There has always been a strong bond between peanut butter and chocolate. As a kid my favorite Halloween candy had to be Reese’s Peanut Butter cups hands down!

While I still like one on occasion now there are healthier ways I use to find my chocolate and peanut butter fix. One of our better selling products, to a couple of bakeries and ice cream shops, is our Organic Fair Trade Cocoa Powder. What is not to love about the combination of organic and fair trade!

And then about 6 months ago we picked up another amazing product — Organic Fair Trade Cacao Nibs. Neither the cacao nibs nor the cocoa powder possesses that traditional chocolate flavor that most of us associate with chocolate. Instead of that familiar sweetness these give you a purer, more natural chocolate flavor – deeply rich and even just a bit bitter but these are spectacular.

Our raw organic cacaos beans and cocoa powder is sourced from the Dominican Republic. After harvesting the beans are cleaned and then air roasted. Next they move to a winnower machine that partially crushes the beans and removes the outer shell. At this stage of the process this product is known as cacao nibs. This is where the nibs are pulled, packaged and sent to our supplier. Other nibs continue further into the process where they are turned into a superior grade of cocoa powder that is used in some of the finest chocolates.

Cacao Nibs

I really like experimenting with the cacao nibs and these have found a regular spot in my morning oatmeal. I have also been trying out some new healthy smoothies and this one incorporated both the cocoa powder and cacao nibs. Of course the peanut butter just put it right over the top for me.
Ingredients

1 Medium Banana
2 Tsp Flaxseed
1 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
½ Cup Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt
1 Tbsp Cacao Nibs
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
6 Ice Cubes
Directions

1. Add all ingredients to your blend and mix thoroughly

Servings 1

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Protein 17g
Carbs 34g
Fat 12g
Fiber 13g
Sodium 180 mg
Sugar 25g
Calories 300*

*The cacao nibs accounted for 42 calories and 4 grams of fat.

I love smoothies and I have at least one and sometimes as many as three a day.  Healthy smoothies make the best quick to prepare, light meals. Light meals are those smaller calorie meals in between your bigger meals. This of course is the cornerstone of a good nutrition plan where you consume 5-6 meals per day (men should shoot for 6 meals and women 5).

I like to go with three slighter larger meals and three of these lighter meals.

With the changing weather it is also time to move away from one of my favorite summertime fruits – blueberries and towards a fall favorite – apples. Now I love apples – Granny Smiths, Galas, and MacIntosh are my favorites. So I have been playing around with a new apple smoothie that still pays attention to every eat clean meal’s basic tenets – lean protein, fruits and vegetables (in this case just fruit), fiber and good fats.

Now I tend to make a couple different variations of this smoothie depending if I am on a low calorie day, a baseline day (a baseline day is an average calorie day) or a heavier day. My low calorie day would be fine for most as this recipe comes in at around 307 calories. My heavier calorie version of this smoothie would be pushing 450-500 calories.

We have also been testing a new spice blend that is just about ready for prime time and I have to schedule my son (the photographer) to make a trip into town for our next big photoshoot (we’re looking to add another 15-20 new products before the holidays). This new spice blend is an apple pie spice and I have been adding it to just about anything I have had apples with (smoothies and oatmeal in particular).

We are calling this Granny’s Apple Pie Spice because well it is an old family recipe. Now of course while this is Granny’s recipe it does use the greatest cinnamon in world Saigon Cinnamon instead of a more common (in the US) Ceylon or Cassia. Also in this hand blended mix is allspice, nutmeg, ginger root and cardamom. Hmm hmm hmm!

What You’ll Need

1. ½ an apple (your choice)
2. ½ Cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
3. ½ Cup 1% milk
4. 2 Tsp Flaxseed
5. ½ oz of unsalted dry roasted almonds
6. 6 ice cubes
7. 1-2 Tsp Apple Pie Spice

What to Do

1. Add all ingredients into blended and mix.

Serves 1

Nutritional Information (from NutrionData.com)

• Protein  15g
• Carbs  40g
• Fat  12g
• Fiber  5g
• Calories  307

Now if I am going to have this on a baseline calorie day I would add another ¼ cup of yogurt and if I am on a heavy calorie day I would add:

• ¼ Cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
• 1 oz of dry roasted almonds on unsalted peanuts
• 1-2 Tbsp of protein powder

Are you finally on a clean eating plan and working hard to get in those 5-6 meals spaced every 2-3 hours? Understanding the rules of good nutrition – know how much to eat, what to eat and when to eat are tough to get down. Even if you understand the logic it is not always easy to put into practice.

You must have the right foods at the right time and that’s where smoothies and super food shakes come into play. These are typically much easier and quicker to prepare and are another way to get in your 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit each day.

I don’t look at smoothies as a meal replacement but rather a fast simple meal. But you must be sure that it is packed with the best super foods – complete protein, complex carbs, and good fats. For this reason I love dry oatmeal, almonds, no fat yogurt and 1% milk as the base for many of my smoothies.

A great way to get a serving of fruit

Lately I have been on a kiwi kick so naturally I was in the mood for a Kiwi Smoothie. There was something about the ground up almonds, flax seed and kiwi seeds that really made this smoothie look as good as it tasted!

