Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Shake

I decided to pull out my wonderful magic bullet one more time to try out a new concoction. This recipe is now placed on my favorite dishes list. It tastes just like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, without all of the guilt.

I began by slicing and freezing two bananas. These should freeze for about 15-30 minutes. After the bananas had time to fully freeze, I threw them into the blender first.

I followed the bananas with ¾ cup of almond milk, ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, ¼ cup of oats, and a handful of chocolate chips. Throwing in dark chocolate chips would make this drink even healthier, but all I had on hand was milk chocolate.

Once all of the ingredients were in place, I began to blend. It is possible that more milk will need to be added, but it is all based on the consumer’s preference.

I then blended the drink until smooth, and voilà! Instant oatmeal chocolate chip cookie in a cup!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Let me start today by giving everyone a little word of wisdom from me. Buying a personal blender is one of the best decisions a person can make when trying to clean up their eating habits. I chose to purchase the Magic Bullet Blender for my self.

These blenders are perfect for a quick breakfast or easy snack between meals. By always keeping some fresh fruit on hand, you will be ready to go at a moments notice.

For my smoothie of the day, I decided to use some of my fresh fruit I had lying around the apartment that was close to going bad. 2 Bananas, 7 Strawberries, 8 spoonfuls of Greek Yogurt and a handful ice is all that was needed to create this masterpiece.

I started by tossing in a handful of ice and thinly slicing two bananas on top. I then proceeded to scoop in my greek yogurt until I felt it would yield the consistency I wanted (about 8 spoonfuls).

Because my blender is small, by this point it was getting pretty full. This is no problem, I just screwed on the cap and blended the current ingredients until smooth. This created more room for me to add in my chopped strawberries and blend once again.

I continued to blend until the mixture was smooth, and voila! A quick, easy, healthy and delicious smoothie for any occasion!

 

Asparagus Pasta

For today’s meal I decided to peruse the Pinterest world. As most people know, this could easily turn into a two-hour study break. Luckily I was able to find an appealing recipe fairly quickly and get the ball rolling.

         The recipe I followed and am going to share with you all was originally posted on Skinnytaste.com. This site has tons of great healthy recipes!

For this dish, I began by boiling a half pound of asparagus  in a large pot until crispy. I then strained the asparagus, but kept a cup of the water.

Next, I began to boil half a box of whole wheat thin spaghetti in a large pot while sautéing the asparagus with 3 cloves of garlic and roughly a tablespoon of EVOO until the garlic turned golden.

Then I began to form the sauce for the pasta. I combined one egg yolk, a few large shakes of parmesan cheese, half a cup of the asparagus liquid, and a little salt and pepper to taste.

To finish it off, I strained the pasta and poured in the sauce mixture, followed by the sautéed asparagus. I mixed all of the ingredients together and allowed them to sit on low for about 2 minutes before serving.

I hope everyone enjoys this new recipe, and maybe even gives it a try themselves. You will not be disappointed!

Stay tuned for more yummy dished!

Back Again!

English: Fruit stall in a market in Barcelona, Spain. Français : Étal de fruits dans un marché à Barcelone (Espagne). Deutsch: Obststand auf einem Markt in Barcelona, Spanien. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hello again readers! It has been quite a while since I posted on here, so I figured I would take the first blog of the semester to describe the direction I will be taking my blog, and also to catch you up on a little bit of what has been going on over the last few months.

This summer flew by before I even had time to blink an eye. I spent a majority of my short summer taking online classes, working, and assistant coaching for my old high school cheerleading team. It was fairly uneventful, but the time off was very much-needed.

In coming back to SIUE this fall, I enrolled in SPC 313, a Public Relations writing course. One of the requirements for this course is continued weekly postings in this blog. I enjoyed this assignment last semester, and am looking forward to it again this semester.

This time around I decided to take a different approach to my postings. For the duration of this semester I plan on posting recipes for my weekly blog. I have set a personal goal for myself of cooking at least one healthy dinner a week. As I prepare these meals I will be documenting the preparation steps as well as taking pictures of the things that I prepare and sharing them with my readers.

I hope that all of my readers enjoy the changes I will be attempting to make in my blog this semester. Also, to my fellow bloggers, good luck and happy blogging!

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