Creamy Peach Smoothie

Summer is in full force! Can we say HEAT WAVE! It seriously is so hot, which is why I love, love, love to whip up something to cool me off. Unfortunately most cool treats are high in processed sugars and calories. So how to we combat this....SMOOTHIE!!!

I love fresh peach it is so perfect in the summer with it's smooth flavor. I designed this smoothie to go along with my plan to lose the baby weight. I loved the result and so did my little people, they thought they were getting quite the treat.

The wonderful thing about the creamy peach smoothie is it is so simple and has very little ingredients to it.

If you want a wonderful, smooth, creamy, guiltless treat to survive this heat wave this is it. This smoothie would be the perfect smoothie pop for the kids...or you!

Creamy Peach Smoothie

1 chopped fresh peach

2 bananas

1 T greek yogurt

1 tsp honey or stevia

1/8-1/4 cup almond milk (depending on how you thick you like it)

a large handful of ice

Add peach to the blender, then a layer of ice, add bananas, then another layer of ice, add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. At least 90 seconds. Enjoy frozen as a popsicle or just drink the smooth, cool smoothie!

What are your favorite summer tricky treats?

Skinny Banana Bread

Myth about whole foods:

Your food will never taste like the "normal" recipe does when you adapt it for whole food natural living!

NOT TRUE! I can't tell you how many awesome recipes I've been able to adapt to fit my lifestyle of whole food, healthy living! It is an amazing journey when you start, to feel your body actually love you for what you are putting into it...that feeling of happiness grows even more when you see your family love everything they are eating also! It's amazing.

So if you think you will be sacrificing taste and delicious comfort food to eat healthy, whole and natural...I'm going to prove you wrong with this revamp of my comforting banana bread! It was amazing! I made it for my husband who requested banana bread. Well the night I made it, he worked late. The kids and I slaved and slaved, then probably ate half the loaf (yes you read that right)  and then I tucked the rest away nicely for my husband to enjoy for breakfast and while he was in class!

When I got home from work the next day I asked him if he liked his banana bread, because it was all gone. He said he didn't even get ONE PIECE! I laughed so hard, between my kids and our babysitter the next morning they ate the rest of the loaf of banana bread! It lasted less than 24 hours!

So I promised I'll make it again soon for the hubs...

If you want a guiltless loaf of banana bread this is your lucky day! Originally this recipe contains 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 a cup of shortening! Yikes! This baby needed a makeover...Enjoy, I know you'll love it

Skinny Banana Bread

3/4-1 c raw stevia

2 T vegan margarine

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

2 flax eggs- (2 T ground flax + 6 T warm water ) I also added about 1/4 tsp chia seed

3 ripened bananas, mashed

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour (or any flour you'd like)

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1 tsp baking soda

2-3 T dark chocolate chips or nuts of choice

Cream together margarine and stevia, slowly add applesauce and continue to cream. Add flax eggs and mix well. Add bananas, mix well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Fold together well. Place in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until golden and fork comes clean (your house will smell amazing!)

Enjoy

Silken Protein Shake

Is anyone not really a huge breakfast eater? I know sometimes I'd rather have a nice smoothie or something instead of something larger. In the blazing summer it's always nice to cool down with something cold and silky in your mouth! If you leave this in the refrigerator for a few hours it turns into a pudding! So you could make fruit parfaits or something for breakfast. I found this recipe here

I have a slight confession, I was terrified to try this! As some of you might be! The way it turned out....well it tasted like a peanut butter, chocolate protein shake! Ah, sigh of relief. My kids wanted it as a dessert they thought it was so tasty, (my little mad did get really frustrated with the slowness of a straw, we moved on to a spoon :)

I've taken a challenge through this blog to do things your afraid of during august. Oh this is so small, just trying something that sounds yuck to me. It's all about the principle behind it though. I'm learning through this lifestyle to branch out, try new things, go against social norms at times. It's increased my confidence to try new things as well as dig up old passions that I have let just kind of fizzle out!

One of those dreams and passions was to always be a published author. I'm finding that is a passion or desire for a lot of people! Well over the last few weeks my husband and I have been working on a project together. An eBOOK! We've designed a fun book on living a healthy lifestyle while living with a tighter wallet! I am so excited to launch this. I find myself just writing all my passion about healthy living into those pages and I can't wait to share them with a larger audience! It's going to a rip roaring party on here on launch day, it's still a few weeks away, we're still learning about all the marketing and things like that!

Anyways, this month if you'd like to share in her challenge. Step out of the box and do something you've pushed way back in your mind that you've always wanted to do or do something your afraid of! Even if it's as simple as trying a new ingredient in a recipe!

Silken Protein Shake

19 oz of silken tofu

4 T cocoa powder

3-4 T agave

2 heaping T of peanut butter

3-4 frozen bananas

Combine all ingredients into high powered blender. Blend on high for about 2 minutes until everything is combined! Refrigerate left overs. Enjoy

           

Fresh Raspberry Soft Serve

Ice cream. Do I miss not indulging in creamy, sugary ice cream from Farr's or Ben and Jerry? NO! Want to know why, because I can make this baby!

It's fast and it satisfies! It's also full of completely natural ingredients. Challenge yourself to try using bananas for your soft serve instead of using cream! It really is wonderful. So do I still think dairy ice cream tastes good....you bet I do. Is it worth it to me? Nope it's not. I'd rather eat a huge bowl of this and not finish it, than give myself two small scoops of other ice cream with maybe a small amount of toppings and then leave myself wanting more, but I can't have more because then I'll kick myself for it later! No thanks, it's more fun to eat as much as I want :) I made this after the kids went to bed because I was in a selfish mood and wanted it ALL FOR MYSELF! So I snuggled in from of the computer ate my huge bowl and worked on my eBook! Talk about De-stressing....for me at least. Enjoy this, I know you will!

Raspberry Soft Serve

1/2 C frozen raspberries

1-2 frozen bananas

almond milk, just until you get the consistency you want, I used about 1/4 C.

fresh raspberries to top it with

Place bananas and raspberries in the blender. Slowly add milk while blender is going until you reach the soft serve consistency. You may have to scrape the sides of the blender! Top with fresh raspberries and enjoy. 

Sub out raspberries for any fruit or berry you want!