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30 Days of Snacks: Day 5 Mediterranean Mini Bell Peppers
Mediterranean Mini Bell Peppers
2 Mini Bell Peppers
4 Tbsp Hummus
4 Tsp Tabouli
Cut bell peppers in half long ways. Spoon 1 Tbsp Hummus in each half, then top with 1 Tsp of Tabouli. We made these for our dear friends and they turned out to be a hit, which means these make a great personal snack or a party appetizer – just multiply the amounts to fit the guest lists! Enjoy!
Nutrition value based on MyFitnessPal.com {4 mini bell pepper halves}:
Let me know what you think of this snack by commenting below. AND if you are eating this up, why not sign up for my newsletter for email updates, special offers and more tips!
30 Days of Snacks: Day 4 Frozen Chocolate Banana
Frozen Chocolate Bananas
1 Medium Banana
1/3 Dark Chocolate bar of choice {33 g}
Cut banana in quarters, put a toothpick or skewer stick in them, put in a ziploc baggie and freeze overnight. Melt dark chocolate with a splash of coconut oil or olive oil and microwave until melted {or melt on a double boiler}. dip frozen bananas in the chocolate. We used a dark chocolate with cranberries and oranges so there was an crunchier texture – use whatever DARK chocolate you like so you get the health benefits of dark chocolate {not Milk Chocolate}.
This was a really fun family affair and I encourage you all to get the kids involved. They will be much more inclined to try something they helped make and they have a lot of fun doing it! Now you tell me this kiddo isn’t super excited about our creation! Even my dear friend, Molly, who isn’t a dark chocolate fan, enjoyed it! This is one you’ll want to share since it’s a higher calorie snack.
Nutrition value based on MyFitnessPal.com {split this with a friend and it’ll be a 150 calorie snack}:
30 Days of Snacks: Day 3 Zucchini Pizza Bites
Zucchini Pizza Bites
1 Zucchini
1/4 C Pizza Sauce
1/4 C Mozzarella Cheese
Preheat oven to 350 and spray cookie sheet with olive oil or nonstick spray. Cut Zucchini into 1/4 in rounds, place on cookie sheet. Top each round with 1 tsp of pizza sauce and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. Bake until cheese is melted {about 4-5 minutes}. I don’t eat cheese, so my husband the cheese lover was the taster – he tried these hot and cold and loved them!
Nutrition value based on MyFitnessPal.com:
Let me know what you think of this snack by commenting below. AND if you are eating this up, why not sign up for my newsletter for email updates, special offers and more tips!
30 Days of Snacks: Day 2 Cucumber Boats
Cucumber Boats
1/4 Lg English Cucumber
1 String Cheese Stick {we used Horizon Organic Mozzarella String Cheese}
2 Slices of Deli Turkey
Pepper to taste
Cut 1/4 English Cucumber in half long ways and remove the seeds with a melon baller. Split string cheese in half long ways and add to the center of the cucumber. Top each boat with 1 piece of Deli Turkey {we used peppercorn turkey}. Finish it off with a splash of crushed pepper to taste. This was yummy and even my son got into it AND loved it! You can keep the skin on if you like it or remove it – we ended up removing part of the skin.
Nutrition value based on MyFitnessPal.com:
Let me know what you think of this snack by commenting below. AND if you are eating this up, why not sign up for my newsletter for email updates, special offers and more tips!
30 Days of Snacks: Day 1 Ezekiel Toast & Avocado
Ezekiel Toast with Avocado
1 slice of Ezekiel Bread {we use the low sodium version}
1/2 small avocado
pepper to taste
Toast the bread an top it with 1/2 a small avocado and sprinkle with pepper. That’s all there is to it – except to enjoy!
Nutrition value based on MyFitnessPal.com:
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Easy Peasy Pizza Sauce
This is the easiest, tastiest pizza sauce {if I don’t say so myself}:
Easy Peasy Pizza Sauce
1 can organic Tomato Sauce
1 can organic Tomato Paste
1/2 T Garlic Powder {or fresh garlic}
1 T dried Basil
1 T dried Oregano
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and voila – you are done! This sauce freezes very well.
Let me know what you think of this snack by commenting below, tweeting, pinning or sharing on facebook. AND if you are eating this up, why not sign up for my newsletter for email updates, special offers and more tips!
Tips for Eating “Green”
Did you know the food choices you make and the way you shop for, prepare, and serve food can negatively impact the environment? Well, that is absolutely true—and it is becoming increasingly important that we all help our environment in every way we can. Here are some great “eating green” tips to help you get started.
Go Vegetarian at least once a week. And this is NOT because we are vegetarians {we do love our Texas BBQ}, but because the cost to the environment is far greater than the cost to produce vegetarian protein foods such as vegetables, beans, soybeans, legumes, etc.
Make a shopping list. Take inventory of everything you need for preparing healthy meals before you head to the grocery store, farmers market or Whole Foods/Trader Joe’s. This will prevent multiple trips back and forth to the store. You’ll save on fuel, help reduce gasoline emissions, and save wear and tear on your car.
