Homemade 100% Natural Ice Cream!

Just 150 calories for the entire recipe! Shared between 2 people & that's just 75 calories. No artificial ANYTHING & you don't even need one of those fancy shmancy ice cream makers that take freaking FOREVER! I should know, we had one growing up! lol

The almonds are extra! I had just a small handful left, so I decided to process them & use them as a topping on mine! Casey didn't want any :(

This "recipe" will make approximately 1 cup of ice cream...but I am not a follower of recipes, so just do with it what you want! This is how I did this particular one though:

6 strawberries
1/4 cup blueberries
1 banana
1/4 cup milk (optional...I used almond milk)

The step you do beforehand is freeze the fruit. I make my "ice cream bags" beforehand & just pull one out when I am in the need for ice cream. I keep them in individual ziplock baggies.

In a food processor, you're going to toss in your frozen fruit & just blend until it looks yummy & smooth. If you see it's too stiff, then add the milk to it (or I guess you can try water if you're really watching your calories). Insta ice cream in less than a minute!!!

Enjoy!

xo,
Nancy

Watermelon Salad

OMG! Who would have thought that watermelon, cucumber, feta cheese & kalamata olives would taste sooo good together!!! 

Ingredients:

6 cups watermelon (diced)
1 cucumber (diced, I sliced for this one & it was just too difficult to eat)
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup kalamata olives
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp black pepper
parsley

Mix it all together & enjoy! So glad I have some watermelon left over for another round of this salad!

xo,
Nancy

Veggie Souffle

And it didn't collapse! lol I am not sure how true the old wives' tale is, but I am still happy for that! lol. I will def be making veggie souffles more often, considering how super easy it was!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups egg whites

3 cups of veggies (I used carrots, broccoli, mushroom, onion & tomato)

1/2 cup 75% reduced fat cheese (I used Cabot's!!!)

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbps Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Chop up the veggies & mix all the ingredients together (except for the parm cheese) & pour in a baking dish. Top off with the parm cheese. Bake for 40 minutes. Enjoy!

I have no idea how many servings this could have made, but the ENTIRE RECIPE had just a tad over 400 calories & that's including the cheeses. If you eliminate all the cheeses, then it's just a bit over 300 (for the entire recipe!) I know, freaking awesome! It's like a veggie cake! lol

Enjoy!

xo,

Nancy

Fufu Recipe - Ripe Plantains!

Yes, I know the name is funny, but this is actually quite good! I am a fan of mofongo, however I let my plantains go ripe before I got a chance to use them. After searching, this recipe is kinda like mofongo, but made with the ripe plantains. It's origins come from Ghana & you can read more about it on it's Wikipedia page.

Ingredients:

Onions (to taste)
Garlic (to taste)
Ripe/Yellow Plantains (I used 3, but figure out 1 per person)
1 oz of pork rinds per person (I use pork rinds bc it's a lot easier than bacon, but bacon or facon is perfectly acceptable!)

You are going to peel the plantains & put them to boil for about 10 mins. While that's going, saute the garlic & onions until they are fully cooked. In a pilon (mortar & pestle), smash the pork rinds. Once everything has been done, drain the water from the plantains & then mash them. Add the garlic, onions & pork rinds & you're done!!!

Each serving is just a little under 300 calories and has tons of Vitamin A, Vitamin C & Dietary Fiber!!!

Enjoy!

xo,
Nancy

No Bake Almond Clusters - Less than 100 calories each!!!

This one is just super easy to make!!! I decided to use a mini cupcake pan to make these. Just super convenient & easy. This recipe makes 12. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup hemp seed

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

2 tbsp coconut oil

In a food processor, combine first 3 ingredients & process until finely chopped. Put aside. You're then going to melt the chocolate (I do mine in the microwave at 15 sec intervals & stirring in between) Then line the cupcake pan with the liners & drop one tsp of the almond/cranberry mixture & press down. Then you're going to add some chocolate on top & then add another 1 tsp of the almond/cranberry mixture & push down some more. Do this until you're done & just put in the fridge for an hour or so!

Enjoy!

xo,

Nancy

Cold Quinoa Salad

So, this was my first time EVER cooking with cumin...so I was excited to try this recipe out! I took a lot of steps in making this recipe because I used dried black beans that were soaked & then cooked before I even started the actual recipe. Doing this will eliminate any additional sodium when buying the canned black beans & of course...who wants their food sitting in an aluminum can that's lined with BPA! Sounds yummy to me! lol

Here are my black beans soaking! You can get these (and similar carbs) for super cheap if you buy them in bulk at Whole Foods or another health food store. 99% of the time organic!

And this is the finished product! The original recipe called for red peppers, but Casey & any type of peppers don't get along, so I substituted them with tomatoes. This is a cold salad, by the way!

Ingredients

3 cups cooked quinoa (this is approx 1 1/2 cups of dried uncooked quinoa)

1 cucumber, diced

1/4 cup onion (I LOVE my sweet Vidalia onions!)

1 cup corn

1 cup cooked black beans

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cheyenne pepper

3 tbsp cilantro (I didn't have any at the time & substituted the cilantro with parsley)

And MIX!!!! lol

I never figured out how many cups it made, so it would be hard to give any sort of individual nutritional information. However it made a lot! Casey & I had about 2 cups ea & then I had enough for 3 smaller servings for leftovers. The entire recipe does have 3,063 calories (a tad over 1,000 coming from the quinoa), but the great news is is that it has NO bad points!!!

Enjoy!

xo,

Nancy

Coconut Nola Bars - 122 calories each!!!

These came out fantastical!!!! And Casey asked me to make them again...so that's always a good sign that they were yummy! Real easy to make, although I think next time I'll just roll them into balls. 

This recipe made 12 squares & the info reflected below is based off of one square/serving. 

Ingredients:

15 dates

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup cashews

3/4 cup shredded *UNSWEETENED* coconut 

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp water

In a food processor, you're going to blend the almonds, cashews & coconut flakes first. Once that has been blended, you're going to add the dates, coconut oil & water & blend some more.

Once everything has been mixed, you're going to line a 8x4 loaf pan with parchment paper (although I used wax paper). Add the mix & spread evenly. I then cover the mixture with the paper that's hanging over & push down to get it nice & tight. Refrigerate for a little bit, then remove the mixture by the parchment paper & cutting into squares. I don't have a pizza slicer (you'd think I would though with the kitchen full of accessories that I have! lol) so the edges were kinda wonky, but still yummy!

Calories 122

Total fat 8.6g

Sat fat 4.1g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 2mg

Total Carbs 11.3g

Dietary Fiber 1.9g

Sugars 7.3g

Protein 2.1g

Good Points

No cholesterol

Very low in sodium

Bad Points

High in saturated fat

High in sugar

Enjoy!

xo,

Nancy

 

Detox Water - My Way!

The key to any sort of success is to stay consistent. I will say that this is Day 5 of me drinking my Detox Water & I am down at least 5 lbs (Long story short, I weighed myself before a weekend getaway, but didn't have the nerve to get my "to date" weight when I started)

I've seen a few detox recipes, so I kinda came up with my own. All of them wanted you to just cut up the fruit & place it in the water. Well, I did it sort of differently! 

Ingredients:

1 cucumber
2 lemons
2 oranges
1 grapefruit
mint leaves
1 empty gallon

So, I run everything through my juicer (mint leaves go first), then I add the juice to the empty water gallon & then fill up the rest of the gallon with water. Keep it cold & I make sure that it is all gone by the end of the day. I don't use any sweetener. If you don't have the juicer, then cut up the fruit & add water & allow to sit overnight. 

Enjoy!

Nancy
xo