Healthier Hair, Skin, and Nails--The benefits of a Green Smoothie

I had some spinach, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, celery, bananas, and an apple on hand the other day and then I remembered that I'd read up about green smoothies a few months ago and wanted to try one. The main thing for the green smoothie is: some kind of green vegetable(s), banana for the consistency, ice and water, and then a natural sweetener. I've heard some people use agave, coconut water, or fruit for sweetener. In this batch, I used:

1-2 cup fresh spinach leaves
1/2 banana
1/4 green apple
1 cup ice cubes
about 1/3 water

It came out realllly smooth and sweet from the banana and apple


Green smoothies have benefits such as: more energy, you're getting your vegetables and fruits raw with all the vital nutrients and minerals the body needs, easier to consume in one glass than eating vegetables/fruits several times throughout the day, easier for the body to absorb and consume in this blended state. Read about more benefits here: Ode to Green Smoothie

My Sweetie made burgers

Well this could be considered a little gourmet, maybe?

This is my first time eating a burger with anything other than lettuce, tomato, pickle and ketchup. These are turkey burgers pre-seasoned with diced tomato, bell pepper, and cheese from Jennie O.I'm not sure of my boyfriend's recipe, but I had spinach and melted pepper jack on my burger and it was too good! He had a spinach, ricotta cheese, and chopped onion mix, along with some fresh tomatoes and shredded cheese. The first picture is mine. The second is his plate.

Decided to try Stuffed Chicken last night

So, I had some chicken breasts in the freezer and I took it out and put it in the fridge to thaw. By the time it thawed I wanted to put it back into the freezer and nap LOL. But, I don't think you can re-freeze chicken that you've just thawed so I forced myself on into the kitchen.

My first thought was to chop up the chicken, pull out some pasta, and make chicken fettuccine alfredo. But I did a quick recipe search on Allrecipes.com for chicken recipe ideas. I saw a picture for Spinach Stuffed Chicken and it looked yummy. I didn't have all the ingredients for it though so I sort of substituted some ingredients and added a little extra.


INGREDIENTS:
Chicken Breast halves

Thawed Frozen Spinach

Sauteed Mushrooms

Olive oil

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Onion Powder

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbs. Grated Romano cheese

2 tbs. Softened Cream cheese

1 tbs. Ricotta

1 tbs. Shredded Fontina cheese

2 slices Pepper Jack

1 tsp. Oregano

1/2 tsp. Italian seasonings

3 dashes Nutmeg

3 dashes Black pepper

Slices of Turkey Bacon

Paprika

Parsely

Melted butter

WHAT I DID:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thaw the spinach in a bowl in the microwave. Chop up sauteed mushrooms (i used a chopper) and add to spinach. Add the ricotta, parmesan, romano, fontina, pepper jack, and cream cheese to the vegetables and mix until fairly smooth. Stir in garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, italian seasoning, nutmeg, and pepper.

Lay the chicken breasts out on a clean surface, and flatten or pound to 1/2 inch thickness. Spoon some of the spinach mixture onto each one (about 2 tbsp). Roll up chicken to enclose the spinach, then wrap each chicken breast with 1-2 slices of bacon. Secure with toothpicks, and arrange in a shallow baking dish. Pour melted butter or olive oil over chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and chicken is cooked through. Garnish with paprika and/or parsley.



NEXT TIME I MAY TRY:
Next time I'll try to follow the original recipe a little closer using more ricotta cheese. I want the cheese to be a little stiffer so that it doesn't melt into the baking dish so much. Also I may try adding in another veggie. The chopped mushroom was a nice touch!