Chocolate Peanut Butter "Milkshake"

 

My family and I rely a lot on smoothies and "milk shakes" for snacks and meals. This is one my most favorites. It tastes nothing like health food! Please trust me on these ingredients and just give this a shot. It can be a meal or dessert...

Ingredients:

5-6 ice cubes

1 cup of unsweetened vanilla "Silk" almond milk- this brand has great ingredients

1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese

2 tsp of cocoa

2 tsp of a stevia blend- or any sweetener you enjoy.

heaping tsp of natural peanut butter- I use the Smucker's brand

1 scoop of Swanson's protein powder- again, great ingredients

Add all of the ingredients, except the protein powder, in a blender and blend until very, very smooth. Once it is blended, add the protein powder. This will turn it into a meal. You can enjoy this shake without it but it will not be as thick and creamy. 

 

Here is a link to the protein powder we use... I have several other smoothie variations here on my blog and we use this is each one. 

 

Swanson's Whey Protein Powder

 

Chocolate or Vanilla Birthday Cupcakes

 

 My goal was to come up with a cupcake recipe that would make this special treat easy on you and you would never again need to turn to the grocery store bakery for sugar laden, artificial ingredients and preservative filled "treats". These cupcakes are so much more delicious and you can feel good about your little ones... and yourself eating them!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients for the chocolate cupcakes: 

Dry:

1 3/4 cups of white whole wheat flour

3/4 cup of cocoa

1 1/2 tsp of baking soda

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

Wet:

2 eggs

1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt

1 cup of milk or almond milk

1/2 cup of light olive oil

1 tsp vanilla

Last:

1/2 cup of hot coffee

Sift or whisk the dry ingredients and set aside. Mix the wet ingredients until smooth. Slowly stir the dry into the wet. Once the dry is just mixed in, add the hot coffee and mix. Fill cupcake papers no more than 3/4 of the way full. They really rise up. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Until just firm. 

*For the vanilla cupcakes, I left out the cocoa, added 3 tsp of vanilla and use hot water instead of coffee. The whole wheat flour will leave them looking like yellow cupcakes* 

 

This is the flour and sugar that I use. I buy both of them at Walmart. They are both Non-GMO. 

 

This is another way to use this cake recipe. Ganache is a wonderful way to top these cupcakes. You can cool the Ganache and whip it up like chocolate whipped cream! It so, so perfect! Easy and delicious! 

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/chocolate-raspberry-layer-cake-with.html

"No Drive Thru Window" Shamrock Shake

Skip the drive thru and give your body a Shamrock shake that has nutritional benefits in every sip!

Ingredients:

5 ice cubes

1 1/2 cups of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/4 cup of low fat cottage cheese

2 tsp sweetener of your choice - we use a stevia blend

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 scoop of Swanson's protein powder

2 drops of pure peppermint extract

small handful of fresh spinach

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until very smooth. We add a scoop of Swanson's protein powder and it becomes more of a meal! Pretty good meal if you ask me!

Weekly Menu Plan

 

 

Here's the second installment of the weekly meal plan! I hope that some of you made some new dishes last week and found some new go to favorites for your family! On the menu this week is two vegetarian meals and three meals that use chicken. I thought it would be nice to be able to buy one protein and use it in several different ways. This means you will need a large pack of chicken to feed a family of four, several times. Any of the chicken meals can be changed over to vegetarian by simply using white beans in place.

 

 

 

Kale and Purple Cabbage stir fry

Add chicken and broccoli to this to make it a full meal or leave as a rice or kale side dish to some oven roasted chicken breasts. More details in the recipe link.

 

 

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/kale-and-cabbage-sautee.html

 

http://www.kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/parmesan-and-thyme-roasted-chicken.html

 

 

 

 

Vegie Bagel

 

 

 

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/01/vegie-bagel.html

Spring Mix Salad with our favorite dressing!

Add some sautéed chicken, strawberries and almonds to complete as a meal

 



http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/03/maple-toasted-sesame-dressing.html

Chicken and Pasta with a Lemon and Parmesan sauce

 



http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/lemon-basil-pasta-with-lemon-parmesan.html

 

 

 

This is our "trying together" meal. I've never made these either but I am excited to try! Greek Chicken Gyros from Annie's Eats. One of my favorite blogs! I am looking forward to it too!

 





http://www.annies-eats.com/2009/06/02/chicken-gyros/

 

Please leave comments to let me know that you have used the menu plan and found it useful! Thanks!

Weekly Menu Plan

 

So here we go! My first meal plan here on my blog! It's so exciting to m that I have so many lovely people who use my recipes and have made them their own "go-to" choices for their meals! Of course, I want this to be the most useful for you all so please comment suggestions or questions and we can make this weekly post the best for you all! My plan is to post 4-5 meals a week leaving the day of the week up to you. The shopping list will be a rough one, assuming that you already have the standard ingredients that most recipes use. I am going to use recipes from my site and I will also pick one from one of my many favorite food blogs, giving them the credit of course.

Thank you so much for supporting my passion!

Enjoy!

