This is a great make-it-ahead, freeze it, on-the-go sort of breakfast shake. You can also divide it in half, freeze and it as a snack.
I also have a quirky variation… to include a little fiber, add several Shredded Wheat pieces (like the boxed cereal you find at the grocery store). This sounds odd but it gives it a little more texture. I actually think that combined with the peanut butter taste and the foaminess from just being blended; the shredded wheat mimics the test of malt in chocolate in milkshakes. I’ll eat a “Peanut butter malted milk shake for breakfast” anyday of the week!
Peanut Butter Split Smoothie
Time 15 minutes or les
Serving size: 1
Ingredients:
1 Ripe banana (both fresh or frozen chunks work equally well)
½ cup nonfat milk
¼ cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 ½ tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter
Put all of the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
*Calories per serving: 325
Total fat 12.5 G
Mono 0 G
Poly o G Sat 13.5 G
Protein 13.5
Fiber 4.5 G
Chol: 3 MG
An excellent source of: Calium and Fiber, Protein, Vit B6, and Vit C
A good source of : Manganese, Potassium, Vit A, Vit D
* This calorie amount does not include adding shredded wheat or any other add-in.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Writing Bits
I received some kind compliments regarding my post, “Days Like Threads,” and lest anyone think my writing scraps are 100% deep and brilliant let me show you a silly piece of writing that sailed through my head this morning as I drove to school. The inspiration for this work came from last night when my head was dizzy whenever it was on a vertical plane, my forehead sweaty, and my nose was runny. Did I mention that the final draft of my reaction paper was due in several hours? My dear sister told me to “go lay on the couch” and let her type the rest of my paper up! What a chum. What a dear (and no, she is not up for trading. Yeah, yeah, I am sure your sister is nice too, but I want to keep this one!)
To be sung to Jingle Bells (make sure you sing it with an upbeat before the first line. It begins at the "Dashing through the snow" part).
Anne….
On the 3rd week of Fall school.
I had a paper due.
It needed lots of work
So I gave it then to you.
With patience plentiful
You read, re-read, revised.
You even typed it up for me so I could spare my eyes!!
Ohh…Chorus anyone….?
Reason # 156 why NOT to live in dorm…..because a room-mate would NEVER offer to type your research paper for you the night it was due.
Thank you again Anne a MILLION times over!!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Days Like Threads
Saturday felt like it got started on the wrong foot. The following is an excerpt from my journal.
October 17th, 2009
Do you ever have notion that days are like threads?
Some days are silky smooth.. On these days all the things I had hoped to complete were finished before dinner: the research paper written, the weeds picked, and the car washed.
Other days slip passed the way silk strands glide through my pressed-together fingers. Their passing is almost indiscernible. No disaster, no exquisite joy is felt.
An then there are the days that feel like the thread itself has untwisted and loosened itself, becoming a frazzely, ravelly mess. It is not even the fact that I can’t get the “to dos” on my list done, it is the fact that I can not even find my “to do” list!
My cars keys are lost in the bottom of my purse instead of being found on the hook in the cupboard.
Clean laundry from 2 days past lies crumpled in its basket…on the floor of a bedroom that must be cleaned…only after the sheets are put on the bed and the desk and floor tidied.
The vacuum’s cord unwinds, trailing down the hallway like my nerves—long, stretched, and taut.
The internet threatens to fail and the research articles for my school paper look as though they will run off and elope with my car keys.
And it isn’t just MY day that feels unraveled, my loved ones “mishaps” collide with my own—the same way Mom and I step into each other’s path in the kitchen.
Thus our frazzled ends intertwine and loop into an orb-like webbing; like a yarn ball. We each try our hand plucking away at the confusion, but we just foozle ourselves more.
That is when I turn to the Great Weaver who I have neglected to think about until now. He can re-twist the ends I have splayed. He knows the pattern in which my thread should be woven.
“Behold the handmaiden of the Lord. May it be to me according to your word…my soul magnifies the Lord.”
Luke : 38, 46a
Copyright 2009
October 17th, 2009
Do you ever have notion that days are like threads?
Some days are silky smooth.. On these days all the things I had hoped to complete were finished before dinner: the research paper written, the weeds picked, and the car washed.
Other days slip passed the way silk strands glide through my pressed-together fingers. Their passing is almost indiscernible. No disaster, no exquisite joy is felt.
An then there are the days that feel like the thread itself has untwisted and loosened itself, becoming a frazzely, ravelly mess. It is not even the fact that I can’t get the “to dos” on my list done, it is the fact that I can not even find my “to do” list!
My cars keys are lost in the bottom of my purse instead of being found on the hook in the cupboard.
Clean laundry from 2 days past lies crumpled in its basket…on the floor of a bedroom that must be cleaned…only after the sheets are put on the bed and the desk and floor tidied.
The vacuum’s cord unwinds, trailing down the hallway like my nerves—long, stretched, and taut.
The internet threatens to fail and the research articles for my school paper look as though they will run off and elope with my car keys.
