Hello to a new chance to stay on plan!

The holidays are gone, but the junk food around my house still exists! So I am trying to balance eating right with a little bit of non-plan chocolate or sweet treats! The good news is I started exercising before Christmas and I have kept it up through the holidays and into the New Year! I am not a New Year’s Resolution kind of person, I truly just want to make healthy decisions all year long so this post won’t be all about my New Year’s resolutions, but I do have some goals for this year.

For those of you who don’t know I have started following and creating recipes for the Trim Healthy Mama Eating Plan. On this plan I have cut out a lot of sugar and gluten products from my diet and I lost about 7 pounds in 3 months. I know that is not a lot of weight but I also have never followed the plan 100% so imagine if you did! Imagine how wonderful you would feel. The basis of this plan is to eat every 4 hours and to eat meals that fit into certain categories. S meals are Satisfying meals and have higher amounts of fats and E meals are lean proteins with a carb source and you make sure to space these meals out (about 4 hours apart) to give your body a chance to digest each fuel type. This is a very, very basic explanation of the plan, if you would like to learn more about this plan join the or visit the Trim Healthy Mama Website for more information.

One of my goals this year to drink more smoothies in the morning even though its winter! Burr! I don’t love smoothies in cold weather, but I have found that if I exercise like I want to and drink a smoothie right after when my body is still warm, its not too bad. Why do I want to drink smoothies? I feel like I loose weight faster when I start the morning with a nutrient and protein rich smoothie paired with an on plan muffin (my favorite muffin is the Peanut Butter Cookie Muffin (page 371 of Trim Healthy Table cookbook) which is a FP and pairs with any breakfast) or piece of sprouted grain toast. This kick starts my metabolism and prepares my body for the day ahead. Smoothies also make a great breakfast to eat on the run! I have even started making smoothies for my husband the night before and he tells me they are still good in the morning.

My newest smoothie recipe is an Orange Strawberry Green Smoothie (recipe below). It’s so yummy and refreshing! I bet your wondering what the “green” is in the smoothie. Well it’s Frozen Okra! Yes, okra! The THM plan uses a lot of okra and I have found if used correctly you can’t even taste it, nor will anyone know its there if you don’t tell them. I don’t have all the ideas behind Okra researched myself, but its like putting spinach in your smoothie. It packs in a green vegetable that has lots of nutrients that your body needs and you can’t even tell that is there. I challenge you to use some okra this year. My husband I love the casserole recipes that use Laughing Cow Cheese and Okra to make creamy delicious sauces. (See this post for recipes I created with this type of sauce.) Okay back to the smoothie recipe you have been waiting for, I hope you enjoy it!

Orange Strawberry Green Smoothie

• 1-½ cups of Almond, Cashew or Alternative Milk of Choice

• ½ cup of Frozen Okra (hint on using Okra below)

• 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)

• 1 tablespoon Peanut Butter Powder (no or low sugar varieties)

• 1 tablespoon Vanilla/Plain/Strawberry Whey Isolate Protein Powder (tip below)

• 3-4 Whole Frozen Strawberries

• 2 small Satsuma’s/Madrins peeled or 1 large orange peeled (NO SEEDS)

• 1-3 Tablespoons Alternative Sweetener of Choice

Step 1: Pour milk and apple cider vinegar in blender and add frozen okra. To avoid your okra getting slimy blend these three ingredients right away until no green bits show.

Step 2: Add peanut butter powder, sweetener, peeled oranges and frozen strawberries. Blend until smooth.

Step 3: Add Protein Powder. We add this at the very end because if you blend whey protein powder for too long you smoothie double in volume because the more you blend whey protein powder it because very fluffy and foamy, doubling the size of your smoothie. If you like that consistency blend you protein powder as long as you wish.