Spinach... For BREAKFAST?

I've had a lot of free time to constantly be thinking about food. What should I make for dinner? What can I eat for lunch? There are cookies eyeballing me from the cookie jar on the table. I should go shopping and get some more ingredients to make ___________ recipe. This is when free time gets dangerous in my world.

But, I've decided to make the best of it, and try to get creative with what I'm eating. I'm constantly looking for ways to sneak vegetables into my diet, since I'm not necessarily a veggie fan (shame on me, I know!). I remembered that many of the blogs I love have been talking about Green Monster Smoothies. 

The last time I went to the store, I got a little carried away with "getting the best deal" with the best Nu-Val score. The "best deal" in this case was a ginormous, boat load of spinach. I'm talkin' the 11-ouncer. 

This was accompanied by a "Ho-ly cowww, honey!" reaction from Josh. 

Anyway, I figured I should start using it, so apart from our daily spinach salad, I also decided I should try out my very own Green Machine Smoothie. 

Ingredients

• Baby Spinach
• Dole Frozen Mixed Berry Blend
• Anderson Erickson Low-fat Vanilla yogurt
• V8 Fusion Berry Pomegranate Juice

You can use whatever portions you like, but I chose to fill my Magic Bullet mug 1/3 of the way with spinach, 1/3 with the berries, and 1/3 with yogurt. Then I squeezed whatever amount of juice would fit (which, as you can see, is maybe 1/4 of the mug). 

Then, blend away!

Before

After

It's not green, I know, but it's still good for you and the best part is...

It tastes sooooooo good! I promise, you can't taste the spinach at all! :)

Made it to Hawkeye Land

After a very long weekend of moving in and getting settled, Josh and I have finally gotten settled in our new apartment. Exploring the area has been a blast. The downtown area near campus is really cool...it has a lot of little shops, restaurants, and yoga studios. It's totally my scene. The area is also full of bike paths, which Josh and I explored yesterday. We figure we went about 15 miles around the town and campus, so we got a good workout. Plus, I feel like the only way to get to know a town is by getting yourself totally lost and finding your way back. I prefer to do so by means of bicycle or by foot, so I don't waste gas :)

Anyway, Josh went to work this morning, so I got up and cleaned our apartment (like scrubbed and swept and everything!) and got all ready for the day...by 9:30. Then it hit me: while this whole "living free" idea sounds appealing (a summer without work or commitments..SCORE!)...

I'm gonna get REAL bored REAL quick. 

So, I drove the big red truck downtown and squeezed in a parking spot, and this is where I will spend my afternoon. Walking up and down each and every street, begging for someone to hire me for part time work. I sure hope I find something, otherwise I will probably become trained to be the best housewife ever.

The Real Housewives of Iowa City? I could totally start that!

Just kidding. Let the job hunt begin!

P.S. Here was our first meal together in our new place: Lemon-Herb Seasoned Salmon, Cilantro-Lime Rice, and spinach salad. I got to use my new food processor to chop up all the veggies! LOVE IT!

The Beauty of Bagged Lunches and Family Dinners

Today I was presented with my first project as at-home-almost-dietitian: make lunch for my sister. She goes to school for cosmetology and goes out to eat a lot on her breaks. So I pretty much begged her to let me make it for her instead. 

I told her I would hit up all the food groups, so luckily my mom's fridge was well-stocked. First, I made what I like to call a Strawberry Fields Forever salad, a combination of strawberries, lettuce, sliced almonds, cucumbers drizzled with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Actually, if you make this for a bagged lunch, I recommend keeping the dressing in a separate little container so the lettuce doesn't get soggy.

Britt's yummy Strawberry Fields Forever Salad.

Here's a fun fact. If you soak strawberries in one part vinegar, ten parts water, it prevents them from molding quickly! Thanks for the tip, Mom!

Here's the rest of her lunch: baby carrots, a ham and cheese on whole wheat bread, pretzels, and yogurt. All food groups represented? CHECK!

And for my own lunch? Ham and cheese wrap with regular salad: lettuce, cucumbers, chow mein noodles, and a little bit of cheese with ranch dressing.

And now on to dinner. This recipe was easy, super fast, and most of all -- tasty!

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, diced
• 8 cups noodles (I used elbow noodles)
• 2 tomatoes, fresh
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon basil (or more if you wish!)

It always helps me to see things, rather than only reading or only hearing them. So here is a demonstration of what to do!

Fry up the chicken. Use olive oil for grease.

Boil the water and toss in the noodles.

First you take the tomatoes.

Now for the tomatoes. Here's a nifty little trick I learned so they are diced well!

Then you slice them one way...

And then slice them perpendicular to the last slice.

Then separate them and put them in a bowl.

I should mention that when I was taking pictures, my sweet yellow lab Cheyenne totally photo bombed a bunch. Therefore I let her have her own close-up. 

Work it, Chey!

My little baby wanted to help cook!

 Ok, back to the chicken. (Seriously, I almost forgot about it.)

Once the noodles are done boiling, put the Parmesan cheese on top of the hot noodles so it melts.

Add 1/2 cup olive oil to the noodles.

Put the chicken in with the noodles.

Stir in the tomatoes.

Serve it up!

Get it while it's hawt y'all!