 

Vegie Egg Rolls

 

 

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2010/08/vegie-egg-rolls-with-sweet-and-sour.html

Cheesy Gnocchi and Vegetable Chowder

 



 

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html

Sausage and Pepper Pasta with Homemade Parmesan and Herb Bread

 



 

 

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/sausage-and-peppers-pasta.html

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/garlic-herb-and-parmesan-crusted-bread.html

Chicken Fajita Salad with a Cilantro and Lime Vinaigrette

 



http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2014/01/fajita-salad-with-cilantro-and-lime.html

 

 

 

My Super Bowl food pick is this wing recipe by Daphne Oz. I don't have a picture to use because I haven't made them yet but I am sure they will be a crowd pleaser! There is one change I am going to make to them. Instead of wings, I am going to chunk up some chicken breasts and marinate them overnight. I plan to pan seer them and then bake them in this sauce. I also think that this method would be AMAZING with some broccoli added while baking and served over brown rice for dinner. That is why I am adding this to the weekly meal plan! Let's comment on what we think of this new recipe!

 

http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/blow-your-mind-baked-chicken-wings-daphne-oz

 

 

 

I also wanted to add a snack to make for your family. Maybe something you've never made before. I chose my homemade granola bars! They are really wonderful.

 

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/chewy-cranberry-and-mini-chocolate-chip.html

 

 

Consider trying a new habit of smoothie making. I have a smoothie each day. If it's not my breakfast then it is my lunch. It has brought an easy and portable way to get fruits and vegies into my day! Here's my link for my smoothie and some other healthy snack and meal ideas.

 

http://kellyscozykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-morning-smoothie.html

 

 

 

Grocery List

 

 

Vegetables and Produce Dept.

Broccoli Slaw

Egg Roll Wrappers

Onions

Bell Peppers

Celery

Potatoes

Cilantro

Limes

Ginger root

Scallions

Salad

 

 

Other Products

Frozen soup vegies -carrots, peas, corn
Canned Pineapple in it's own juice

Chicken Broth

Whole Wheat Pasta (dream fields low carb is good too)

Brown Rice
Gnocchi

Yeast packets

Cornstarch

Salsa

 

Dairy

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

 

Meat

Any of the meat meals could be turned into a Vegetarian Meal

Italian Sausage- I used Turkey

Chicken Breasts

 

*I've picked meals that use the same ingredients twice. When you're cutting peppers, just take the extra few minutes to slice up all the peppers and then for your next meal, you'll already be prepped. 

 

*This list didn't include the snack or the smoothie ingredients*

*Read over the recipes to make sure you have the "staples" such as olive oil, garlic powder, honey, soy sauce, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, unbleached sugar, white whole wheat flour, parmesan "shaker" cheese.

*Walmart sells both the unbleached or raw sugar and the white whole wheat flour. In my opinion, just switching those two ingredients can bring much better health to your family*

These are the two that I use. They are both GMO free! I get them at Walmart.

 

 

Purple Smoothie Popsicle

 

We've become a smoothie household. This is my kids favorite smoothie "flavor" They call it their purple monster smoothie. It is often the main part of their lunch meal. I happened to have some leftover last smoothie round and that's when the popsicle idea happened. What kid doesn't rejoice at the sound of the word popsicle? We mama's you'll rejoice at the sight of them slurping these wonderful blends of fruits, vegetable and other nutritional heroes down!

 

Popsicles you will WANT your kids to want!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup of water, milk or almond milk

1/2 cup of frozen strawberries

1/2 cup of frozen blueberries

2 frozen bananas

2 big handfuls of fresh spinach

1/2 cup of plain yogurt- I make my own. I can explain in a comment if you're curios

2-3 TBSP ground flax seeds

 

Blend up super smooth in a blender and freeze in your favorite popsicle molds.

I used a BPA free set we got off of Amazon.



Deliciously Dense Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake really hits that spot. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about! Raise fork, take a bite, close your eyes and smile... spot. This cake wouldn't necessarily be a go to choice  for a light and fluffy cupcake. It's more of a mix between a brownie and a flourless cake. I know, sounds like it has multiple personalities! It actually does because it is also a vegan cake!  The addition of the apple cider vinegar replaces the need for eggs and gives it it's dense and fudgy consistency. I like this recipe for those days when you need something fast and easy to get into the oven for a quick chocolate fix. Try it and let me know how you like it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:



1 cup warm coffee or water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup light olive oil
1 cup unbleached sugar
1 1/4 cups flour-I use unbleached white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp apple cider vinegar

I add the ingredients into a bowl or my mixer just as listed. I stir to combine and bake. It's that easy! I have made both cupcakes and a small 8x8 cake. Both bake very quickly. Check at 12 minutes and keep an eye on them closely after that. As soon as the top is firm, they're done.

These can be topped with a number of yummy things. Fresh whipped cream, a ganache or just a dusting of powdered sugar.

Life is good...



*Because this is a vegan cake, you could under-bake it and serve with ice cream. Sort of a one dish lava cake for the family! I haven't tried this yet but will update this blog when I do*