Chocolate Spinach Protein Shake

I have one of these shakes almost every day - takes care of any chocolate cravings with the added bonus that it's got a major servings of greens. If you want to try it yourself, then simply

Blend:

1 cup of water
1 handful of spinach
1 heaping Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder
1 scoop of protein powder
5-8 drops of vanilla Stevia
1/2 frozen banana
1 tray of ice cubes (half filled)

Then sprinkle with 1/2 c. cereal

Step One:
Get your blender - add 1 cup of water and a handful of spinach - start easy on the spinach if this is your first time, I've warped my tastebuds so much that I can add a ton and not notice it. By myself I usually go through the big Costco spinach bag in 10 days


Step Two:
Add Stevia, cocoa powder, and Protein Powder


Making sure there's enough cocoa powder will over power the spinach taste


Step Three:
Add frozen bananas and ice
I slice my bananas length wise and put them in sandwich bags to freeze, then break them in pieces when I put it in the blender



You'll want to put them in the pitcher in this order - start with the water and spinach to get the blender blades at the bottom of the pitcher going nicely, powders next so they are locked in the middle, topped with ice and bananas to keep the powders in.

Blend into a nice and yummy brown and green goop!


Great thing about it, most of my kids don't pester me asking if they can have some. My toddler loves it though, I usually share a cup with her

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of cereal - I think Honey Sunshine is the best for chocolate protein shakes - seriously makes it taste like an ice cream cone!



Total Calories = about 310
1 handful of spinach - 20?
1 heaping Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder - 24
1 scoop of protein powder - 140 (Cytosport Whey)
1/2 frozen banana - 60
1/2 cup Kashi Honey Sunshine - 66

A Delicious and Healthy Salad

Here's a delicioso salad that I got from a dear neighbor Sue many moons ago

(I stole this picture from The Fresh Plate blog cause I didn't have a picture of mine and this one is about the same.)

2/3 or 1/3 cup canola oil (pending how healthy you're trying to be, I usually go 1/3)
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. cilantro
1/8 c. lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp. salt

That was the recipe Sue passed on to me after a lunch where I was in awe at how good this was. I do the salad different everytime, but here's a list of the things I add:

black beans
kidney beans
pinto beans
tomatoes
sweet corn (frozen kind from Costco tastes best I think)
hominy
red or yellow peppers
green peppers
yellow onions
red onion
green onion
avocado
etc... just experiment, it always turns out delicious!