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 I've been exhausted, so any time I would have spent in the evening experimenting with recipes has been replaced by relaxing and sleep.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.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin "Pancake" Muffins

It doesn't get much easier than this.

Throw a bunch of ingredients into a bowl, mix them up, put them in a pan, and bake. That's it.

I don't know if I could handle much more than that on a beautiful Saturday like the one we're having today.

To check if the muffins are done baking, stick a knife or a toothpick into the middle of one. If it comes out clean, they're done! (Note: If there's some melted chocolate on the knife, that's okay - as long as there's no batter).

I made these last Sunday ... I ate one immediately, then wrapped the pan in foil and put it in the fridge. I took one to work each day for breakfast. They taste especially good if you microwave them for 10-20 seconds before eating ... the chocolate gets all melty and delicious and perfect.

I plan on doing the same thing this week with the batch I just made.

That's really it. This might be the easiest recipe I've ever created.

Until next time!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Heart Smart Bisquick pancake & baking mix
• 1/3 cup Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin
• 1/4 cup pancake syrup (I use Aunt Jemima Butter Light)
• 3 oz nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp chocolate chips (I use Nestle Toll House semi sweet)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 zero-calorie sweetener packet (I use Sweet & Low)

Serving size: 1 muffin

Weight Watchers PointsPlus value: 4

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 6-cup muffin pan with no-calorie nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Distribute mix evenly among the muffin cups.
3. Bake for 15-17 minutes until the muffins are golden brown on top and a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Nutritional information

Ham and Egg Breakfast Cups

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone's having a great weekend. Here in New York, this is the first weekend that we've had really nice spring weather two days in a row, so I've really been enjoying that.

Anyway, I'm really excited to share this recipe! Last week, I was asked about breakfast recipes and I realized that I didn't have many! Breakfast is one of my favorite meals, but unfortunately it doesn't always get the attention it deserves from me. Most days I wake up, get ready for work in a sleepy daze, and take the train to the city. By the time I have my coffee in hand and I'm settled at my desk, I usually just heat up some oatmeal and call that breakfast (not knocking oatmeal - it's delicious - but it can get a little boring day after day).

That's what's so great about this recipe - it's really easy (seriously, minimal effort required), super fast, and the leftovers can be refrigerated and eaten for breakfast all week. 

One thing you will need is a muffin tin - if you don't have one, I bet those paper cupcake holders would work just fine, but I can't guarantee it because I didn't try it.

Anyway, once the oven is preheated, you start by spraying the muffin tin and lining each cup with a slice of ham. (Note: I only have a 6-muffin tin, so this recipe yields 6 servings. If you have a second tin, or don't mind baking in two shifts, it can easily be doubled to yield more).

In a small bowl, mix together your filling. The beauty of this recipe is that you can basically add whatever you want to the eggs here and customize the filling to your liking. I used green bell pepper, onion, salt, and pepper - very simple, but I love the combination of peppers and onions, especially with eggs. A tip, though: if you want to go a little crazy with the veggies (or if you want to add a meat, like bacon or sausage or something), reduce the amount of egg a bit. Too many add-ins and there will probably be too much to fit in the cups.

So anyway, once you have your filling, distribute it evenly among the ham-lined muffin cups. I found that it helps to spoon it in, rather than try to pour it in.

Top them off with some shredded cheese - because why not? - and then pop them in the oven.

The result is delicious, cheesy, veggie-filled, muffin-shaped egg cups wrapped in crispy sweet ham. They're REALLY good. I had two for breakfast (with a little ketchup, since I grew up always putting ketchup on my eggs and omelettes) with some coffee and was fully satisfied - they're pretty filling.

The leftovers are in a tupperware in my fridge, ready to come to work with me this week for a much-needed break from oatmeal.

So that's that - as always, feedback is appreciated! 

Until next time!

Ingredients

• 6 slices (about 2 1/4 oz) Oscar Mayer honey ham
• 1 cup liquid egg whites (equivalent to whites from 6 eggs)
• 1/4 small green pepper, chopped fine (about 3-4 tbsp)
• 1/4 small sweet onion, chopped fine (about 3-4 tbsp)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)

Serving size: 1 breakfast cup

Weight Watchers PointsPlus value: 1

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray. Line each muffin cup with a slice of ham. Set aside.
3. In small bowl, mix egg whites, green pepper, and onion. Season with salt and pepper and mix to combine.
4. Distribute the egg mixture evenly among the ham cups (it helps to use a spoon for this), then sprinkle the shredded cheese over the tops.
5. Bake for 22-25 minutes until egg is no longer runny. Serve warm.

Nutritional information