Monday, December 28, 2015

Peanut Butter Smoothie

It's that time of year again.

Not just time to put away the Christmas decorations and put up the new 2016 calendar.

It's recovery time.

Now don't get me wrong. I enjoyed every single bite of fudge, Christmas cookies, and my mom's favorite recipe for Christmas candy. I enjoyed every single minute of the meals we shared with family and friends.



But, there comes that time...a couple days after Christmas...when my body says it wants to lay off the sugar for a while.

Actually, the body says I should never eat sugar again, but I know that eventually I'll be craving something sweet. Sigh.

But no worries. I've found a great way to ease off of sugar and please my sweet tooth at the same time: Smoothies!

I've shared smoothie recipes before, and you can check out that post here: Spring Smoothies.

But today I'd like to add a new one. I've been making one of these for breakfast once or twice a week. There's something so satisfying about this recipe.

The original is from a blog called Working at Homeschool. Jen (the owner of the blog) shares tons of gluten-free Trim Healthy Mama recipes. So far I've only tried this one, but it's a keeper.

Here's my version:

Peanut Butter Smoothie

ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop unsweetened vanilla whey protein powder
4 teaspoons Truvia, or other non-calorie sweetener
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
a pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
2-3 cups of ice cubes




A note about the ingredients:
What if you aren't following the Trim Healthy Mama plan? No problem. The main goal is to have a healthy smoothie for breakfast that will satisfy your sweet tooth without adding any sugar to your meal.

Did you notice the fat-laden ingredients in this recipe, though? Those healthy fats, plus the protein, is what makes this smoothie fill you up and keep you satisfied until lunch. Don't worry about the calories - go ahead and eat the peanut butter!

Almond milk: You can substitute your regular milk. It will add carbs to the smoothie, but won't affect the taste.

Whey protein powder: I use the THM brand available on their website (THM Whey Protein Powder), but you can substitute protein powder from your local store. You could also leave it out of the recipe, but it won't supply as much protein for your meal. But here's a thought! You could also substitute yogurt! You'd want to reduce the amount of milk in the recipe, but the yogurt would help supply that all-important protein.

Truvia: I like stevia sweeteners and use them all the time. Some people have problems with stevia, though. So if you've never used it before, buy a small quantity to try. You'll find Truvia near the sugar in your grocery store.

Coconut oil: I use coconut oil often in my recipes because of the health benefits. If you don't have any in your cupboard, go ahead and leave it out of this recipe. But if you aren't convinced that coconut oil is a healthy part of your diet, you can read this: Dr. Oz on Coconut Oil.

Peanut Butter: I like Adam's Natural peanut butter. Other brands have sugar, but not a lot. So if you're fine with a little sugar, use whatever brand you like.


Method:
Using a heavy duty blender (one that can handle crushing ice cubes), blend together all of the ingredients except the ice. Run your blender for 10-20 seconds on high speed to get that coconut oil pulverized and mixed in.

Once those ingredients are thoroughly blended, add the ice cubes, about one cup at a time. Blend until everything is nice and smooth.

Pour into a large cup (I use my one-quart canning jars) and enjoy!




Other than the over-eating of sweets, how was your Christmas?

We had a fabulous time....


There's nothing like getting a future son-in-law for Christmas! We're expecting the wedding to be in June, so stay tuned!

And it's a "destination wedding." You've heard of those, right? When the happy couple and all their guests go to some fabulous romantic destination for the wedding of their dreams? Well, this destination is the Black Hills of South Dakota.



What? You think we'd go somewhere else?

9 comments:

  1. They're having the wedding in the Black Hills???? Oh, what a wonderful thing that is, Jan!!! You are made to help with a wedding in the Black Hills, this is so perfect for a family that loves to trek into the hills and wander and record...

    The last time I wandered was into a coffee shop, I believe, so I'm living vicariously through you!!!!! Congratulations!!!!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Ruthy! We're ready to step into that whirlwind of wedding planning, but the bride and groom already have a good idea of how they want their special day to look. Carrie starts a new job in February, so the goal is to have all the necessary items - flowers, dress, venue, cake, photographer - set before then.

      Oh, and the date. But the date depends on the availability of the venue.

      :)

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  2. Congratulations on the engagement in your family. Can Thatcher wear a tux and be the ring bearer? And if he is, will you take pictures? (I'm not entirely joking when I ask that.) Love the Destination Wedding angle. LOL

    You've converted me re the coconut oil. I was wondering if you could bake with it and after reading that article I see you can.

    We're finally getting our winter weather. Yesterday it was freezing rain. Today it's sub-zero temps and tomorrow, our first blizzard!

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    1. Thank you! And Thatcher will not be a ring bearer. :)

      Coconut oil is the best. It fell out of favor forty years ago or so when the powers that be decided saturated fats were bad. I'm so glad we've learned more about fats since then, and which ones are healthy. At our house we use three kinds of fats and oils - coconut oil, butter and olive oil.

      Congrats on the winter weather! We had a storm over the weekend (Christmas night into Saturday), and still have drifts on the ground, packed snow on the roads, and cold temps. I love winter!

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  3. Good morning, Jan.

    1st - CONGRATULATIONS to Carrie and all of you! I'm so happy for you.

    2nd - Oh, I hear you. My body is crying for healthier food and I haven't even been that bad. I did a nut roast for part of Christmas dinner (recipe forthcoming), and we had vegan gingerbread scones that were amazing (recipe also forthcoming on a Wednesday), but those Russian tea cookies and all the chocolates we received as gifts kind of tipped the scales.

    Yesterday my youngest and I had brunch at a fabulous vegan/mostly gluten-free restaurant - https://suninbloom.wordpress.com/

    I started with a zen citrus drink and my body was SO happy.

    I used to use whey protein powders, but more recently I've been using hemp protein powder. I'm also a huge fan of coconut oil. I use it in so much of my cooking and baking and sometimes just stir it into my coffee.

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    1. Thanks, Cate!

      And it's amazing how quickly your body can get out of that slump from a couple days of over/poor eating, isn't it? A salad or other meal that's a total opposite of the things we enjoyed so much a few days ago sets things back in balance.

      I'll have to look into the hemp protein powder. Thanks for the tip!

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  4. Congratulations!! I've been to two destination weddings (if you don't count my own in Mexico). One was in Iceland and one was at a white water rafting resort in California. Both were incredible fun. Can't wait to see all the updates!

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    Replies
    1. I think I'd count your own - I remember when you described it, and it sounds like the perfect destination! There's nothing like family ties to make a destination perfect :)

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  5. Congrats on the engagement!! And thanks for the recipe. My daughter will love this!

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