Grab your re-usable bags. Neither paper nor plastic bags are a good choice for the environment. It takes gallons of crude oil to make plastic bags, and many trees are sacrificed to make paper bags. Invest in reusable canvas shopping bags—and be sure that you bring them with you! You can also get fruit and veggie bags that are reusable – we love them!
Au Revour Plastic Bottles. Americans buy billions of plastic water bottles every year, and every year tons of these empty bottles get thrown in the trash. Break the habit—use a neoprene bottle instead and consider a water-filtering system for use at home.
Buy local and organic – hit up those local farmers markets. Buying locally grown foods cuts down on the environmental costs associated with transporting produce to your community from great distances. In the summer months, farmer’s markets are the ideal place to buy local produce, but certain grocery store chains actually feature local produce! Try to choose organic produce whenever possible as this is an excellent way to reduce exposure to pesticides and help reduce the runoff and pollutants that may contaminate our water, soil, and air. We are huge fans of farmers markets and are committed to buying organic whenever possible {especially the dirty dozen}.
Be an efficient kitchen ninja. Save energy and speed up cooking times by covering pots. When it’s time to clean up, make sure the dishwasher is “full” before you run it. If you have a small number of dirty dishes, think about doing them the old-fashioned “by hand” way, without constantly running the water {meaning fill up the sink}, and be sure to use a biodegradable dish detergent.
What’s in your fridge?
I get asked all the time, “Do you really buy and eat that produce in all your pictures?” The answer is YES! We do! And we’ve become super efficient about eating it all and not wasting anything. I don’t know about you, but we used to go to the grocery store and just buy food, which means a lot of impulse purchasing and wasteful spending. Then in about a week and right before we do another grocery store run, we’d clear out the fridge. We were always pretty amazed at how much food we didn’t eat and how much was rotten and had to be thrown away. What a waste!
We decided a couple years ago to go on the Dave Ramsey all cash program. Basically, you don’t buy it unless you have the cash. And I don’t mean cash in the bank or on the credit card. I mean cold hard paper and coin cash, envelope style. I won’t bore you with all the ins and outs of the envelope program that Ramsey promotes, but suffice it to say, it freaking works! If you want to be debt free, I suggest you take a look. So, we allot $400 a month for food for a family of 3 {albeit a 4 year old who doesn’t eat too much, but starting to eat more and more}. I am adamant about eating organic as much as possible, not so much because the nutritional value is higher {it might be, but who really knows}, but the main reason is that I don’t want the extra chemicals on my food, nor do I want to consume genetically modified food {GMO}. With this in mind and my budget, we have had to plan and become more efficient in our purchasing power. We purchase organic chicken and meats from Costco in bulk and freeze once a month. Then, I usually plan the weekly menus on Friday night and buy what we need for those meals. No crazy impulse purchases! Often times, I just show up at the local farmers market and buy a few things that are unique or look yummy at the time. This week I got some bib lettuce so I can make some healthy lettuce wraps or perhaps some tacos using the bib lettuce rather than a tortilla {ya 140 calories saved right there}. I also got some purple cabbage and kale for yummy green smoothies! Nothing like drinking your veggies.
So back to my fridge! Here is what I got at the farmers market today:
And here is my fridge after I made some grab and go snacks {hard boiled eggs whites, hummus, yogurt, etc}, washed and put away all the produce.
And just to prove this really is how my fridge looks at any given time here is a photo I took a week or so ago because Nicholas was helping me around the kitchen!
I know it pretty much looks the same. We can be incredibly boring with what we buy, but I have to say that we’ve become incredibly creative about not getting bored with the menu items. So while a lot of the food is the same, we don’t eat the same thing all the time….sheesh…give us more credit than that, will ya? 🙂
And now for shits and giggles, here is my pantry…I know, I know, I am crazy organized – it’s just my nature!!!
We pretty much always have a good supply of healthy grab and go snacks and it makes life so much easier if it’s all organized. Nicholas has his own bucket of snacks and I love it when he just goes in the pantry and gets a healthy snack. Believe it or not, his two favorite snacks are the Shaklee 180 Lemon Cranberry bars and Nori Chips! Crazy….takes after his mommy on those – his daddy won’t touch either with a ten foot pole! More for us, I say…
So there you have it! We do buy and eat those fruits and veggies I post. And we do it on a budget!
As a side note and to be fair, our food budget might be less than some others because we don’t buy cleaning products or personal care products from the grocery store. WHAT? You might be thinking, “Gross, you don’t clean your house or bathe?” No, that’s not the case at all. We actually save a lot of money on cleaning products by purchasing the Shaklee Cleaners – not to mention we share the Shaklee products with friends, who also save $ and in turn we get a bonus check which pays for our products {cleaners, personal care products, Shaklee 180 and all our vitamins and protein shakes} – this really helps with the budget ALOT! Does your grocery store pay you to refer your friends? Nope, mine neither, but Shaklee does. I won’t go on and on about this, but if you want to save money on your grocery bills, then let me know and I will help you all the way!
Happy organic, healthy & clean eating my friends!
Spicy Ginger Pulled Pork
We served this spicy pulled pork over Ezekiel English Muffins….yummers!
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