One Monster of a Smoothie

Last week was a beast! I had to put in sixty hours at the office, and to make matters worse I tweaked my back on Friday morning while leaning towards the mirror to put on some mascara. So, Friday's fifteen hour shift was made all the more painful by persistent back spasms. 

I knew that Thursday, Friday and Saturday would be hectic, so I made a concerted effort to load up on as many healthy meals as possible during the first half of the week. I packed big salads to enjoy with lunches the first three days of the week, and incorporated plenty of grilled and steamed vegetables with dinners. On Friday and Saturday, though, there was no time for a sit down meal. I grazed on the leftovers from each event that I was managing: so, my diet consisted of leftover bagels, cold pizza, cheese and crackers, and bar snacks. I guesstimated the points plus values I used up on junk, and the results were pretty grim. I'm not sure I consumed a single power food over a two day period!

Cheese balls

On Sunday morning, I slept late. It felt great. Despite getting plenty of sleep, I still felt sluggish when I rolled out of bed. The week had been challenging mentally, physically and nutritionally. While the extra rest had helped with my mental and physical ailments, I was still in need of a nutritional boon. I decided that it might be the perfect time to try out one of the Green Monster smoothies that I had read about on multiple food blogs.

Everything about these smoothies is amazing! It's amazing that they taste great, despite looking like swamp. It's amazing that they almost instantly elevate your mood. And it's amazing how many vitamins and minerals you can blend up and fit into a glass. Now, despite being heavy on the fruits and vegetables, these smoothies aren't without points plus values. The number of points involved will depend on what you choose to include.

Green Monster Smoothie (recipe below)

Green  Monster Smoothie

Servings: 1 Serving Size: about 2 cups Points Plus*: 7 pts
(adapted from Skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients 

1 cup Fat free milk 
1/2 medium Banana, fresh frozen
1/2 cup Strawberries, fresh frozen
1 cup Chopped spinach, fresh frozen
1 tsp Reduced fat peanut butter
3 oz Fat free Greek yogurt

Directions 

Blend ingredients together until smooth. It's best to put the milk in first, and then layer the rest of your ingredients on top. Since I used frozen fruits and vegetables, I used the ice crush function first and then the milkshake function blended it all together. I served over ice.

Today's version: homemade coconut berry popsicle, milk, spinach, strawberry & cucumber

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

Before there was Pinterest...

In the days before Pinterest, I would cover my coffee table with piles of cooking magazines and stacks of cookbooks when trying to decide what to make for dinner. Every now and then, in a fit of indecision, I would spend an entire day dogearing possibilities for that evening's meal... Eventually running out of time to make anything more complicated than scrambled eggs and toast. These days countless hours are spent pinning delicious possibilities onto my "nom nom nom" Pinterest board.

It's been months since I last added a new magazine to my collection, and even longer since I have treated myself to a gorgeous new cookbook (I covet them from afar on Amazon, though). There was a time when I couldn't make it through the checkout aisle at the grocery store without adding Cooking Lite or Food Network Magazine to my cart (sometimes both!). Last month's snow storm, left me trapped inside looking for ways to pass the time. All that time in the house gave me a great excuse to spend a few hours poring over the pages of some of my old magazines.

Since there was a driving ban in effect, I was somewhat constrained by the ingredients that I had in the fridge and in my cupboards. I had done a pretty good job of stocking up before the storm, but there were plenty of recipes that I was not equipped to handle (anything calling for pork or beef, for example). While I didn't have all of the ingredients, I decided to give Cooking Light's Dan Dan Noodles a try. I had to modify their recipe a fair amount, but the results were fabulous! So, without further ado...

Dan Dan Noodles

Servings: 4 Serving Size: about 1 cup Points Plus*: 8 pts
(Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

1/4 cup White wine
1/2 cup Fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth
4 tbsp Reduced-fat peanut butter
3 tbsp Soy sauce
1 tbsp Brown sugar
3 tbsp Chili garlic sauce (or to taste)
1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup Minced onion 
1/4 cup Minced red or green bell pepper
1/2 cup Minced carrots
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tbsp Powdered ginger (2 tbsp minced fresh ginger if you have it)
2 tsp Canola oil
1 pound 99% fat-free ground turkey breast

Directions

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the wine, chicken broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce, and sesame oil.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat the canola oil over medium high heat. Stir-fry the onion, bell pepper, carrots, ginger and garlic until fragrant- about 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add the turkey and divide it into large chunks. Flip each chunk over after 3 minutes, and then break into smaller chunks as the turkey browns.

After about 5 minutes, the turkey will be nearly cooked. Stir in the peanut sauce that you prepared earlier. Simmer for about 5 minutes until turkey has completely cooked and the sauce has thickened.

Pictured in a nest of a combination of Smart Taste & Tofu Shirataki spaghetti

Serving Suggestion: Pair with spaghetti squash or Tofu Shirataki spaghetti, and your "noodles" won't cost any additional points plus values. If you have enough points to play with, use your favorite high fiber pasta or rice noodles. I like my food spicy, so I also added a little extra chili garlic sauce and sriracha. 

This was a super tasty Chinese-inspired dish, and I definitely recommend it if you're looking to try something a little different with ground turkey. The meal comes together pretty quickly, so it would make for a nice and easy weeknight dinner.




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

Wordless Wednesday: Produce, Prep & Practical Use