And it isn’t just MY day that feels unraveled, my loved ones “mishaps” collide with my own—the same way Mom and I step into each other’s path in the kitchen.
Thus our frazzled ends intertwine and loop into an orb-like webbing; like a yarn ball. We each try our hand plucking away at the confusion, but we just foozle ourselves more.
That is when I turn to the Great Weaver who I have neglected to think about until now. He can re-twist the ends I have splayed. He knows the pattern in which my thread should be woven.
“Behold the handmaiden of the Lord. May it be to me according to your word…my soul magnifies the Lord.”
Luke : 38, 46a
Copyright 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
My days
I haven’t blogged much (not even to share my vacation pictures from weeks ago. EEK), because I have been one busy girl. School has started, and God has been so gracious in uncountable ways. He has given me strength, wisdom, new aquaintences, and even a new class right when I needed it!
What today looked like…
~6:00 am Rise and Shine (at least I tried anyhow!)
~ 6:40ish am Devotions
~ 7:20 am Bike Ride
~ 10:am Leave for School and Study until Noon
~ Noon eat lunch and attended AG club ice cream social! Yeah baby! Chat with student mentor
~ 1:15- 2:20 pm Study
~3:00pm – 5:00pm Food Safety and Current Events class. (Bum hurts while I sit at desk. Ouch… the reality of my 9.72 mile morning ride sinks in!)
~ 5:30pm dinner with Sis at Panera bread (Fuji Apple salad is my favorite!)
~7:00pm Home at last! Get breakfast/lunch/snack ready for Wed.
~ 7:45 pm Study
What today looked like…
~6:00 am Rise and Shine (at least I tried anyhow!)
~ 6:40ish am Devotions
~ 7:20 am Bike Ride
~ 10:am Leave for School and Study until Noon
~ Noon eat lunch and attended AG club ice cream social! Yeah baby! Chat with student mentor
~ 1:15- 2:20 pm Study
~3:00pm – 5:00pm Food Safety and Current Events class. (Bum hurts while I sit at desk. Ouch… the reality of my 9.72 mile morning ride sinks in!)
~ 5:30pm dinner with Sis at Panera bread (Fuji Apple salad is my favorite!)
~7:00pm Home at last! Get breakfast/lunch/snack ready for Wed.
~ 7:45 pm Study
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A Six-Book Summer
Seeing as this is the first day of Fall (in addition to the fact that the school quarter begins this Thursday), I reckon it is appropriate to take a glance backward at this summer's reading list! Thanks mostly to the Playaways that my library have, I consumed 6 books , totaling up to almost 100 hours of literature! The books I read were:
Anne Of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Vern
Ever by Gail Carson Levine
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (This baby was 39.5 hours to listen to and it took me approx. 6 weeks!)
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington.
As you can see, a wide range of genres were represented here. When I read, I want to discover something; it may be from the actual information written in the text, it may be from the writers' style. One thing that I have discovered is that the older I get the more I appreciate books. I guess there is one good thing about getting old, and that is there are more opportunities to read!
My newly acquired maxim...always be reading something!
Anne Of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Vern
Ever by Gail Carson Levine
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (This baby was 39.5 hours to listen to and it took me approx. 6 weeks!)
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington.
As you can see, a wide range of genres were represented here. When I read, I want to discover something; it may be from the actual information written in the text, it may be from the writers' style. One thing that I have discovered is that the older I get the more I appreciate books. I guess there is one good thing about getting old, and that is there are more opportunities to read!
My newly acquired maxim...always be reading something!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Juice Em Up!
Last week I worked hard for two hours doing yard work for some friends who have a rather spacious, hilly yard with horse poperty. These friends also happen to have an abundance of oranges that will simply rot if left any longer. When finished with my work I filled 1/3 of a 5 gallon bucket with oranges. So under the spreading orange tree I crawled, hazarding orange thorns and dead twigs left on their branches with the soul propose of impaling my arms and face! I filled 1/3 of a 5 gallon bucket with these very squishy, golden globes! At home I washed, cut and sqeeeeezzzzzed. It was the easiest juice I have ever made! It was pretty too; the blood oranges casting a light, pink lemonade hue.
Just strain and pour...
..and sip! Delish!
Just strain and pour.....and sip! Delish! Friday, September 11, 2009
Food Fact Fridays--The Goodness of Grains
While I have not yet completely my training as a Registered Dietitian (truthfully I have hardly begun it), I must admit that I have already developed “food Peeves." These peeves are actually related to the misconceptions about certain foods. One such peeve is the low carb diet that mentally stamps the word “BAD” over so many foods that can offer us an important ingredients to good health—whole grains.
In brief some of the benefits of whole grains:
· Fiber (you sooo knew that was comming didn't ya?)There are two kinds; soluble and insoluble. The first actually binds with the bile in our intestines and carries it out with our waste. This means that the cholesterol your body produced to digest the fats you ate will not be reabsorbed from your small intestines. The second kind of fiber, insoluble, simply adds bulk to your stool, giving you the necessary workout that is so vital to colon health.
