Peach Cobbler Smoothie

A Georgia girl born and raised, some days there is nothing I crave more than peaches. Fresh, juicy, melt in your mouth peaches that drip down your chin as you’re trying to enjoy the last bite.

Since I can rarely find fresh peaches in New York City that match Georgia peaches, I choose frequently to use them in recipes instead. You can’t taste the mushy spots and there is no disappointment because that peach aroma and fresh flavor shines through regardless of whether they are frozen, Jersey, or Georgia peaches.

This recipe takes the goodness of a peach cobbler, complete with the graham cracker sweetness and the peach juiciness and transposes it into a healthier smoothie version. By using fat free Greek yogurt and Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Vanilla I’m able to pack in more protein and reduce the calories. The swap of the Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Vanilla in place of skim milk saves 30 calories alone in just one serving!

So take out your blender, grab the freshest peaches you can find, and bring back memories of delicious peach cobblers as you sip the stress of the day away!

B&Wpeach

Peach Cobbler Smoothie

Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 cup Low Fat Greek Vanilla Yogurt

1 cup frozen or fresh sliced peaches

1 graham cracker rectangle, or 2 squares

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp agave nectar

1 cup Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Vanilla

Directions

Add all ingredients to blender, in the above order, and blend until smooth. Depending on the consistency of the smoothie you want, you may need to add a few ice cubes, especially if you use fresh peaches instead of frozen.

nutritionals

 

Be sure to check out Silk Pure Almond website and Facebook page to see more delicious, creative recipes!

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and FitFluential, LLC. All opinions are my own. Learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook andTwitter.

Share Button
Follow:

Diet to Go Review

Sometimes my busy schedule doesn’t allow for me or Bo to cook a full meal each night. We do our best to cook at least 3 times per week but the rest of the nights, what we have for dinner is anyone’s guess. Tonight, for example, I chose to push my legs through 4 fast miles next to Bo on the treadmill instead of cooking dinner. Instead of takeout or ordering in, we opted for filling smoothies.

 smoothie

Since I’d just finished a pretty tough 4 mile run at higher than normal paces, I added some much needed protein via almonds to this smoothie. Having a smoothie for dinner is something I crave but it has to pack in significant calories in order to help my body recover after the workout.

The rest of the time, the ad-hoc dinners aren’t always the easiest. Therefore, when Diet to Go, a new to me meal delivery service, offered to send me some of their meals to review I jumped at the offer. Breakfast, lunch and dinner delivered to my door step just in time for a busy week before traveling to Geneva? It sounded like a dream come true! After studying their website, I got even more excited.

  • They have multiple types of meal plans including traditional, low fat, low carb and vegetarian.
  • They were just voted #1 in a national taste test by Epicurious
  • The meals can be frozen for up to a month or  they also last 5-6 days in the refrigerator.
  • Their site allows you to customize and make substitutions to your deliver meal plan based on needs

But, the real test would come when I was able to finally taste the meals. I’ve never been a huge fan of frozen meals due primarily to the high sodium, lack of flavor, small portions, and lack of protein or nutrients. I was a bit hesitant to give these meals a try as I figured I’d look like a bloated balloon due to the sodium.

But, I figured that I’d give it a try and enjoy the leisure of not having to think about breakfast, lunch or dinner during a busy week.

Diet to Go collage

 Here’s a glance of the meals I had the opportunity to try:

Breakfast

  • Cranapple muffin, cran-orange cream cheese, orange
  • Whole wheat monte cristo, raspberry maple syrup, citrus yogurt salad
  • Fajita omelet

Lunch

  • Waldorf chicken salad, V-8, snack mix
  • Pretzel and broccoli cheddar soup
  • Fish sandwich, apple

Dinner

  • Chicken stir-fry
  • Old fashioned meatloaf
  • Quesadilla

So, what’d I think when all was said and done? The meals definitely delivered on protein and flavor but I questioned the amount of sugar and sodium. Some of the breakfasts included syrups, cream cheese, and jams that I just felt unnecessary. In addition, a few of the sides such as an apple, V-8, or carrots would be difficult to freeze and enjoy later even though they advertise that the meals can be frozen or kept in the refrigerator. I don’t think I’d choose to use Diet to Go for all my meals but I can certainly see the benefit to having a few frozen dinners in the fridge for nights like tonight.

How about you? Have you ever relied on frozen meals as easy options or do you make your own frozen meals?

Interested in trying it out for yourself? They’re also offering 20% off through 1/31 and giving away 1,000 meals on Facebook.

 

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

Share Button
Follow:

Healthier Shrimp Laksa Recipe

Happy Monday!

My goal this week is to post each day even though I’m in Geneva for business. My days are a bit crazy considering that meetings start around 7am with breakfast connects and then end with dinners after a long day of larger meetings. Many of my colleagues are based here in Geneva and therefore I’ve only met them via phone. It’s so lovely to finally meet them in person and connect!

Today’s post is a fun challenge for a Monday. Bo and I both enjoy cooking together but it’s rare that we actually create recipes. Back in November, as part of the Fitfluential Silk Campaign, we created three recipes. My favorite of the three is actually one that is more complicated than the average weeknight recipe but so much fun to make when you have some spare time, such as next Monday if you have the Martin Luther King Day holiday off from work or school!

There is nothing Bo and I rather do than crack open a bottle of wine and spend the evening in the kitchen cooking together. Cooking together soothes both our souls after a long week. During the week our recipes tend to be simple and quick, sometimes even relying on smoothies for a dinner option. But, when we’re cooking during the weekend putting a unique twist on a restaurant favorite or trying our hand at a new genre provides us with a welcome challenge.

This dish looks complicated based on the ingredient list but is actually a lot of fun and provides you with an opportunity to peruse your local Asian food store and try your hand at cooking with new flavors.  We put a healthier spin on this dish, without losing any of the important flavor components by using light coconut milk, Shirataki noodles, and Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Original. Using  PureAlmond Unsweetened in recipes allows us to get the smooth and delicious texture of milk but saves at 30 calories per serving, is free of lactose and cholesterol!

So, without further ado, grab your apron and hop in the kitchen for some fun with this dish! As you can see from the picture below, it presents wonderfully too!

Ashley Diamond Healthier Shrimp Laksa

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs shrimp (peeled and deveined, shells saved)
  • Freshly ground black pepper, dash
  • Kosher salt, dash
  • 4 tbsp canola oil
  • 2 tbsp chopped celery
  • 2 tbsp chopped carrots
  • 2 tbsp chopped white onion
  • 2 tbsp chopped garlic cloves
  • 1 lemongrass stalk (hard outer layers removed and chopped)
  • 2 tbsp whole coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp black peppercorn
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 4 whole cloves
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • 3-8 dried Arbol chili peppers (seeded) (available at most grocery stores or any ethnic store)
  • 3 sliced shallots
  • 1 tbsp shrimp paste (available at a good Asian market)
  • 1 tbsp. minced ginger
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • ½ can (~7oz) of coconut cream
  • 1 cup of Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Original
  • 3 cups of bean sprouts
  • 4 packages of wide tofu noodles (Shirataki is a good brand)
  • Freshly chopped mint & cilantro
  • Fresh limes
  • Sambal Oelek or Sriracha for seasoning broth

For the Shrimp Stock

Note: This step is optional and 4 cups of reduced sodium chicken stock can be substituted.

Sautee celery, carrots, white onion, garli in a medium stock pot in oil on medium.

Add 2tbps chopped lemongrass, ½ tsp of black pepper and ½ tsp of kosher  salt, sautéing for 2 minutes, until sweating.

Add shrimp shells, sauté briefly until shells are pink and aromatic.

Add cold water until entire mixture is barely covered.

Increase heat to high and bring mixture to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1-2 hours.

For the Laksa Broth

Mix all spices and chilies together in a spice grinder or food processor and grind.

Transfer to small pan on medium heat, moving constantly, toasting until aromatic.

Heat 2 tbsp oil on medium-high heat in a large sauce pan.

Add shallots, shrimp paste, ginger, remainder of lemon grass, sugar, 3 tsp kosher salt and toasted spice mixture to pan and sauté’ until onions are slightly caramelized (about 3 min).

Add coconut cream and almond milk to pan, increase heat to high and bring to a boil.

Add prepared shrimp stock (or chicken stock) and simmer until fat separates from broth (~20 mins).

While broth is simmering, briefly boil sprouts to soften and divide into four large noodle bowls.

Transfer tofu noodles into a colander and risk well under cold water (if you don’t rinse, they will have a strong tofu flavor).

Press noodles in paper towel to remove moister (its often worth repeating several times as tofu noodles absorb many times their weight in water and can dilute the broth if not dried well).

Divide noodles and add to bowls with sprouts.

Right before serving, lightly salt and pepper the shrimp and add to broth and cook for 1 – 2 minutes until shrimp are almost opaque (they will continue cooking so they can still be a little translucent).

Ladle shrimp and broth into bowls with noodles and sprouts and serve with lime wedges, mint, cilantro and sambal.

For your reference, I’ve included the nutritional information below. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info

Servings per recipe: 6

Calories: 336

Total Fat: 15.6

Cholesterol: 294.7

Sodium: 781

Total Carbs: 16.8

Dietary Fiber: 5.2

Protein: 35.5

Enjoy!

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and Fitfluential, LLC. All opinions expressed are my own. Learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter.

Share Button
Follow: