Tuesday, May 18, 2010

I Need Chocolate Smoothie

What You Need:


1 C chocolate milk

1 C chocolate ice cream

1 Three Musketeers candy bar, cut into small chunks


How to Make It:

Place all the ingredients into the blender.

Blend on medium speed until smooth.

Serve immediately and enjoy.

If you crave chocolate this is the smoothie for you. Any type of candy bar will work so use your favorite for a great afternoon treat. Oh yea kids love it too.

I Want S'More of That! (smoothie recipe)

What You Need:


½ C marshmallow cream

¼ C chocolate syrup

1 C milk

2 C ice

2 graham crackers, crumbled


How to Make It:

Place the marshmallow cream and chocolate into the blender.

Pour in the milk.

Add the ice cubes and sprinkle the cracker crumbs over the top.

Blend on high until smooth.

To make this an even more special treat top with a few colored mini marshmallows and some miniature chocolate chips.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Tea is Better for You than Water!

After falling in love with sweet tea, chamomile tea and apricot tea, I have decided to make afternoon tea a part of "better health" quest! I gave up sweet tea to avoid the caffeine, but have been trying different teas since then and love it just as much as ever.
“For thousands of years, wise people have poured hot water over tea leaves and found pleasure in both the experience and the drink that is created. Referred to as the ‘agony of the leaves,’ the reaction of dried leaves to hot water can be a lovely thing to watch; it holds an almost poetic beauty, especially if you brew in a clear vessel and use larger-leafed such as oolong. And the resulting beverage is a truly great tea with an exceptional flavor, aroma, and color.”—Theresa Cheung, Tea Bliss: Infuse Your Life with Health, Wisdom, and Contentment

Better than Water!

"[Researchers] found clear evidence that drinking three to four cups of tea a day can cut the chances of having a heart attack."-Dr. Carrie Ruxton

Water replaces the fluid you have lost. But researchers found that tea rehydrates just as well as water does.

And tea provides antioxidants and flavonoids that water does not provide.

What are the Health Benefits of Tea?

Drinking green tea helps reduce the risk of breast cancer. Drinking green tea or black tea regularly has anti-aging effects.

Tea has been found to improve your cognitive ability. That means I was on the right track when I pulled all those all-nighters with tea instead of coffee.

There is a compound in green tea that may slow down or help to prevent type 1 diabetes, which suggests it may be good for children to drink as a preventative measure.

Green tea has been found to help your body recover more quickly after weight lifting. And seems to increase endurance during exercise, in general.

Even drinking one cup of black tea every day can help protect you from heart disease and lower your risk of having a stroke. Green tea and rooibos tea do, as well.
Drinking tea boosts immunity. And white tea, in particular, helps fight germs by slowing down bacteria growth.

Speaking of white tea, research suggests it may be the answer to our national problem with obesity. It has been found to prevent the formation of new fat cells. Green tea also has been found to be helpful in preventing weight gain.

If you’re stressed out, black tea will be soothing. And daily cups of black tea may improve your ability to manage stress and recover from it.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cheeseburger Pasta

I tried this meal about a week ago. I used hamburger, rotini or fusilli pasta (can't remember which, whatever I had at home) and a couple of cans of Campbell's Soup, and then followed the recipe on the back of the can.

My son loved it!! Me, not so much.

It did taste like a cheeseburger, and maybe that's the problem. I don't like cheeseburgers. I love hamburgers, but not with the slices of American cheese melted onto them. And maybe that's what the cheese soup was? I don't know, but it just wasn't really to my liking.

I ate it once but didn't even want leftovers with it. I think I let my son finish it.

So that is not a recipe or meal that will make the cut.

Have you tried it? If so, I'd love to know if you liked it, modified it, still use it, etc.

My Plan for this Blog...

I have been thinking about what I want to do with this blog! How fun to write about yummy things like food and tea and scrumptiousness, while at the same time, trying to find ways to eat better and write about that, too (going natural, having a few less desserts, eating more veggies, etc.).

So my plan, thus far, is to post a few times a week. I haven't quite worked out the schedule, but I think I have settled on the primary conversations I want to have and the information I want to share...

(1) Recipes: I hope to share a couple of recipes/week. One may be very simple, something easy I have discovered that I can use during the week, and another might be one to experiment with on the weekend.

I'd love to have you share recipes that have worked for you, too, especially if they are really simple!

(2) What I have been eating: Any new recipes I have tried, the ones I'm keeping that will make the list, and the ones that didn't work so well. I also want to share any healthy changes I am making in what my family eats. And I may keep track of the times we treat ourselves, as well! :)

What have you been eating? Are you making changes in your own eating habits? I would love to hear about it and hear how it's going for you.

(3) Inspiring Reading: If I come across something, a quote or passage, or book I want to recommend, I will mention it here and share its impact on me. If I implement something I read about in a book, I'll be sure to share the results.

And I'd love to know what you have been reading, too.

See you here on the blog!

Jeanine

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I warn you, it's name may change. There must be a more creative one, and hey, I'm open to suggestions.

I'm on a mission. Right now and for the foreseeable future, my partner and I have a long-distance marriage (long story, full of family obligations and international intrigue :)). But she will be coming to visit several months from now (this fall) and I have decided to use that visit as the impetus for a healthy change in the way we all eat.

Our budget is small so instead of going out to eat while she's here, I want to focus more on cooking at home. And back here at the ranch, so to speak, my son and I could use some changes in our way of eating.

Though I have emphasized natural and organic most of his life, occasionally, we'd stop for fast food or order pizza. And then, "occasionally" began to be "sometimes" and it was slipping dangerously close to "often."

Plus, there were times when I just didn't feel like cooking, so we'd eat toast and cereal. Yummy once in a while but again, you don't want to slide into habit.

So, I need 21 meals. And here are the criteria...

(1) They must be yummy! So yummy that they are worth whatever hassle it takes to make them.

(2) There can't be a whole lot of hassle or I won't care how yummy they are!

(3) They have to include natural or organic food, and fresh or frozen fresh whenever possible.

(4) They have to (mostly) be healthy!

Phew! That list, alone, makes me want to sit down and rest.

For inspiration, I have been reading Simple Food for Busy Families: the Whole Life Nutrition Approach. I may try some of their recipes.

And I am open to suggestions!

Now, actually, the list is started already, because there are a few meals we all like that I don't mind making. I will include that list in my next post or somewhere on the blog.

Wish me luck!

Jeanine