I’m Dreaming of A White (Chocolate Peppermint Shake) Christmas

*UPDATE 11-18-2015: THEY’RE BACK!!!

Say it with me, ‘YUM!’

Just imagine I was tech savvy enough to have this song playing throughout your time on this post, knew how to make snowflakes fall delicately across the page, and had a nice log burning fire going to keep you toasty and warm as you read…

AdvoCare has just released their limited time Holiday White Chocolate Peppermint Meal Replacement Shakes and I know I have found my new favorite replacement for breakfast…and lunch…and dinner 😀 (Although I haven’t found a flavor of Meal Replacement Shakes that I didn’t love and with a 40% discount, who says I have to pick favorites?) For anyone that has had the Meal Replacement Shakes before, you know they taste even better than they sound! When it comes to the Holiday flavors, James and I don’t mess around and stock up on them before they quickly sell out! I have experimented with different baking recipes to see if there is any way I could top the regular ol’ shake forms and found a handful of other ways to use them in delicious treats. Several of my friends inspired me to give this recipe a whirl:

I had seen the recipe for Muscle Gain Ice Cream a while back and had intended on trying it out before the weather cooled off, but totally forgot! (Thanks a lot Pregnancy Brain!) James had a day off from work recently, so we decided ice cream for breakfast was just what the doctor ordered. All I can say is, Ah-mah-zing! Super easy to do and SO delicious. I originally tried it with the Holiday Pumpkin Spice flavor and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be making this with the newest flavor.

White Chocolate Peppermint ice cream that’s healthy? Yes, Please! You’ll have to try it for yourself! 🙂

White Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream:

• 1 blender bottle with whisk ball (or medium sized bowl with standard whisk if you don’t have a blender bottle)
• 1 gallon sized plastic bag filled 1/2 way with ice
• Approximately 1/2 cup of ice cream salt (or regular salt if you don’t have ice cream salt)
• 1 quart size plastic bag
• 1 cup almond milk (or whatever your milk of choice is)
• 1 White Chocolate Peppermint Meal Replacement Shake
• Handful (or more 😉 ) of Mini Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
• Optional: ingredients to mix in ice cream or for toppings

Instructions:

1. In the blender bottle or bowl if you don’t have a bottle, mix the milk, Meal Replacement Shake, and any other liquid or powder ingredients you’ve chosen.
2. Pour contents of blender bottle/bowl into quart size plastic bag, remove as much air as possible from bag, and seal tightly.
3. Add salt to gallon sized bag with ice
4. Place quart sized bag into the gallon sized bag, remove air from bag, and seal tightly.
5. Optional: Wrap the bag in a kitchen towel to keep your hands from turning into ice cubes 😉
6. Shake, shake, shake! (the gallon bag around for 5-10 minutes.)
7. Remove quart sized bag from gallon bag and quickly rinse off any salt from exterior of bag in cold water…unless you like really salty ice cream.
8. Place your ice cream in a bowl, add toppings, and enjoy! 😛

If you were one of the smart/fortunate ones who ordered the Pumpkin Spice Shakes before they sold out, you’ll love this one too!

Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream:

• 1 blender bottle with whisk ball (or medium sized bowl with standard whisk if you don’t have a blender bottle)
• 1 gallon sized plastic bag filled 1/2 way with ice
• Approximately 1/2 cup of ice cream salt (or regular salt if you don’t have ice cream salt)
• 1 quart size plastic bag
• 1 cup almond milk (or whatever your milk of choice is)
• 1 Meal Replacement Shake
• Optional: ingredients to mix in ice cream or for toppings

Instructions:

1. In the blender bottle or bowl if you don’t have a bottle, mix the milk, Meal Replacement Shake, and any other liquid or powder ingredients you’ve chosen.
2. Pour contents of blender bottle/bowl into quart size plastic bag, remove as much air as possible from bag, and seal tightly.
3. Add salt to gallon sized bag with ice
4. Place quart sized bag into the gallon sized bag, remove air from bag, and seal tightly.
5. Optional: Wrap the bag in a kitchen towel to keep your hands from turning into ice cubes 😉
6. Shake, shake, shake! (the gallon bag around for 5-10 minutes.)
7. Remove quart sized bag from gallon bag and quickly rinse off any salt from exterior of bag in cold water…unless you like really salty ice cream.
8. Place your ice cream in a bowl, add toppings, and enjoy! 😛

The finished product: Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream with added Pecans!

