Banana Bread Green Monster Smoothie

Happy Monday Ya'll! It was a really fun weekend and it flew by fast. I spent as much time as possible outside enjoying this beautiful weather.

I have been drinking this smoothie for breakfast for almost two weeks straight and I finally thought I would post it. It's super simple and healthy, and keeps me feeling full for hours.

I've always loved banana bread and this smoothie taste just like the real thing. 

Ingredients:

1 Banana - Frozen

1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Vanilla Almondmilk

3-4 Heaping Handfuls of Spinach

A Few Dashes of Pumpkin Pie Spice

Optional: Walnuts, Ground Flax, Greek Yogurt (to make it thicker), uncooked oats

Throw all of the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into a pretty glass and enjoy. 

Side note: I've made this with the ground flax and it gives it a bit of a bitter taste. I typically omit the flax unless I'm feeling particularly healthy that day. 

That's the beauty of smoothies, you can just throw in what you have on hand and omit others to make it exactly the way you want it and it almost always comes out tasting wonderful.

I've been pretty hooked on this tasty little concoction and it keeps me full until my late morning snack. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 (without the optional ingredients)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 280 Calories from Fat 10

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 1.1g 2%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 2mg 1%

Sodium 150mg 6%

Total Carbohydrates 32.5g 11%

Dietary Fiber 6.3g 25%

Sugars 15.4g

Protein 31.8g

Vitamin A 227% • Vitamin C 76% Calcium 26% • Iron 22%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

What other things could you throw in here to make it taste even better?

Green Elvis Protein Shake

In honor of St. Patrick's Day this coming weekend, Pretty Little Pantry is going GREEN! Well, I mean all green food that is. Wish me luck in my quest to come up with ideas for green food all week.

To start the week off I've decided to share my favorite after-gym treat. I like to call this delicious protein shake the "Green Elvis". As we all know, Elvis loved peanut butter and banana sandwiches and for good reason. Peanut butter and banana is possibly the greatest combination to ever be invented. So in honor of The King and his delicious sandwich I've named my favorite smoothie after him.

Now this smoothie is obviously much better for you than Elvis' favorite treat but I believe it tastes even better. Seriously. 

Ingredients:

1  Banana (it's even better if it's frozen)

1 Scoop Chocolate Whey Protein Powder

1/2 Cup 0% Greek Yogurt 

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk (Or whichever you prefer)

2 Tbsp PB2

~4 Cups Spinach (I just fill the blender almost to the top with spinach)

Take all of the ingredients and just dump them in the blender and press the smoothie button. 

That's it. Enjoy. 

It's really really good. It makes about 2 large cups and it keeps you full for hours. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 641 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  388 Calories from Fat  66

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  7.4g 11%

Saturated Fat  0.7g 4%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  20mg 7%

Sodium  666mg 28%

Total Carbohydrates  49.2g 16%

Dietary Fiber  9.7g 39%

Sugars  25.4g

Protein  40.1g

Vitamin A 237% • Vitamin C 73% Calcium 198% • Iron 67%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

               What do you enjoy after a good workout?

Saving Money with Homemade Freezer Food

I've been trying my hardest to save money lately. I have an addiction to weekly retail therapy and I love going out to lunch. But since I am going to Italy in May! (I'm so freakin' excited!!) I really need to buckle down and save as much as I can. I thought what a better way to save than to start bringing my lunch from home everyday. I began this mission last week and the only thing I could think of bringing for lunch was Lean Cuisines and Progresso Soup, that is until I was totally sick of it and ended up getting Chick Fil A because I couldn't stomach eating one more Lean Cuisine.

Then I thought about making freezer burritos. Less calories than the ones at the store and less mysterious. It seemed easy enough and I do love burritos.

The ingredients were simple, too. Just flour tortillas, shredded Mexican cheese, black beans, Target's Cilantro lime rice (it's in the freezer section and it's just like Chipotle's  rice but with corn in it) and shredded chicken.

The chicken I made ahead of time by throwing it in the crock pot for 8 hours on low with a little taco seasoning and hot sauce. 

Prepare the cilantro lime rice as instructed on the bag and added the can of black beans. 

Take a heaping scoop of the rice and beans and plop it on the tortilla.

then add the chicken.

(Brian wanted to add more spices and hot sauce to his burrito) then sprinkle on the cheese.

roll the tortilla up as tightly as possible.

Then individually wrap each burrito in saran wrap before throwing them in a large zip-lock and putting them all in the freezer.

Whenever your ready to eat one just take it out, remove the saran wrap and microwave for a minute. It's a really quick and cheap work lunch alternative and it's pretty healthy.

The next thing I decided to try was pancakes. I make pancakes almost every Saturday morning. I LOVE PANCAKES. But, I always have left overs and never end up finishing them all. I don't know why I never thought about freezing them before.

First off, I cheated and just made a double batch of Bisquick blueberry pancakes. (I am on the hunt for a low calorie healthy alternative that doesn't call for crazy ingredients that I would never normally have on hand. I'll keep ya posted if I ever find one.)

After stuffing my face, I began stacking the pancakes with wax paper in between each one.

and then I just stuck them all in a Freezer Ziploc Bag. 

When you're ready to eat them, take out as many as you want and nuke them in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute. 

Time & money saving deliciousness!