Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Once again, I find myself apologizing for not blogging for a while. But I have a good excuse this time, I promise!

I'm pregnant!!! With TWINS!!! And I'm just going to be straight-up honest with you guys, coming up with new, healthy recipes really just hasn't been a priority. I'm lucky that I've been feeling pretty good so far (15 weeks 2 days today and no sickness yet) but my appetite just hasn't been the same. I don't feel as adventurous or willing to try new things. I've been exhausted, so any time I would have spent in the evening experimenting with recipes has been replaced by relaxing and sleep. My husband and I have wanted this for so long and we're so incredibly happy and excited, but life does change, and unfortunately for me, Lighter Bites took a hit.

That being said, I wanted to post today to let you know that (1) I am alive and well, and (2) you absolutely should make this smoothie ASAP because it's delicious and filled with ingredients that will give you energy all morning.

This recipe is from Gimme Some Oven and it's so easy and so, so good. Just throw all the ingredients into the blender, combine, and there you go!

I stick to the recipe ALMOST 100%. The only change I make is I use less peanut butter than recommended. I KNOW, that's weird, but I am not a peanut butter fanatic and I don't like when the predominating flavor is peanut butter. The recipe calls for a heaping tablespoon, and I use a heaping half tablespoon. Also, in these pictures, I was making two smoothies so everything is doubled. I also threw in a handful of quick oats for added flavor/texture.

Another thing I want to point out - the recipe says to serve immediately, but I never do. I make these at night and refrigerate them, then take one to work for breakfast the next day. Sometimes I make two, and one is refrigerated two nights. They still taste great.

So, that's that! I hope you enjoy this smoothie, and I want to apologize again for the long break between posts. I'm going to try to post a couple of times before our nuggets arrive in late September/early October, but please please forgive me if the posts aren't as frequent.

Until next time!

Ingredients

• 1 large banana, peeled
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 1/2 cup almond milk (I use vanilla unsweetened)
• 1/4 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Serving size: 1 smoothie
Weight Watchers Smart Points value: 4

Instructions

1. In a blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 2 days until ready to consume.

Green Power Smoothie

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! Welcome to 2016! I hope everyone is starting the year well rested and in a positive state of mind. I know I am. 

It's been a MONTH since my last blog post. I'm so sorry for taking such a long hiatus, but I needed it. December was a crazy month! Work was really busy, I was spending a lot of time (and money) Christmas shopping, and I picked up some freelance work to make some extra money. Plus, the weekends were filled with family and friends and parties and PLENTY of snacks and drinks that shouldn't even be mentioned on Lighter Bites - oops. Dieting is HARD around the holidays, you guys! But the new year is here and with it, a time to start fresh.

Speaking of fresh, THIS SMOOTHIE.

I may not strike you as a smoothie kind of girl, and you'd be right. This is new to me. I've had them in the past, but it was never a regular thing for me. But now? With this smoothie? Yes please.

Let me back up. The path that led me to create this smoothie wasn't so straightforward. First, I've probably mentioned here that I'm a member of Weight Watchers. I've had a lot of success with this program in the past. I'd say I strictly follow the program 80% of the time - the other 20% (usually on weekends) I allow myself some leeway, such as an extra snack or drink. Well, Weight Watchers revamped their program last year - you'll see my recipes now list the Smart Points value instead of the PointsPlus value. I'm still figuring the Smart Points out, but a lot of the things I eat regularly have gone up.

Another factor: I don't eat breakfast at home. It's just not realistic for me. I get up early, get ready, and rush to make the train every day. In the past, I'd keep oatmeal packets in my desk at work and make one with hot water around 9:30 every morning. If you know anything about oatmeal, you know it's easy and convenient - and not very filling. I'd be satisfied for a couple of hours, but my stomach would start rumbling for lunch before noon.

The oatmeal I usually eat went from 4 PointsPlus to 5 Smart Points. I didn't feel like spending 5 of my daily points on something so small and unsatisfying, so I began brainstorming different ideas for breakfast.

The criteria? It needed to be easy. Healthy. Satisfying. Something I could prepare at home in advance and bring with me. And ideally, no more than 4 Smart Points.

I thought a green smoothie may be a good idea. I was never a regular smoothie drinker, but I did a juice fast before my wedding and it did not end well. I was all gung-ho to go 10 days on juice only, but after 3 days I just couldn't stomach the juices that tasted like vegetables. Smoothies are different - green smoothies, at least the ones I've tried, are FULL of veggies (like spinach) but you can't even taste it. Bonus!

The hard part was perfecting the smoothie. I've tried recipes that were Greek-yogurt based, but I don't think I could drink this every day. First of all, Green yogurt can be bland, and when it's overpowering everything else in the smoothie it just tastes thick and blah. Plus, too much yogurt equals higher Smart Points.