· Phytochemicals. A bit of a buzz word that simply refers to the disease fighting chemicals inherent in the plant’s chemistry (ie. the red in a tomato’s skin) that pass on their benefit to us.
· Vitamins like E and the B set
· Minerals like copper and iron
How Much Do You Need?
The exact amount of whole grains per days depends on you r daily caloric needs; however, a good estimate is about 3 per day.
So what sorts of changes can you make?
Just changing a few of you purchasing habits can make a huge difference. Ellie Krieger, the Food Network’s official RD stated that experiencing the goodness of grains “is easier than it sounds...[ s]imply switching to 100 percent whole-wheat bread and starting your day with a whole-grain cereal will easily put you in the recommended range of three daily servings. To take it a step further, serve brown rice at dinner, make whole-wheat pasta, try whole-wheat couscous, and explore exotic grains like bulgur and quinoa. Choose corn tortillas and snack on baked corn chips or low-fat popcorn — all are whole grain.”
This is the perfect place to insert a little “buyer-beware” note. There is a difference in “whole wheat bread” and “Multi-Grain bread.” Lorna Sass in her book Whole Grains, Everyday, Every Way (see this post for my review) advices shoppers that although a product like bread may have incorporated more than one kind of flour (multi-grain) , it does not mean it contains either the bran or endosperm, the two primary nutrient powerhouses of wheat (whole grain). An easy way to pick out this difference is by looking for the whole grain stamp, special stamp that many companies use to identify their products that are truly whole grain. The Whole Grain Council developed this stamp and lots of insightful information on their website here.
Also …a special note to those with some sort of gluten intolerance… you can still have whole grains….check this resource out!
In Conclusion
I honestly thought I did ok in the area of whole grains until I did a nutritional analysis on myself earlier this year and found that I consumed 2x as much protein as was recommended and less than half of the desired amount of whole grains. It felt weird at first, but I gradually began to incorporate more whole grains in when I could. This was was a little tricky because my family a very much the meat-eater types, with proteins dominating every meal. So I changed up my breakfast a snack routine to incorporate what I could. Contrary to what the low-carb dieters might think, I did not gain a ton of weight. (In actuality, I have lost 4 pounds partly because of this dietary change and partly because of my new exercise routine.)
So do me a favor and just try to add the goodness of grains into your everyday.
In brief some of the benefits of whole grains:
· Fiber (you sooo knew that was comming didn't ya?)There are two kinds; soluble and insoluble. The first actually binds with the bile in our intestines and carries it out with our waste. This means that the cholesterol your body produced to digest the fats you ate will not be reabsorbed from your small intestines. The second kind of fiber, insoluble, simply adds bulk to your stool, giving you the necessary workout that is so vital to colon health.
· Phytochemicals. A bit of a buzz word that simply refers to the disease fighting chemicals inherent in the plant’s chemistry (ie. the red in a tomato’s skin) that pass on their benefit to us.
· Vitamins like E and the B set
· Minerals like copper and iron
How Much Do You Need?
The exact amount of whole grains per days depends on you r daily caloric needs; however, a good estimate is about 3 per day.
So what sorts of changes can you make?
Just changing a few of you purchasing habits can make a huge difference. Ellie Krieger, the Food Network’s official RD stated that experiencing the goodness of grains “is easier than it sounds...[ s]imply switching to 100 percent whole-wheat bread and starting your day with a whole-grain cereal will easily put you in the recommended range of three daily servings. To take it a step further, serve brown rice at dinner, make whole-wheat pasta, try whole-wheat couscous, and explore exotic grains like bulgur and quinoa. Choose corn tortillas and snack on baked corn chips or low-fat popcorn — all are whole grain.”
This is the perfect place to insert a little “buyer-beware” note. There is a difference in “whole wheat bread” and “Multi-Grain bread.” Lorna Sass in her book Whole Grains, Everyday, Every Way (see this post for my review) advices shoppers that although a product like bread may have incorporated more than one kind of flour (multi-grain) , it does not mean it contains either the bran or endosperm, the two primary nutrient powerhouses of wheat (whole grain). An easy way to pick out this difference is by looking for the whole grain stamp, special stamp that many companies use to identify their products that are truly whole grain. The Whole Grain Council developed this stamp and lots of insightful information on their website here.
Also …a special note to those with some sort of gluten intolerance… you can still have whole grains….check this resource out!
In Conclusion
I honestly thought I did ok in the area of whole grains until I did a nutritional analysis on myself earlier this year and found that I consumed 2x as much protein as was recommended and less than half of the desired amount of whole grains. It felt weird at first, but I gradually began to incorporate more whole grains in when I could. This was was a little tricky because my family a very much the meat-eater types, with proteins dominating every meal. So I changed up my breakfast a snack routine to incorporate what I could. Contrary to what the low-carb dieters might think, I did not gain a ton of weight. (In actuality, I have lost 4 pounds partly because of this dietary change and partly because of my new exercise routine.)
So do me a favor and just try to add the goodness of grains into your everyday.
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