Smoothies and snacks!

You know if I’m talking about food, it’s got to be easy to make.

As I’m counting my calories, I have to make easy to grab-and-go snacks. For me, fruits and veg are free. This encourages me to eat better too.

So here’s my process:

1. Buy a bunch of produce that’s good raw: berries, kiwi, grapes, cherries, oranges, apples, melons, bananas, celery, mini peppers, broccoli, carrots, etc
2. Each day, I pick one or two and cut them up then put them in snack-size baggies. Don’t cut it all at once! They will go bad faster. And I suggest doing rasp-/black-berries first, since they go bad quickest.
3. These snack size sacks also encourage my boys to eat more fruits and veg! When they open the fridge looking for something to eat and see the ready to eat baggies, they grab-and-go. And they can tell me they had something healthy, since I do nag them about that...

   

   yes, eating while I write!

4. Now these snack sacks aren’t just for plain snacking. You can eat them so many ways!
• with dips - veg goes with lots of dips or just some light ranch dressing
• in eggs - those mini peppers are awesome in scrambled eggs esp with some cheese, if you haven’t tried it, you should! salsa works too.
• with peanut butter - skip the jelly, use berries, apples, or bananas for sandwiches; and my boys love celery with some pb
• nutella nom noms - I spread this sinful goodness on waffles with any fruit
• in parfaits - any fruit makes the perfect parfait mixed with yogurt and any topping you like, from granola to crushed cereal to cookie crumbs
• with whip cream - whip cream is one of the best things on a diet, low cal and no carbs = no guilt!
• SMOOTHIES - cool off this summer with a fresh fruit smoothie. Take a few of the fruit baggies - and cut up bananas, especially just before they go bad - and toss them in the freezer. When they’re ready, here’s my recipe for awesome, low-cal smoothies:

Sweet Summer Smoothies:

• 2-3 baggies of frozen fruit
• 1 cup lite yogurt
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 1 cup lite juice

You can use some ice if you can't wait for fruit to freeze and use fresh. (a little tasty tongue twister!)

Smooth it up!

Happy Healthy Eating!

PS - even with all the travel days, I'm down 5 pounds. Hope this trend continues cause the travel ain't over!