"Milkshake" obsession

I knocked over 6 other glasses, two containers of soap, a teapot, and a clock to get to this tall, clear glass in the picture. Then I stepped on some sort of unknown berries that are always appearing on our deck outside to get the mint garnish. I suffered for this picture. Enjoy it.

In all seriousness, you really have to try this recipe. There are alterations GALORE, so feel free to explore, and make it your own. This is MY own favorite ever. Yes, maybe even favorite food. You know, for the time being anyway.

It's healthy, decently low calorie, a good combination of carbs, protein, and fats, and it is cheap and easy. Did I mention the taste is TO DIE FOR?? Because it is. It can also be vegan if you sub the milk for almond milk or some other substitute and you change the whey protein to soy protein. I'm pretty sure the results will still be ridiculously wonderful, any way you slice it. I am currently continually on the search for those bags of cheap, overly ripe bananas for slicing and freezing, because I'm pretty sure we go through about 10-15 bananas a week these days, between Steve and me.

I call this my "workout shake," but who am I kidding?? It's 9:00 at night, I worked out 3 hours ago, and I'm craving a snack that won't make me mad at myself later on. Enter this shake. I'm pretty sure there isn't an appliance in my house more used than my lovely Martha Stewart blue Kitchenaid blender. (Thanks, mom! :D) Anyway, here's the recipe.

Choco-peanut butter banana bliss:

118 grams (one medium) banana- chopped and frozen

2 tbsp PB 2 Chocolate (this is a wonderful product available on amazon, with 85% fewer calories and fat than peanut butter, but if you don't have it/don't want to use it then use regular peanut butter. No sweat.)

1/4 cup whey protein. I use half Bob's Red Mill whey concentrate unflavored and half my husband's cheap protein that's cookies and cream flavored. I don't like using much of his because it makes me bloated (thanks, creatine!) but a little adds something to the shake. Plain or vanilla or chocolate protein or leave it out completely if you like will also work nicely.

1 cup milk of your choice

1 tbsp flax seeds, because I'm a health nut vegetarian, and I'm sure I'm not getting enough Omega 3's. ;)

Blend the dry ingredients with the milk until smooth and then add the banana and blend until smooth and creamy. It will be just like a milkshake, thick and slurpy! Garnish however you like.. or slurp it down like a kid. ;)

Impromptu lunch

There is no picture of this yet.. I am ashamed to admit to eating it all before I could snag one, and this is, as it says an impromptu situation. There doesn't need to be a picture just yet, because trust me, there will be many repeats of this meal. This is my quintessential impromptu meal: Pad Thai. There's always SOMETHING in the house that I can throw into a sweet, saucy mix topped with fresh peanuts. Why do we always seem to have everything needed for this dish?! Oh yeah, and for chocolate chip cookies. But the reason for that one is obvious. Perhaps they are just both so very crave-able? That's my take on it anyway. It's delicious, quick, healthy, and SUPER versatile. What I had today fit perfectly. I had a shredded up head of cabbage, half an onion, a clove of garlic, some shirataki noodles (Hooray! I finally found the perfect way to use those noodles!) an egg, and about half a fresh zucchini. Whatever you have will be fine, I assure you. So you don't have cabbage? Do you have spinach or another green? Pssh, then don't worry about it! You have carrots? Throw a couple of those in there. I'm serious, it's hard to go wrong. If I had my very pick of veggies, I'd go with bok choy, onion, garlic, and an egg. But honestly, you put in it whatever good, fresh veggies you want. Let's just say you don't have the right kind of noodles- you don't have rice noodles or shirataki noodles. But maybe you have fettuccine or linguine noodles. Go ahead and use those. They make it a bit heavier, but it's really okay. I've made it with all different types of noodles, and while my favorite is actually this shirataki I just used, everything works fine. Here's the "recipe." hehe, it just feels wrong to call it that!

Impromptu Pad Thai:

Serves 2 a decent lunch:

1 8 oz package of shirataki noodles, rinsed and in warm water. Drain and dry before using
2 eggs
1/2 a zucchini- julienne cut. Or whatever.
1/2 white onion, sliced very thin
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 clove garlic, finely chopped. But I'm lazy, so I use the fine cheese shredder..
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tsp sugar
1 tbsp light flavored oil
1 dash sriracha sauce
1 dash onion powder
1 dash ginger powder, or grate a little fresh. Whatever you want.
small handful of peanuts, chopped

First off, get your ingredients out and prepped. The cooking will be really quick and you don't want to be scrambling to get something chopped up while your eggs are burning. So once everything is prepped, you'll start by scrambling your eggs. No salt, no nothing. Just scramble and remove from the pan. Set aside. Then you'll need to start your veggies to cooking. Put the onion, garlic, and zucchini in a hot pan with the oil and the rest of the seasonings. Cook it for about 4-5 minutes, and then add your noodles, making sure they are decently dried before adding them. I put in a handful of peanuts then, and stirred it all around until the noodles have soaked up a good bit of the sauce, maybe 3 more minutes. I then toss in the eggs, stir around a bit, plate it up, sprinkle with peanuts and thai basil (because it's in my garden) and voila! Delicious! And so quick and easy.. This will likely be a common impromptu meal of yours as well! Pictures coming, I swear!