The best monster smoothie in all the land

I have one of these smoothies every morning and they are soooooo good!!!

 What you'll need:

• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter (check the ingredients!! a lot of natural peanut butters out there have sugar added! you want some that's only peanuts and MAYBE a little bit of salt)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (plain or vanilla)
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt (i just use an entire individual cup)
• lots of spinach (i usually use about 2 giant handfuls)
• and a blender! i'm using my handy dandy Ninja that I got as a gift at my bridal shower a few weeks ago! i absolutely looooove it!

 and then blend it all up!

now time to enjoy the healthy deliciousness that is this smoothie!!

Staying healthy while traveling

As some of you may know, I travel almost weekly to North Carolina for work. It's taken me a while to get a handle on how to stay healthy while traveling, so I thought I'd share some of my tips and tricks to you guys!

While in the airport, I picked up a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit from Popeyes which I removed the biscuit from to cut down on the calories and carbs. It was quite delightful! And on the side, a cup of iced coconut pu-erh tea! Yummmm

For a snack on the plane, I got a small little pack of lightly salted peanuts and a cup of orange juice. I always get orange juice while traveling to help out my immune system. Lord only knows all the germs I come in contact with in the airport and on planes! HAHA

When I got to North Carolina, I stopped at Subway and grabbed a grilled chicken and spinach salad with shredded cheese, a little bit of Chipotle dressing, and pickles! I swear to you, this was the best salad I have ever had, and I think the pickles had a lot to do with it! Sooooo good!!

Many restaurants these days offer lighter choices or meals under X amount of calories, which I find to be extremely convenient! I picked up the lighter choice grilled salmon from Chilis, which was greatness! The rice sucked and the broccoli was too crunchy for my taste, so I just ate the salmon, but it was very good! Another great lighter choice option from Chilis is the Santa Fe Chicken Wrap, yummmmo!
If I am in a hurry and have to run through a drive through, I almost always order grilled chicken sandwich without the bun. I've never had any problem ordering it anywhere before! And most places won't charge you for the full sandwich!

The hotel I stay at does not offer the best options for snackage, so I picked up a pack of trail mix, which I ended up only eating the nuts because the dried fruit had added sugar. Or another good option is popcorn, and just have a small portion. I really love popcorn and have to have strong will power to not eat the entire bag...especially when there isn't anyone there to judge me! HAHA

Also, make sure to utilize the work out facilities provided by most hotels! I was able to get in 30 minutes on the treadmill and work on my bat wings in the hotel work out room all by myself!

The hotel usually has some pretty good breakfast options, always including a plethora of pastries and waffles, yogurts, boiled eggs, and cereals. And then depending on the day, they have sausage or bacon, or scrambled eggs, or omelets. I'm really weird about eating scrambled eggs made by someone else, so I opted for 2 pieces of bacon and a boiled egg.

Mixed it all up, and it was quite tasty!!

Ready to head back to Texas! Drinking an iced white tea while on the way to the airport.

What are some of your healthy traveling tips??

Monday munchies

Hello lovelies! I wanted to share with you guys my eats from today and what I picked up at the grocery store!

Breakfast: 

• 16 oz. coconut pu-erh tea. 

Lunch:

• Salad with baby spinach, rainbow slaw (shredded broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and red cabbage), feta crumbles, canned tuna, and roasted garlic hummus
• 16 oz. pineapple guava white tea

Snack:

• 1/2 cup popcorn with I can't believe it's not butter spray and sea salt

Supper:

• 7 pieces of shrimp scampi with broccoli pieces tossed with smart taste spaghetti sprinkled with parmesan cheese

First I boiled my water and set my noodles aside. While those cooked, I put a little water in my pan and put in my broccoli pieces. I let those steam for about five minutes and then added my shrimp

After the noodles had sat in the water for 10 minutes, I added them to the pan for a minute or two

And then I sprinkled with some parmesan cheese and dug in. It was soooooo good!!

• 8 oz. dandelion root tea

Dessert: 

•  A few pieces of watermelon and some grapes

• 8 oz. cinnamon tea

Jersey had a piece of watermelon for dessert too!

I also picked up a few things from the grocery store!

