Power Balls

Power bars are one of my weaknesses.  Larabars and Kind bars are my current favorites, but I think I've tested, and had a phase with, every other kind of healthy power bar there is. At almost $2 per bar, and a minimum of 2 a day, it has become an expensive addiction. Even more so than coffee! So I decided to experiment with making my own "power balls" at home.

Ingredients 

1 cup almond butter*

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped raisins
1/4 cup whole almonds

* Depending on the consistency of your almond butter you may need a little more or less of it!

                                   

^snack bag to bring to work! 

Have a great weekend! 

Sky 

Vanilla Honey Chia Pudding

Recently, I've been experimenting with adding chia seeds to my diet (as seen here and here). These seeds are a superfood with a mild neutral flavor- perfect for adding into dishes for extra nutrition. I haven't perfected this recipe yet, but this chia pudding is still delicious and I wanted to share my concoctions along my chia journey!

Method: 

3/4 cup vanilla almond milk

1/4 cup chia seeds

Combine into a cup and let sit in your fridge

In the Morning:

Add a little vanilla almond milk to the top (I like a more watery pudding) 

Add 2 tablespoons of honey

Also try adding fresh fruit! 

                  

^walking to work with my chia! 

                  

^same chia, different flowers :) 

 

Have a great day! 

Sky

Kale Chips

Good morning! A few days ago, my friend reminded me of a great recipe I used to make all the time: kale chips. These kale chips are an inexpensive snack with a huge amount of nutrients. A bunch of kale is about $3.00 at Whole Foods and as I mentioned earlier, kale is one of the healthiest green vegetables you can eat. I love how crunchy, spicy, and lightly salty these kale chips are, yum!

Recipe:
Preheat your oven to 350
De-stalk one large bunch of kale
Break your kale into bite size pieces
Drizzle olive oil (or red pepper flake olive oil for an extra kick)
Shake on a little salt
Bake for 15 minutes
Ready to eat immediately!

 

Enjoy!

Sky

Simple Bruschetta

There is nothing like a good tomato and basil recipe. This bruschetta is so simple to make and packed with flavor. It's delicious spooned on top of crunchy grilled bread. I could seriously eat this at every meal! Well, maybe not at breakfast, because of all that garlic :)

 

Ingredients:

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup red onion chopped

1/2 cup chopped basil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cups chopped tomatos

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Combine all the ingredients and set aside. This recipe gets better if it's left in the fridge for a few hours. This recipe serves 2-4 people. Double it for a larger party!

 

P.s. here's another tomato and basil recipe



 

Have  great day!

Sky

Tzatziki

Happy Friday! Is it just me or did this week feel extremely long? Here in DC we've been experiencing a crazy mix of weather from 80 degree sunny days to 40 degree rainy days...it's exhausting!

Anyways, today I'm re-featuring my favorite Tzatziki recipe. I first introduced my Tzatziki recipe here but I wanted to highlight again how great and easy this recipe is! I've also modified the recipe slightly. I've found that this recipe tastes the best with a heartier cracker (to cut the strong garlic) and this whole wheat naan home-made cracker is the best!

While both greek yogurt and regular yogurt contribute to a healthy diet, greek yogurt has about twice the protien, half the sodium, and half the carbohydrates as regular yogurt. So that's another benefit of this recipe :)  See here.

Ingredients:
2 cups zero fat greek yogurt
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cucumber chopped finely, no seeds
Salt to taste
Dried dill sprinkled on top
Mix all together
Ready to sereve immediately, but will be more garlic-y the next day!  

Naan Crackers:
Thinly slice a whole wheat naan into strips
Sprinkle olive oil on top
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes
Let your crackers cool- they will harden and get crispy!

 

Have a great weekend!

Sky

Pomegranate Peach Smoothie

Good morning! Here's another one of my favorite smoothie combinations (first smoothie post here). Have you ever had the orange-peach-mango orange juice? This peach and pomegranate smoothie kind of reminds me of that.

Recently, I've been substituting smoothies for coffee in the morning, and I have to say I don't miss the caffine. I really feel just as energized from all the fruit! I like to blend my smoothie the night before so that I just have to give it a few extra whirls in the morning before I walk out the door.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1 cup frozen sliced peaches
1/2 banana
1/2 cup ice
Optional: a few tablespoons of chia seeds :)

Have a great day!

Sky

Almond Butter and Berry Smoothie

Good morning! I recently bought a blender (that crushes ice like no one’s business) and have been experimenting with different smoothie combinations. Here’s the one I currently love: almond butter and berry. It’s delicious and a great way to get the day going. Test it out!  

Ingredients:
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup berry blend (strawberries, blueberries, rasberries, and blackberries)
2 tablespoons maple almond butter
1 bannana
1/2 cup ice

Thanks for following along!

Sky