Berry Greenalicious Smoothie

Throw those nasty meal replacements in the garbage...that's what they are anyhow! They are loaded with artificial flavorings and sugars as well as synthetic vitamins that your body has a hard time digesting. My personal rule of thumb: If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it!

Here's a great alternative that is not only superior health wise but tastes good too!

Get our your blender and add the following:

1 cup yogurt or kefir
1/2 cup orange juice (not from concentrate)
1 cup frozen fruit (strawberries and blueberries are our favs)
1-3 tsp high quality whole food Greens powder (or throw in a handful of fresh spinach leaves)
1 TB Agave Nectar, optional
1-2 tsp ground flax seed, optional
1 scoop Whey Protein powder, optional

Blend together and enjoy! I make a blender full because even the kids beg for it.

Little To Big Blueberry Parfait

Put approximately 1 cup of plain or vanilla yogurt into 4-5 dishes, top each with a handful or two of fresh, antioxidant loaded blueberries. :)

Next, get out a heavy skillet. Put in 1 Tablespoon butter. Once melted, add 1 cup of rolled oats and 1/2 cup of slivered or sliced almonds. Stir constantly over medium heat until lightly browned.

Let cool slightly, if you wish, before adding to each parfait.

Yum! From Little to Big...Enjoy!
You might even forget about your apple-see 2nd pic. ;)

Pineapple Walnut Chicken Salad

Another one of my creations to 'use it up'. This is a quick, easy chicken salad that is tasty enough to take to a ladies luncheon.

Mix together in medium bowl:
2 cups shredded chicken
1 cup crushed pineapple
1 cup walnuts, chopped fine
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup plain, yogurt
salt and pepper to taste

optional: dried cranberries would be a wonderful addition (my sweetie doesn't like them, therefore I left them out this time)

Serve on a bed of lettuce or a slice of fresh bread.

Have you tried my Ultimate Chicken Salad yet?

Cucumber, Tomato & Corn Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

My generous neighbor brought over a bag of cucumbers before heading out of town for the 4th...yippee! I love yummy surprises. Since we had a party planned ourselves and I'd been wanting to try out GrammyGoo's delicious looking recipe anyway...I decided to get creative and use up what I had in my refrigerator. And, now that you know the story behind my latest creation I'll tell you how to prepare it.

Add to a large bowl:
4-6 cucumbers, peeled and sliced
2-3 tomatoes, cut up
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 of a medium red onion

Mix well after adding 1 cup Poppyseed Dressing. Allow to marinate for 2-3 hours before serving.

Quick & Easy, Fun Lunch

We try to avoid over processed, preservative filled, pre-packaged foods from the store. I'm sure you're wondering what in the world we eat then, right? So do I, sometimes!

Fresh fruit, boiled eggs, fresh veggies, cheese sticks with crackers, fresh bread, or tortillas is what we eat a lot of during the warm months. Here's what we had today!

Next time you make sloppy joes or spaghetti, save out about 1 1/2-2 cups of the sauce. We purchased the whole wheat mini bagels, shredded some cheese and that's all you need! I sprayed the pan with oil to avoid cheese drips sticking to the pan and preheated the broiler on the oven (you can use your toaster oven too).

Split the bagels in halves and lay on pan, spoon on about 2 TB leftover sauce, top with shredded cheese and place under broiler for a few minutes until bubbly and the cheese is lightly browned in spots.

Cut up an apple and banana, throw in a bowl with grapes and wa-lah a quick, nutritious lunch!