• Mrs. Baird's sugar free whole grain wheat bread. This is more for my hubby, but I'll have a slice every once in a while
• Bag of baby spinach
• Two bags of rainbow slaw (shredded broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and red cabbage)
• Naturally Preferred shiitake mushroom and sesame dressing. This brand and Annie's were the ONLY brands I could find that didn't have sugar in their dressing!
• Tyson canned chicken breast
• Canned dark red kidney beans
• 4 avocado
• 2 lemons
• Eggland's Best eggs
• Daisy 4% milkfat cottage cheese
• Women's World and First, my favorite magazines!

Also, I wanted to share with you guys something I find interesting. I always read ingredients before I buy anything and I usually buy off brand items. However, the ingredients in the Kroger brand 4% milkfat cottage cheese are completely different than the Daisy brand 4% milkfat cottage cheese. The ingredients in the Kroger brand are cultured skim milk, cultured cream, whey, salt, maltodextrin, citric acid, carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, cultured dextrose, and sorbic acid whereas the ingredients in the Daisy brand are cultured skim milk, milk, cream, and salt.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Monday!

Freezer, fridge, and pantry essentials

 Here are some things that are almost always in my fridge, freezer, or pantry!

 

Fridge:

• Cauliflower (to make mashed cauliflower yummmm)
• I can't believe it's not butter spray
• Variety of fruits (usually mostly strawberries, pineapple, and bananas - which go on the counter)
• Variety of cheese (shown here: Frigo parmesan, feta crumbles, shredded mozzarella, and extra sharp cheddar)
• Boar's Head pepperoni
• Sabra hummus
• Promise butter
• Pickled okra (omg yummmmm)
• Baby spinach (not shown)
• Daisy 4% cottage cheese (not shown)
• Eggs (not shown)
• Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk (not shown)

Freezer:

• Variety of frozen veggies (shown here: broccoli and brussel sprouts)
• Morning Star "chicken" patties (these are delish!)
• Frozen edamame
• Frozen chicken breasts and fish (not shown)
• Preserved avocado with lemon juice (not shown) 

Pantry:

• Tomato sauce
• Variety of canned veggies (usually italian cut green beans, corn, tomatoes, and a variety of beans)
• Truvia packets
• Fiber One original
• Canned tuna
• Krema peanut butter (peanuts are the ONLY ingredient)
• Bruscetta
• Mission carb balance tortillas
• Individual boxes of raisins
• Pecans pieces (mix with raisins for a delicious snack!)
• Variety of protein bars
• Teas (pu-erh, white, cinnamon, and dandelion) 
• Popcorn kernals (to make popcorn in brown paper bag yummmm)

What are some of your essentials??

Dr. Oz teas

I recently read an article in Women's World (one of my most favorite magazines) about teas that Dr. Oz recommends drinking to help lose weight. And let me just say, it works amazingly! Start each day with pu-erh tea that "has a big jolt of caffeine to help wake up your metabolism in the morning." This tea contains natural enzymes which can actually shrink fat tissue and builds a resistance to weight gain! 

At lunch, enjoy white tea "that blocks fat absorption." "German scientists have additional evidence that white tea turns off genes that form new fat cells and triggers the breakdown of existing fat stores." White tea also is a top source of EGCG, an antioxidant known to rev metabolism by up to 6%! 

In the evening fight bloat with chickweed or dandelion tea (I drink dandelion root). These teas are caffeine free and contain potassium and magnesium which have a detoxifying and diuretic effect, which helps you lose water weight fast!

Lastly, fight cravings at night with bilberry or cinnamon tea (I drink cinnamon). Both teas have a proven ability to balance blood sugar, which help to fight late night cravings and help the body make fewer fat-storage hormones!

• Morning: 16 oz of pu-erh tea (The Republic of Tea Coconut Pu-erh)
• Lunch: 16 oz of white tea (The Republic of Tea Pineapple Guava 100% white tea)
• Afternoon: 8 oz of chickweed or dandelion tea (Traditional Medicinals organic roasted dandelion root)
• Night: 8 oz of bilberry or cinnamon tea (The Republic of Tea Cinnamon Plum)
• All sweetened with 1 packet of Truvia

Let me know if you tried the Dr. Oz teas and how they worked for you!