I used Hint of Honey Vanilla Almond Milk in the shake and sprinkled chopped pecans as my topping. YUM!

Although James loves the Pumpkin Spice shakes, he is a chocolate ice cream guy through and through. He decided to go with Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream for dessert breakfast. He then proceeded to add more Mini Enjoy Life chocolate chips as toppings, but when your ice cream is only 260 calories and packed with 22 grams of protein, I’d say it evens out. 😉

James’s Ingredients included:

• 1 Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake
• 1 Cup Almond Milk
• 3 TBSP PB2 (powdered peanut butter that we love!)
• Handful of mini Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• Extra chocolate chips for toppings

James’s yummy ice cream!

We will definitely be making this recipe again in the near future!

Yummy Vegetable/Minestrone Soup!

I know, I know I have a really great track record for blogging on average once every 2 months. How do y’all manage the anticipation between each post?! (For the 5 of you that might actually still follow my blog- Thanks for sticking around and… hi mom!) In all seriousness, I am going to make more of an effort to start writing more frequently and get you up to date on what’s happening in my life (ex: as far as you know, I am still single in the good ol’ BR. Boy, are you in for a surprise!) …and what I’m cooking/baking/eating…because let’s be honest, that’s much more interesting than most other things I might have to say.

ANYWAY, I’m back at it today because I wanted to share an extremely easy recipe that I made for lunch recently that I thought y’all might enjoy. It’s packed with lots of veggies, protein, and was pretty cost efficient which made it taste even better in my opinion. I’m not one to ever totally throw the grocery budget to the wind, but I have also been known to get caught up in a good grocery shopping session when the produce stands are set up just right. (Am I the only one who finds grocery shopping therapeutic?)

After too many inconsistent weeks of spending and saving,  I finally broke down and made a meal plan with a set budget in mind. I even gave myself a challenge by setting the budget lower than what I could have allowed for. Do I know how to have fun, or do I know how to have fun? I ended up spending a bit more than my ‘challenge’ budget, but I also got some super deals on lobster, sirloin, and several staple items we use regularly in our house. Both lunches and dinners were set up and executed perfectly. I don’t think we had eaten that balanced in a long time and everything was delicious! It all was going according to plan…until Sunday night arrived and I had completely forgotten to meal plan again…fail!

When it came time to prepare lunch on Monday I only had one option: get creative. I wanted to get the most out of the previous week’s grocery trip expenses and avoid letting any food go to waste, so I surveyed the kitchen and pantry and whipped up this recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as James and I did! It was/is perfect for a cool Fall day 🙂

     

VEGETABLE/MINESTRONE SOUP

What’s needed:

• 1 28oz can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup frozen or fresh cut green beans
• 1/4 cup frozen or fresh yellow squash
• 1/4 cup diced frozen or fresh green peppers
• 1/4 cup fresh spinach (I would have used more, but this was the last of what we had!)
• 4 stalks organic celery chopped
• 4 whole carrots chopped
• white or yellow onion chopped (amount to your liking. I cut a slice ~ 1/2 inch thick)
• Optional: pepperoni slices cut up. I used about 1/4 package of Applegate Farms Natural Pepperoni. Yum!
• 32 oz chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp bacon lard or grassfed butter
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1 Tbsp basil
• 1 Tbsp garlic
• 1/2 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• Salt & pepper to liking

*James brought home a rotisserie chicken, so we ended up carving the chicken and adding it to the soup. You could do the same, prepare your own whole chicken, or even use cubed or shredded chicken breast.

