calculated using the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers website 

Wordless Wednesday: Springtime in Bermuda

A few photos from my vacation in Bermuda last month. Have you been to the Somers Isles? Go!

What have we here?

Keep Calm and Eat Pizza

You might have noticed that I've been a little bit wordless lately.  Almost nothing exhausts this introvert more than back to back social and professional commitments. The last few weeks have been jam packed with house guests, committee meetings, air travel, and weddings. Periods of hyper activity scare the bejesus out of my quiet-loving soul. I'm not complaining; I'm fortunate to have been included in so many fun events and projects over the last month. I'm merely explaining my absence.

"Hermiting" is my preferred method of recovery following long periods of socializing. Hiding out from the world between social events and activities is the only way for me to completely recharge. What does this hermit time entail? Well, I spend lots of time on my couch, beneath a blanket, binge watching television series on Netflix. There's little-to-no texting, tweeting, or emailing. My friends know the deal. They'll send a quick "Hermiting?" text to check in after a busy week, and if I don't respond they know that the unwritten answer is a resounding "Yes!" I'd like to find a way to blog while hermiting, but so far I haven't been able to bring myself to do so.

A mantra to embrace

I've been so busy that I haven't had the energy to cook very often. One of the few things I have made the time to throw in the oven is pizza. I've eaten lots and lots of pizzas! In my opinion it's the perfect hermiting food. If you've been following this blog at all, you already know that I like to experiment with low carb, alternative pizza recipes. While hermiting, however, I crave a good old fashioned pie. It's comfortable. It's easy. It's fast. It's even Weight Watchers friendly. I buy fresh dough at the grocery store, and freeze individually portioned 4 oz balls of it. It is my belief that one should always be prepared to satisfy a pizza craving without leaving the house.

"Homemade" Cheese Pizza

Servings: 1 Serving Size: the whole darn pie Points Plus*: 12 pts

Ingredients

Baking spray
2 tbsp White whole wheat flour 
4 oz Fresh pizza dough
1/2 cup Tomato sauce, canned
1 tsp Garlic paste
1 tsp Basil paste 
Black pepper to taste
Onion powder to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 cup Part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425° and coat your pizza pan with baking spray.

Lightly coat your rolling surface and rolling pin with one tablespoon of flour. Reserve the second tablespoon to sprinkle onto the dough and surface as needed while creating a nice thin crust. I like my crust paper thin, because that creates a larger surface area and it feels like I get more pizza for the same number of points.

Paper thin!

Transfer the flat circle of dough to your prepared pizza pan. Mix your tomato sauce with the garlic, basil, black pepper, and onion powder and then top the dough with it. Add a few shakes of red pepper flakes if you like a little kick to your pizza. Top with cheese, and the pizza is ready for the oven.

I bake my pies on the bottom rack for 10 minutes, and then move them to the top rack for an additional 3-7 minutes. When the cheese is a gorgeous, melty, sea of golden, gooey goodness your pizza is done.

This pizza was featured in the Serious Eats "My Pie Monday" series

Serving Suggestion: Add your favorite toppings to this basic cheese pizza recipe, but remember that non-vegetable toppings will increase the Points Plus value of your meal.

And remember to...

*PointsPlus values calculated using the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers website