Strawberry Mango Smoothie

(Imagine a cute picture of my boys enjoying their smoothie outside. We got a new computer and well, I can't figure out how to get my pictures on it! I've contacted Canon and they say my camera isn't compatible. They did give me steps to get them downloaded but I've tried it and it doesn't work! Frustrating!)


My boys are very picky when it comes to smoothies. They do not like a strong banana or yogurt flavor in them. That is super weird since they like bananas and yogurt by themselves. Most smoothies call for bananas and yogurt so all recipes I've tried haven't gone over well! So, I set out to find some that didn't and this is one that I've altered from another I found online. The boys both loved it! It still has yogurt but not enough for them to turn their nose up!

Strawberry Mango Smoothie (serves 2)

1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup milk
1 TBS honey

Add all ingredients into blender and blend well. Since there is so much frozen fruit it took a while to get it going! If you were going to use fresh fruit you would need to add some ice and maybe less milk. This is a great way to get good fats into your kids by using whole milk and full fat yogurt! My yogurt was low fat (boo) but it was the only organic I could find at the store. I'm sure I will be using this recipe with different fruit combinations and maybe even trying to add some spinach to it.

Menu Plan Monday 2/27/12

Well, it's been a while! We've had some computer issues and have finally gotten them fixed and now I'm back to blogging! (I can't blog on the iPad and that's all I had for internet access!) Here is this weeks menu:

Breakfasts:
Favorite Pancakes (x2)
Strawberry Muffins (x2)
Cereal (x3)
Oatmeal or Breakfast Burritos (for me)
(all with yogurt/cheese and/or fruit)

Lunches:
Sandwiches (tuna, PB & J, grilled cheese) with carrots, peas and/or fruit
Salad or leftovers (for me)

Dinners:
Out with family
Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit
Church Plant Dinner
Marinated Grilled Chicken Salads w/ Homemade Ranch
French Dip Sandwiches, Steamed Broccoli
Chicken Fried Steak Strips (fried in refined coconut oil), Baked Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans
Leftover Night

Snacks:
Oranges, Bananas, Grapes, Apples, Pineapple
Ants on a log
Yogurt
Cheese and Crackers (splurged on some Kashi 7 Grain!)
Homemade Trail Mix (cranberries, cheerios, sunflower seeds and a few chocolate chips)
Carrots and Ranch Dressing

Sounds good to me! Check out Orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas!

Menu Plan Monday 2/6/12

Happy Monday!


Breakfasts:
Cereal (x3) (Rice Chex)
Strawberry Muffins w/ yogurt (no recipe yet, but my mom gave me a few bags of frozen strawberries so I'm going to figure something out!) (x2)
Cinnamon Toast w/ fruit or yogurt (x2)

Lunches:
PB&Js
Cheese Quesadillas
Leftovers

Dinners:
Spaghetti, Spinach Salad (can you believe that my boys will eat raw spinach leaves?!)
Southwestern Chicken and White Bean Soup, Tortilla Chips and Homemade Guacamole (I use the recipe linked as a guide, but I add double the beans, broth and taco seasoning.)  (x2)
Sloppy Joes, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Chicken Nuggets, Mac and Cheese, Green Peas
Tuna Sandwiches, Carrots w/ Ranch Dip/Fruit
Dinner out with family


Snacks and Sides:
Veggies for lunch: Carrots & Peas/Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrot
Fruit: Apples, Bananas, Clementines
Raisins
Yogurt
Cheese
Popcorn
Granola Bars


Tip for saving money while eating real food: We don't always eat fresh veggies because of the expense, so one of the things I do is stock up on frozen veggies when they go on sale. My boys favorite is the mix of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots mix and also peas and carrots. They also like corn, which I get at Winn Dixie because they carry organic frozen corn. But remember corn is a grain, so although they love it, we don't eat much of it!  I'll cook a bag of veggies at the first of the week and we'll eat on them for several days  that week at lunch. Later this week I'm going to try to give a break down of foods that I buy organic and others that I don't. It's not a very big list but it will be nice to lay it out to see (at least for me). And hopefully (prayerfully) I can look back on it in a year and see how much better we're eating. It's a journey!

Check out Orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas and have a great week!!

Taco Bake

This past weekend was "what's in the freezer and pantry that I can cook?" I could have made nachos... but well, I just wanted something different. And this is not really different at all. It's basically upside down nachos. But hey, anything to shake things up right? Here is the recipe:

Taco Bake

1 lb hamburger meat
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS taco seasoning mix
1 cup salsa
1 cup cheese
1 can black beans, drained (or any other type beans)
tortilla chips
black olives, jalepenos, sour cream

Cook hamburger meat, onions, and garlic together. Drain and add back to pan. Add taco seasoning, salsa and beans and heat through. Lay tortilla chips into 9x13 casserole and press down to break chips up a bit. Pour beef mixture over chips. Add olives or jalapenos if desired and then top with cheese. (we all know I added more than 1 c of cheese) Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with sour cream!

I used a can of white beans because that's what I had. I'm using up all of my canned beans and have bought several bags of dried beans. My plan is to have a "bean cooking day" and then freeze them in 2 cup increments. I've already done this once with white beans and pintos before. They are really easy to defrost! When cooking soup or chili you can just plop the whole 'brick' of frozen beans into the pot! If you're planning on eating them plain just add them to a saucepan with a little water and heat on low until they are defrosted, then turn up the heat and season. I did this a while back with pintos for bean and cheese burritoes. It's frugal, you know what you're putting in your beans and you're avoiding the BPA lining that is in canned goods!

FYI, Ziploc brand freezer bags are BPA free!