Instructions:

• In a large pot melt lard over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5-7 minutes.
• Add chicken stock, followed by remaining vegetables and pepperoni if using.
• Add olive oil and spices
• Cook for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Finally, add in pre-cooked chicken, reduce heat to low medium, and let cook for 5-10 more minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Without the added chicken

With the added chicken. YUMMY!

With LOTS of  added chicken. YUMMY 😛

We were able to get 4 meals out of this soup (including second helpings for dinnertime because this pregnant lady currently has the appetite of a high school boy-watch out!) I love how a little creativity helped us to make the most of our budget AND allowed us to have delicious meals. I definitely will be making this again!

Here is the breakdown of what I spent, so y’all can see if this works for your grocery budgets too! Keep in mind that I used only a portion of each package of vegetables, pepperoni, and chicken, so the price would be even less than what the receipts will reflect 🙂

PUBLIX:

• Fresh Organic Baby Spinach: $3.99
• Fresh Jumbo White Onion: $1.18
• Fresh Organic Celery: $2.69
• Fresh Organic Carrots: $1.29
• Frozen Cut Green Beans: $3.19
• Frozen Diced Green Pepper: $1.59
• Frozen Yellow Squash: $1.89

COSTCO:

• Organic Chicken Stock (32 oz): $14.11/6, so approx. $2.35 for 1

EARTH FARE:

• Applegate Pepperoni: $4.99
• Organic Whole Peeled Tomatoes: $1.89

TOTAL: $25.05

Approx. Cost per serving (2 servings for 4 meals): $3.13

Again, this reflected cost is actually even a high estimate because the receipt price doesn’t reflect the amount of each ingredient actually used. WOOP WOOP! Gotta love shopping smart! Clean eating CAN be affordable! 🙂

 

 

Baked Coconut Chicken Nuggets

One thing that I have really come to appreciate as I’ve matured into my mid-twenties is discovering my passions. Some have been slower to develop than others, but one passion that just feeds my soul is cooking. (Try telling me I’m not your punniest friend) It wasn’t until I moved to Baton Rouge that I really began to experiment with cooking and fell in love. Don’t get me wrong, Louisiana has some of the BEST food you’ll find in the U.S. of A., but when it comes to healthy eats it doesn’t quite take first place. As I became more aware of what I was putting into my body I realized I had the most control over my health in the kitchen. And so, I began to cook. I definitely have a long way to go, but I’ve been testing out my skills cooking for James (Shoutout to the best guinea pig er, husband out there) and he has yet to find a recipe that I’ve prepared that he doesn’t like. Say it with me, winning!

One of the very first recipes I prepared after we got engaged was this Baked Coconut Chicken recipe, adapted from paleodietmentor.

I’m a sucker for flavorful, but relatively simple paleo versions of some of my old favorites. This recipe fit the bill and has since become a staple in our house. Here is my James approved and 24 Day Challenge friendly version:

BAKED COCONUT CHICKEN NUGGETS

•  1lb. boneless, skinless, hormone-free Chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup almond flour/meal
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• *1/2 tsp paprika
• *1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 egg
• coconut oil
• cutting board
• pan/cookie sheet with foil

*Depending on my tastes for the day I will swap out the paprika for cinnamon as a fun/sweeter twist.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl or on a large plate combine almond flour, shredded coconut, paprika, sea salt, and black pepper.
3. In a separate bowl beat egg well.
4. Cut chicken breasts into 2 inch ‘nuggets’ then dip into bowl with egg until well coated.
5. Roll chicken nuggets into dry ingredient mixture, coating all sides evenly.
6. Coat pan with coconut oil, or lightly coat cookie sheet with coconut oil.
7. Place chicken on pan and bake for 25 minutes, watching for them to turn golden.

That’s about it! I serve these bad boys with honey, organic dijon mustard, or organic ketchup, but the sauce is up to you.

Enjoy!