Sweet and Spicy Tropical Smoothie

Hello everyone! Welcome to 2016!!!, from three years ago, until now :/. We wanted to pop in and give you new smoothie recipe from the January 2016 edition of Prevention Magazine. We think that this is one of the most delicious smoothies we have ever tried, well I do anyway. It is sweet and spicy at the same time and super creamy. The ginger and cayenne (what?!?) are said to rev up your calorie-burning ability. Under the "Smoothies" section in the magazine, pages 84-91, Khalil Hymore and Linda Pugliese have teamed up to create an eye catching and informative New Year's Resolutions smoothies combo pack! I hope you check out the magazine, it is really awesome.

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Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 2 tbsp lemon juice 
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 scoop whey protein powder (or any other plant-based protein powder)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• 2" piece fresh ginger
• 1 cup pineapple and/or mango
• 1 frozen banana (optional)

Directions: 

1. Wash, cut, and prep all produce.
2. Add all ingredients to a high power blender.
3. Blend and divide between 2 glasses. 
4. Enjoy :)

Nutrition (per serving);

280 cal, 11 g protein, 28 g carbs, 9 g fiber, 14 g sugars, 15.5 g fat, 2.5 g sat. fat, 91 mg sodium. 

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The spicy kick might not be for everyone but I love the flavors. I also love the new and improved Simple Green Smoothies website. We will try to get out some more healthy/vegan recipes soon!

Apple Pie Parfait

The title of this blog post is really attractive isn't it? :) Anyways this blog post will be about a recipe I whipped up while I was playing with my original Strawberry-Banana Parfait recipe the other night. It came along when I realized that I didn't have any more coconut milk to make the strawberry banana ice cream so I decided that I would try a brand new parfait that day, so here's what I did.....

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 1/2 Almond Milk 
• Pinch of Nutmeg
• 1/2 Teaspoon Chia Seeds
• 2 Pinches of Cinnamon
• 1 Apple
• 1 Tablespoon Blue Fig Agave or Honey
• 1/2 of a Banana
• 1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter (optional)
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extarct

Directions:

1. Mix your old fashioned oats, almond milk, nutmeg, chia seeds, cinnamon, agave, and vanilla extract into a fairly large bowl.
2. Funnel or scoop the well mixed mixture into jars or a bowl to sit overnight.
3. Use your apple cutter or knife to chop up your apple into very small pieces. (I do not recommend using a gala apple or any other relatively soft apples for this recipe.)
4. Pour the apples in your bowl or jar and cover with plastic wrap and place in your fridge overnight.
5. The next morning take out your overnight oats and slice the banana into thick pieces and pour the banana into your jar or bowl. (DO NOT PUT THE OTHER HALF OF YOUR BANANA IN THE FRIDGE- it will dry it out and bye the time you get home from work/school it will be brown.)
6. If you like you could scoop the peanut butter on top (I liked the taste of peanut butter, apples and banana but Colbie did not want to try it because she doesn't really like peanut butter. Either way it still tastes good. :)
7. Wah-lah, you are done | Enjoy!

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 * Sorry no fancy picture for this one because it looks really close to the Strawberry Banana Parfait. The picture above is from Yummly on "MyRecipes" page under this link. Let me know if you want to see mine and I won't be lazy and actually take a picture for you guys :)*

Swaddled Asparagus

Hello guys! Today I have a delicious treat, its asparagus wrapped in ham! My mom found this recipe on Pinterest and once we saw it we just had to try it out! So here we go!: 

Ingredients/Tools:

1. Thick Asparagus Spears
2. Sharp Knife or Kitchen Scissors
3. LandO'Frost's Smoked Ham (we just used this kind, but you don't have to. You could even use turkey if you like.)
4. Flat Toothpicks

Directions:

1. First preheat your oven to 400°F, then wash and dry your spears, tap water and a paper towel will do
2. Then use your scissors or knife to cut off the crown of your asparagus.
3. Now grab your ham and start to wrap each spear with a piece of ham. (I had to use two spears in each piece of ham because I accidentally bought my spears to small.)
4. Once your done wrapping you can chose two ways to secure your spear to the meat.
1. Use use the toothpick and push it straight through the spear.
2. Or use the toothpick and diagonally push it through the asparagus.
5. Your oven should be done by now so pop them in and set your timer to 12 minutes or until browned. Check them at about 6 minutes in to flip them.
6. Once done you can take them out let cool for about a minute or two. | Enjoy! ッ

 Credit to Kalyn's Kitchen on Pinterest.: