Pumpkin Spice Smoothie - Fantastic!

Somewhere in my internet-browsing this morning, I came across this Pumpkin Spice Smoothie on fitsugar.  It caught my eye!  Recipe is from the blog eating bird food and can be found [here].

When I got home from work, I decided I would make it.  For once, I already had all the ingredients listed in a recipe.  I didn't have a real lunch because my afternoon was crazy at work, and I don't know when the hubs will be home for dinner today, so I made it as soon as I got home.

In case you didn't click on the recipe link, here are the ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pumpkin (canned or freshly cooked)
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• Approx. 2 T vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• pinch of ground ginger

Note: I have refrigerated unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  

Pumpkin from Trader Joe's. I don't usually go out of my way for organic.

Vanilla protein powder by BioChem (isn't that a high school science class?)

I just liked the way the almond milk sat on top of the pumpkin mush.

Finished product!

The verdict?  Thumbs up.  Fantastic!

My only regret is that I did not have pre-frozen banana.  I will be sure to have some in the freezer for the next time I make this (yes, there will be a next time!)  After making it, I threw in a couple ice cubes to swirl around since the only thing cold in this was the almond milk.

Thanks to eating bird food for this great smoothie recipe!  I have not checked out her site before, but I am appreciative of her sharing her recipe with fitsugar!

And because of my hectic afternoon (today was a long day... is it really only Tuesday?), I am looking forward to one of these later tonight.  Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale.  A nice amber-y pale ale.

PS, hello to any new readers!

"Smoothie" & ifitness Test Run

I made a smoothie last night.  I'm using the term smoothie loosely, and only calling it that because it involved a real banana.

I wanted to make it with coconut milk as well, however, when I opened up the coconut milk leftovers, it smelled a little funky so down the drain it went.  I added a little skim milk and a couple ice cubes.  And because of the ice cubes, I actually made it in our blender, instead of with the hand mixer.

I went to bed with the intention of running in the morning.  I laid out all my stuff last night.  My alarm went off at something like 6:45 this morning and it was still dark out.  My throat was a little dry (I really hope I'm not getting sick)  so I drank some water. And I decided to get back in bed and sleep in until 7:30 instead.  That gave me 8 full hours of sleep.  Since I may be fighting off a cold, I think I made the right choice (though maybe not the best choice with regard to my beverage last night).

I had nothing going on after work today so I went for a run when I got home from work instead.  Tried out my ifitness double pouch on my 4.3 mile run.

I brought my camera with me hoping to snap some pretty fall shots.  The leaves are not as vibrant as I'd expect!  And some are still green. Must be too early.  Regardless, if I haven't said it enough already, I love the park we live near.

It was easy enough to get my camera in and out of the pouch, and I didn't have to worry about "what if I lose my balance and fall on my face, using my camera to catch my fall."  It was comfortable to wear.  It did not ride up; it stayed below the waist band of my shorts the whole time.  The pouch did not jiggle with the camera inside.  I tried the belt with the pouch in a number of positions (front, both sides, back).  I couldn't feel the pouch on me, except for when the pouch with camera inside was resting on my bum - it kinda moved with my bum-muscles.  I found it more comfortable slightly off center: on my back/hip, side, or front/side.  Between my shorts and my ifitness belt, it did get a little warm (not quite sweaty), but my camera stayed dry inside.

Apple smoothie and a 4 mile run

Creative title, I know.

This morning I tried an "Apple Pie Smoothie" based on a recipe I stumbled upon over on the blog How Sweet it Is.  When I came across it online, it sounded really delicious!  And I did like the taste, but I think if I made this again, I would make a couple changes.

First, I would peel the apple (maybe that's obvious to others, but it didn't occur to me when I made this while half asleep this morning).  It blended well, but there was still some chewiness that was clearly the peel.

Second: My microwave is older, so I needed to microwave the apples for more like 90-100 seconds instead of the recommended 60.  The apples were nice and soft, however they were also hot!  Next time I'd heat the apples ahead of time and then chill or freeze so I wasn't starting with a warm smoothie.

I did make a couple modifications to the recipe; I added some frozen banana (largely to cool it down), I added a little bit of some local wildflower honey, and a little extra milk (also to cool it down).

In searching for Apple Pie smoothies, I came across another recipe, "Apple Pie in the Sky," here, involving applesauce, and a whole bunch of ingredients that would not be as readily available as those in the first recipe I linked to.

Some other Apple smoothies [that I have not tried yet]:
-Apple Pie Smoothie (Apple Pumpkin Banana) from allrecipes
-Apple Pie Smoothie (involves Coconut Oil? I don't have that on hand) from The Creative Pot
-Apple Pie Smoothie II from Smoothie Web

Have you made an apple smoothie before?

Do you have any other "fall" smoothie suggestions?

In fitness news, I went for a comfortable-paced 4.35 mile run after work today.  Nice and comfortable (yeah, I know I just said that word twice) in the low 70s with no direct sun as I didn't head out until 5:45.  A little buggy though, as it has rained for the last 2 days... I found a gnat in my hairline when I got home, and I pulled a gnat out of my eye!  Ew.  It's only my third run since the half marathon, but I'm enjoying not being on a 'training plan' at the moment.  No pressure to run a certain distance or at a certain pace!

I wore my Lululemon black circle mesh Cool Racerback and my new Lululemon Coal/Citron Fast shorts (I previously wrote about my black Fast shorts here).  I'm glad I bought a second pair of these shorts!

 

Observation: My new sneakers are only a month old and they are no longer that crisp white!  

I guess I have put 72 miles on them already (that's crazy!)

Have a good night!

Coffee Protein Smoothie...sort of

I recently became aware of Tone It Up. They have some great short videos on their site showcasing exercises to target various muscle groups. They also post recipes on their blog, and I recently became a fan on Facebook. TODAY, they posted this on facebook - right before I went to the gym.

(Screenshot from Tone It Up's Facebook page, as there's no link to it on their blog).
Click on the picture to make it bigger if it is hard to read.

As a self-proclaimed coffee addict, this sounds fantastic and the picture is makes me want iced coffee real bad. I didn't get to making coffee cubes yet. We only have 2 ice cube trays, and I need them both for water ice cubes in this weather. I'll have to buy another tray to use for trying out coffee cubes.

So I brewed some coffee right before I left for the gym. I just so happen to have almond milk in the fridge, because I bought some a couple weeks ago to try out for the first time. I'm not vegan or anything, and I consume plenty of dairy - I was just curious to know what almond milk was all about.

AND I picked up some protein powder at Whole Foods last week when I went there for Coconut Water. They had some nice small packets that I picked up for me to try whey protein for the first time. I think they were something like $1.19 each, but I can't find my receipt.

L: Chocolate Fudge; R: Vanilla

So I didn't keep exact measurements as I made this smoothie. But I knew that 8 ounces of Coffee, 4 ounces of Almond Milk, 2 ice cubes, a dash of cinnamon, and 1 tbsp Vanilla Protein Powder (I know that's less than a serving - but: baby steps) was not going to make much of a smoothie. Actually I mixed that up first only to find some of the liquid shooting out of my blender cup. It didn't taste fantastic. Really thin. So I added a small glop of greek yogurt. Plain, but hopefully enough to thicken it up. Nope, still thin. So I added a medium banana. Might as well get a little nutrition out of this. The banana really helped! It was still very drinkable but not too watery. The result was this:


No idea what the end product was, nutritionally-speaking. It contained something like 2 ounces of 2% greek yogurt, 8 ounces of Dunkin Donuts Dunkin Dark Roast coffee, 4 ounces of Silk Pure Almond Milk, 2 ice cubes, 1 tbsp of BioChem Vanilla Whey Protein (1/3 or 1/4 of a serving?), sprinkle of cinnamon, and a Medium Banana.

If I just used regular skim milk instead of almond milk + protein powder, it would probably result in the same amount of protein.

By the way, if you're curious, here is a (nutritional) comparison of Almond Milk to Skim Milk:

L: Almond Milk; R: Skim Milk

On the Almond Milk container, they compare Almond Milk with 1% Milk.
I can't say Almond Milk is healthier for you - but it's not a bad option if you can't or don't want to drink dairy. I have never tried Soy Milk so I cannot compare (nor am I interested in trying it. Long story, but it has to do with when I saw Wesley Willis live about 7 years ago.
Anyone know who Wesley Willis is? But I digress.)

The following comparisons are based on one cup of each kind of milk.

• Almond has 20 less calories than Skim
  
• Almond has 2.5g fat more than Skim
• Almond has 3g less of cholesterol than Skim
• Almond has 30mg more sodium than Skim
• Almond has 4g less carbs than Skim
• Almond has 1g more fiber than Skim
• Almond has 4g less sugars than Skim
• Almond has 7g less protein than Skim
• Vitamin A, Calcium, Vitamin D are the same

Anyone try Almond Milk? Thoughts? Any creative uses? I've only been using it in my coffee and the occasional smoothie. Not sure what I'm going to do with this whole container :)

Hemp Seed, Take 2

I tried Hemp Seed in my smoothie again yesterday morning.

This smoothie was after a 6.38 mile run which started in the upper 70s and warmed up to 80s temps and 80+ % humidity. Yuck!

Anyway, this was kind of improvised, with my main intention being to add a little more hemp seed. As I mentioned in my previous hemp seed smoothie post, I wanted to add some yogurt so it would be more filling. So I added some 2% plain greek yogurt:


I had already drank coconut water immediately following my run, so I didn't put it in this smoothie. Instead, I threw in some OJ so that I had a little more liquid to work with while blending. As it was late morning when I made this, this sort of served as my lunch to tie me over until I had something light in the early afternoon.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 5 strawberries
• ~3-4 ounces of Fage 2% Greek Yogurt
• 2 tbsp Hemp Seed
• a splash of Low Acid Tropicana Orange Juice (3 ounces?)
  
• 5 spoonfuls of frozen pomegranate seeds (Trader Joes)

I guess you can tell this one looks creamier than the one from earlier this week.
This was also good (I can't say I've had a bad one yet, I guess I've always tasted along the way and added something if it needed it). Couldn't necessarily pick out the hemp seed taste. Still getting used to pomegranate seeds too. You're supposed to be able to chew them, and it's kind of a weird consistency to get used to. I think my immersion blender broke them up a bit, but I still had some seeds to chew toward the end.

Here is the nutrition info:

Definitely more calories and fat than the last one. The main source of fat here would be the hemp seed and the 4 ounces of 2% greek yogurt. Fat free greek yogurt is also available. I may pick up some of the fat free to have on hand for smoothies - I like a little bit of fat in it when I am eating it on its own or with a little honey.

This smoothie has nearly 4x the amount of protein (thanks greek yogurt!) and a couple extra grams of fiber due to the pomegranate seeds.

New Food: Hemp Seed

Yesterday I went to a local "natural food" store that I have not yet been to, just to check it out. I went with the intention of buying something with protein in it that I can add to my fruity smoothies.

I had whey protein in mind, but the employee questioned why I was set on whey protein. I told her I wasn't; I was just looking for some protein. She tried to talk me into buying a pound of hemp seed, but I didn't want to commit to such a large quantity without being able to try it first, and it only came in a 16 ounce bag.

I instead came home with an 8 ounce bag of Shelled Hemp Seed, by Nutiva.

It was described to me as tasting kind of like sunflower seeds, I also read that it tastes like pine nuts. I'm not good at distinguishing specific flavors: I think it just tasted a little nutty.

One serving is 3 tbsp.
Those 3 tbsp contain 174 calories; 13.5g of fat (1g saturated fat, no trans fat); no cholesterol; no sodium; 2g of carbs, 1g fiber, 11g of protein; 16% of your iron + Omega 3 Fatty Acids, and some other vitamins that I don't normally pay attention to (see label below).

The whole Hemp seeds that the employee tried to talk me into would have had more fiber (5g per serving) because they had the shell on them still.

Here's what the shelled hemp seed looks like in the little container I use to make my smoothies:

Here's what I made my smoothie with:

• 5 medium-large strawberries
• one medium-large banana
• about half of this container of coconut water (6 ounces)
• 1 tbsp of hemp seed (Didn't want to overload in case I didn't like the flavor)
  

The instructions on the bag say to mix the 3 tbsp of hemp seed with 1 to 2 ounces of water "into a thick cream" before adding other smoothie ingredients. So I added a splash of water to the 1 tbsp of hemp seed and stirred it with a spoon. This is right around when my husband came in, noticed the bag of hemp seed, and said "What is this? Are you becoming a hippie?"

Can't say I got the mixture to be creamy, but close enough. I then added in my fruity ingredients and the coconut milk and used our fabulous Cuisinart Immersion Blender/Hand mixer. This thing totally beats our old blender. (Broken into two pieces so it can all fit in the picture).

And here is the finished product. 16 ounces of smoothie:

You can see the little whitish bits,
which is a combination of strawberry seeds and the hemp seed, I think.

All in all this was a success. It was thinner than I'm used to as I usually make mine with yogurt or kefir. If this were a post-workout smoothie, I probably would have added some for more protein; and I probably will the next time I make it so that it is more filling. I will probably try moving up to 2 tbsp of hemp seed next time too (baby steps).

Here's the nutritional info for this ~16 ounce smoothie:
(thanks to www.thedailyplate.com)