Occasionally we get questions and comments from readers saying, “You must not eat all that you cook or else you would weigh a couple hundred pounds.”
Ha ha! Well, what people need to know is that there are actually 7 of us that post on this website- the six sisters and our mom. We each take one day of the week, which means that we really each only make 1-2 recipes a week . . . which is only 4-8 recipes a month. Maybe 1 or 2 of those recipes are desserts, which means that we really don’t have a lot of desserts around our house- it’s definitely a special occasion to have a delicious dessert.
Ha ha! Well, what people need to know is that there are actually 7 of us that post on this website- the six sisters and our mom. We each take one day of the week, which means that we really each only make 1-2 recipes a week . . . which is only 4-8 recipes a month. Maybe 1 or 2 of those recipes are desserts, which means that we really don’t have a lot of desserts around our house- it’s definitely a special occasion to have a delicious dessert.
We have become pretty popular with our neighbors because when we do make a dessert recipe for the blog because we usually pass it on to everyone who lives around us. If I keep a chocolate cake or jar of cookies in my house, then yes- I will eat it. All of it. I don’t have any control when there is a pan of Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars in my home, so I have to get it out as soon as possible!
The other thing that I try and do to keep myself from eating too much dessert is eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible each day. I struggle eating raw vegetables, so I try to sneak them into my diet in other ways. For the first 30 years of my life, I was a hard-core cereal eater for breakfast. I don’t like pancakes, I don’t like sausage . . . I just loved cold cereal. Then I went to Fitness Ridge and spent a week there with my husband and had many “Ah-ha!” moments . . . one of them being green smoothies for breakfast. I never realized what a huge sugar crash I would have around 10 am from my sugar-loaded cereal, so I made a goal to start my day with something healthier. I started blending my own green smoothies and now I am hooked- I love that I kickstart my day with the right kind of “fuel” in my body. No more 10 am crash and I already have a couple servings of fruits and veggies under my belt before my kids wake up.
I know that the idea of a green smoothie really turns some people off, but I promise you- you can’t taste the spinach at all! It does have a bright green color, but the flavor of the fruit really overpowers everything else.
If you haven’t tried a green smoothie, this is a good one to start with! Also, if you have a favorite green smoothie combo, I would love to hear what it is in the comments below!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup pineapple, fresh or frozen, cut into chunks
- 3 tablespoons coconut flakes, unsweetened OR 1 tablespoon coconut flakes, sweetened
- 1 cup skim milk (or coconut milk or water is awesome in this!)
- dash of coconut extract
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach or kale
- 1 large banana, sliced and frozen
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place all the ingredients inside blender. Cover and blend until smooth, stopping frequently to push down anything stuck to the sides (especially those with a lower-power blender). Pour into glass and enjoy. Makes one serving.
- (One thing that I do to make sure that I don't have any spinach chunks is to blend the milk/water with the spinach before adding the other ingredients.)
High-powered blender OR
Lower-powered blender
(Let’s talk blenders for a minute . . . before I purchased my first high-powered blender, I was burning through the motor every couple of months. I felt like my smoothies were never as smooth as they could be, but I just couldn’t justify spending that much money on a blender. However, after taking the plunge and just buying one, I am amazed at the difference. I blend my personal serving smoothies (which means the only piece that I have to wash is the little cup I blended it in and I can just throw it in my dishwasher!) every single morning in a matter of seconds. To me, it’s worth it to have the higher-power blender, but you can use a lower-powered one to get the job done. Do what’s best for you! And this is not sponsored in any way, it’s just my personal opinion)