So I turned to Google and searched for "green smoothies with spinach." (Spinach is my green of choice for smoothies - I know kale is super trendy right now, but I have not been able to jump on that bandwagon. I just don't like it that much, you guys.) I read through a bunch of the results, and it seemed that a lot of green smoothies had the same few ingredients in common:

• spinach
• a banana (frozen or not)
• a nut milk

Then, depending on the smoothie, other extra ingredients were added in. So I started my smoothie with those three ingredients and played around with quantities and add-ins. I've been wanting to experiment with vanilla protein powder for a while, so I decided to see if I could figure out a way to work it into my smoothie.

WELL. After a few failed attempts (nothing inedible, thank goodness, because I still drank the ones that didn't make it here), I came up with a green smoothie that I really, really like. I've been back to work for a week since the holidays and I've brought a smoothie for breakfast every day. I plan to do the same this week. And hopefully for many weeks to come (#newyearnewme, right?).

And did I mention it's filling? My stomach hasn't started growling for lunch until after 1:00 all week long.

I really hope you like these! If you're looking for a quick, easy, delicious, and filling breakfast that you can prepare in advance, this smoothie is for you.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened vanilla-flavored nut milk (I use Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Cashew mix, vanilla flavor)
• 2 cups baby spinach (or 2 large handfuls)
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I use 100% Natural Only Protein)
• 2 tbsp plain fat-free Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp PB2 powdered peanut butter (mixed with 1 tbsp water)
• 1 banana, frozen

Serving size: 1 smoothie

Weight Watchers Smart Points value: 4

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a blender and liquefy. Serve immediately, or refrigerate overnight and enjoy for breakfast.

TIPS 

• I read that putting the liquid (the milk) into the blender first helps the blades move and not get stuck, so I recommend doing that.
• The banana doesn't have to be frozen, but freezing it beforehand helps give the smoothie a thicker consistency. I like to peel a bunch of bananas and put them in a Ziplock in my freezer so I can grab one when I need it.
• If you're planning on drinking this immediately, try adding 2 or 3 ice cubes to the blender to make the smoothie extra cool and delicious.

Four-Ingredient No-Bake Oreo Cream Pie

In my opinion, the Oreo is the best packaged cookie in existence. Which makes this simple, no-bake pie a pretty awesome dessert to make for summer.

It's starting to get really warm out, and I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate having my oven on when it's hot outside. I like to keep my house cool as a break from the heat. Unfortunately, some of the best desserts are made in the oven (see: chocolate chip cookies, brownies, cupcakes, cake ... you get the idea).

But this? This pie is delicious and requires ABSOLUTELY NO BAKING. And it literally takes less than 5 minutes to make. It's perfect for when you want to make a delicious and impressive dessert but you don't have time (and don't want to put in a ton of effort).

Oh, and did I mention it's only four ingredients? (Just kidding, I know I did because it's in the recipe title, but I wanted to mention it again because it's a big selling point).

Pre-baked pie crust is one of the best inventions.

At my local Stop & Shop, they have regular graham cracker pie crusts, chocolate graham cracker pie crusts, and chocolate cookie pie crusts. Some stores have Oreo brand crusts, but mine didn't. No worries though - the chocolate cookie crust tastes exactly like an Oreo (and I saved money by buying store brand)!

In a medium bowl, combine Jell-O Oreo pudding mix with an entire 8-oz tub of Cool Whip Free. (Side note: Cool Whip Free + any flavor of pudding mix = DELICIOUS. I like the taste better than pudding prepared the traditional way, and it's MUCH quicker.If you wanted to, though, you could prepare the pudding with milk, let it set, and use that instead).

The inspiration for this recipe actually came from this pudding mix. I was shopping for pudding mix for last week's recipe and I saw this, and I immediately started brainstorming dessert ideas I could use it in. 

Once the pudding mix and the Cool Whip are combined, crumble four of the Oreo cookies into the bowl and mix.

Spread the mix into the pie crust, and then crumble the remaining three Oreos on top.

BAM. That's it. You're done. Eat it immediately, if you want to. You can refrigerate it, but it doesn't need it.

I made this last night and served it for two of my friends during our "The Bachelorette" premiere night. Yes, I love "The Bachelorette." Yes, I have my friends over for sushi, wine, and dessert when the new seasons start. Yes, it's amazing.

Anyway, I let them know that they were taste testing for the blog, and the reviews were positive so I figured I'd post it today in advance of Memorial Day weekend! If you need to bring a dessert to a BBQ, this could be it.

I hope you enjoy it! I'd love feedback if you make it. 

Until next time!

Ingredients

• 1 Oreo cookie pie crust
• 1 box Jell-O Oreo cookies and cream pudding mix
• 8 oz Cool Whip Free (one tub)
• 7 reduced fat Oreo cookies

Serving size: 1/8 of pie

Weight Watchers PointsPlus value: 7

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the Jell-O mix and the Cool Whip Free. Crumble four of the Oreo cookies into the bowl and mix to combine.
2. Spread the pudding mixture into the pie crust.
3. Crumble the remaining three Oreos over the top of the pie.

Nutritional Information