Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter Bunny Says Whoa!!!

I slept like a big fat log last night! I think I was weighted down with all that food! This morning when I woke up, I had no desire for any type of food at all. Usually when I overeat, I feel more hungry the next morning, but not today -blech! Since nothing was appealing, I decided to try out something reaaaaally different. I have been seeing "green smoothies" all over the blogosphere lately. Basically, it's a smoothie made with a mix of veggies and/or fruit. Some use a form of milk, some just use water. I have been intrigued by them, although a bit hesitant to try them because they look, well, like swamp water! Since no food was going to pass my lips this morning, I thought it a good time to try this out; plus I had a huge bag of kale waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. Here's what I came up with...
  • 2 handfuls kale
  • 1/2 banana
  • 1/2 c. pineapple
  • 5.3 oz container Oikos Nonfat Vanilla Greek Yogurt
  • 1/2 c. water

Isn't it swampy pretty?????

But, how does it taste??? Yeah, I was thinking the same thing! I was a little nervous to try it, so luckily the Easter Bunny was left lying on the floor by the messy daughters still hanging out at my house and was happy to try out this 4 POINT wonder...

And he said...

Whoa!!! It sure was interesting! I didn't dislike it, but wouldn't say I loved it:) I think what threw it off was the addition of the yogurt; it added a little too much tang for me. I put it in because I was worried that just the veg/fruit wouldn't stick with me for very long, so I thought it would add a good protein shot. I'll definitely try this again; I bet with some tweaking of ingredients, it would be really good. If you've tried this, I'm open to any suggestions!
After my green experience, I headed to the treadmill for another run. I felt tired, but I managed to crank out 45 min. Glad I did; I always feel so good after a run!
Lunchtime was paninis for everyone. Mine was leftover ham, 1 oz. Cabot's 75% reduced fat cheddar and a squirt of dijonnaise on Trader Joe's Sprouted Flourless Wheat Bread. I had 1/2 apple, pineapple and some carrots for the side. A very healthy 6 POINT lunch...


Later in the afternoon, I started to feel munchie. I had just the right snack in mind. Last week, Robyn from Gnu Foods sent me these cool bars...

I was looking forward to trying them! Not only are they all-natural with no high-fructose corn syrup, but they have the most fiber in a baked bar - 12 grams!!!! Best of all, the bars are only 130-140 calories and between 3-5 gr. fat which works out to only 2 POINTS!! I received samples of Banana Walnut, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon Raisin, Orange Cranberry and Chocolate Brownie. They all sounded so good, I had trouble picking which to dive into first. I was tempted to go with Chocolate Brownie, but I decided on the Peanut Butter...


It is a very healthy looking bar...

As soon as I opened it, I could smell the peanut butter! I have to say that I absolutely LOVED this bar!!! It had a great peanut butter taste and a nice chewy texture. A little "seedy"; I believe that's the millet, but I enjoyed that bit of texture. This was a terrific 2 POINT snack and good for you! These bars are available at Trader Joe's and The Vitamin Shoppe stores along with www.GnuFoods.com . I'm looking forward to trying out the other flavors. Thanks, Robyn!!
That bar held me over so well that I wasn't in a big hurry for dinner. Actually, I made dinner for the husband and daughters (and daughter's friend!) and waited a bit for my own. I decided on Stuffed Pepper Soup from the freezer. I also added 1/2 c. leftover cannellini beans. This made it an extra hearty 4 POINT bowl...


I also dug in to an Arnold Sandwich Thin with 1 tbsp. white bean hummus for another 2 POINTS...


Ugh, I was full after all that! However, this caught my eye ...


and I "forced" myself to have 1/2 c. for 4 POINTS. Boy, real ice cream tastes gooooood....


Glad I was able to get back on track today and not let the overindulgence of yesterday continue on. Although, the leftover ricotta pie was calling my name! I didn't answer. Today ;)
Have a great night!!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow..Love the pictures..I'm not sure I would be daring to drink the drink. Maybe sometime in the future..Great job staying on track today!

Sharon said...

Awh, the Easter Bunny is so cute!
And oh cookie dough, yum!

♥ Dee ♥ said...

LOL @ bunny

Sunny said...

I found a green drink recipe that was pretty good! It had spinach, celery, and zucchini in it. No yogurt but I added blueberries and a banana to give it a better flavor. I blogged about it awhile back... here's the link to the recipe if you wanna try it out! Green Drink Recipe

Kiki (Run Kiki Run) said...

Do you guys not get Total Greek Yogurt over there, or is Oikos just better? We dont have Oikos here :( (here is london, uk).

Xxx Kiki from http://bettyscuisine.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I love the fiber bars..the choco brownie is the best...Thanks for pics.everything looks so good.

Kelly the Happy Texan said...

I'll have to try those bars. Always looking for things that are filling and low points.

I used to make a green smoothie every morning until I got totally burned out on them. That was my raw food diet stage. :)
spinach
ice
pineapple or oranges
almond milk
kiwi
agave nectar
banana

It was good. Nothing like drinking something that looks like lawn clippings. It better be good for you when it looks like that!

katecooks said...

wow! those bars sound good, thanks for the review. i love that they are relatively low cal too. it's hard to eat some of the bars for a snack when they are 250 calories!!

Catmans mom said...

Thank you sooo much for all of your interesting food posts. Ive been following your daily blog for 1.5 weeks and have lost 5 pounds! You keep me motivated!

Anonymous said...

aww love the picture with the shake & bunny! hah too cute.

oh goodness. that is one of the BEST ice cream flavors ever made :)

Marisa @Loser for Life said...

Ang- it was, um, different!!

Sharon - cookie dough rocks!

Dee - funny bunny ;)

Sunny - Cool! Thanks so much for that recipe; I will have to try that!

Kiki- I've tried Fage Total, but can't find it as readily anymore.

Anonymus - looking forward to the choc brownie!!

Kelly - thanks for that recipe, too! I have all those ingredients on hand, maybe I'll give it a whirl tomorrow!

Amanda - yeah, the "after" seemed to get me today! Don't worry - we'll make it through!

katecooks - you're right; it is hard to find a filling bar for low calories. These bars fit the bill!!

Catmans mom - Wow! That is so terrific!!! Thank you so much for saying that - YOU motivated ME now!!! I really needed that, thanks!!

thecleanveggie - cookie dough is FAN- TASTIC!!

LK- Healthy Delicious said...

Im not brave enought for green smoothies... the panini looks great though!