What You’ll Need

• 1 ripe Kiwi fruit
• 1 medium banana
• ½ cup 1% milk
• ¾ cup non fat vanilla yogurt
• ¼ cup dry Quaker oatmeal
• 2 tbsp almonds (salt free)
• 1 tbsp flax seed
• 6 ice cubes

What to do

1. Add all ingredients into blender and mix thoroughly

Prep Time

Less than 5 minutes

Nutritional Value

• Protein     22g
• Carbs          99g
• Fat             15g
• Calories    588

If you want to bump up your protein you can add a tablespoon or two of protein powder.

In all of my unofficial research on what it takes to either get leaner (or maintain optimum weight once you finally get there), eating 5-7 times a day has become one of my top personal rules. Now of course the challenge with this dramatic lifestyle change, if you have been eating only three times a day, is in preparing all that food. At first this becomes a huge burden in addition to carving out time to actually eat the additional 2-4 times each day. Now don”t let the title fool you — this smoothie isn”t only for breakfast you can have it for any of your meals throughout the day. It also isn”t a high calorie smoothie so I really like to have it for one of my “snack meals” — mid-morning, mid-afternoon or before bed. Now from a food prep standpoint this is where super shakes, meal replacements or smoothies come in. Since we have started our blog I have continuously talked about some of my favorite “get lean foods” and oatmeal is certainly near the top of the list. For smoothies oatmeal is great because it adds tremendous thickness and texture. I love to keep frozen fruit on hand for my smoothies and lately instead of frozen blueberries or strawberries I have been going with a mixed fruit which has all of my favorite berries – strawberry, blackberry, blueberry and of course raspberries. But the real beauty of smoothies of course is that it only takes minutes to prepare. What You’ll Need

• 1 Banana
• 1 Cup Frozen Berries
• ½ Cup Quaker Quick Oats
• ½ Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tsp Protein Powder
• 1 Cup 1% Milk

strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and of course raspberries!

What to Do

1. Add all of the ingredients to your blender and mix until smooth

Serves 1 Nutritional Information (per serving)

When I first discovered what has been touted as the real key to getting leaner about two years ago I was stunned. It was suggested that one of the primary strategies was to understand the importance of eating every 2-1/2 to 3 hours. I mean it certainly made sense but how in the world was I going to eat that frequently, and because I am at the gym five days a week at 5am, that would mean that I would have to eat 7 times a day. Yes SEVEN times a day!

The trick is to have several meal replacement feedings (a.k.a. Smoothies) included in your daily meal plan. For me that means at least two a day and sometimes as many as three or four. So this means that I am constantly experimenting with adding in as many super foods as possible into these meals to get the biggest bang.

No matter how much I have tried I just haven’t been able to add vegetables into my smoothies (green just doesn”t look right). I have been looking at a green supplement and may have to give that a try.  I am going to experiment some more with this going forward as getting 5-8 servings of vegetables each day is also critical to a well balanced getting lean program.

This is now one of my favorite smoothies and it is almost like a liquid banana split. It has some sweetness to it and has several servings of fruit to boot.

What You’ll Need

• 2 Medium Bananas
• ½ Cup of Frozen Berries
• ½ Cup of 1% Milk
• 2 Tsp Protein Powder
• 1 Tbsp Dry Roasted Almonds
• 1 Tbsp Raw English Walnuts
• 1 Tbsp Unsalted Dry Roasted Peanuts
• 1 Tsp Ground Flaxseed
• 6-8 Ice Cubes

What to Do

1. Add all ingredients into the blender and mix

Serves 1

Nutritional Information (per serving)

*Now remember I tend to go a bit higher on my calories because I am in more of a maintenance phase and my metabolism runs on uber high with my five days a week cardio schedule (I prefer to melt it off than starve it off). You can cut your calories down on this by eliminating one banana (about 105 calories) and drop one of the nuts (and you would drop another 50-60 calories).

I love the taste of apple and peanut butter and this is a great smoothie for my heavy calorie days. It could easily be modified for a light calorie count by cutting the peanut butter in half (I like to use two tablespoons but you could go with one).

I have at least one smoothie a day for one of my three snacks and recently this has gone from being my mid afternoon snack to my mid morning snack. Mostly this is because it is easier and quicker to prepare and allows me to get back to work faster (we have been crazy busy with our still very young business).

I find that a thicker smoothie tends to fill me up for longer and that is one of the reasons that I like to use cooked oatmeal. Oatmeal is also one of those top nutritional foods that is a central piece of my getting leaner program.

The key is to cook the oatmeal until it is almost done and then let it sit about 45 minutes before you use it. So for me that means having it in the microwave for about 1 minute and 45 seconds. And by preparing this 45 minutes before I am going to use it gives it a chance to cool down and you don’t have to add as many ice cubes. I also like to use the natural peanut butter as it doesn’t have the same amount of sugar or added oils. I used the Jiff brand this time as it was on sale but we usually go with the Organic Nature’’s Promise.

What You’ll Need

• ¾ Cup Quaker Quick Oats
• 1 Tsp Ground Flaxseed
• ½ Medium Apple
• 1 Tsp Ground Saigon Cinnamon
• ½ Cup 1% Milk
• ½ Cup Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt
• 2 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
• 4-6 ice cubes

Directions

1. Make the oatmeal with water according to the package directions but prepare this 45 minutes before you are ready to make this smoothie so that it has time to cool (or you can cool in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes)
2. Add all ingredients and mix in the blender for 20-30 seconds

Servings 1 Large or 2 Small

Nutritional Information

This smoothie was inspired by a post from Jenna who was talking about Caitlin and her pumpkin yogurt. Now I love to have low fat vanilla yogurt on a daily basis and while the Greek yogurt that they described looks great I think that it is just too expensive for the amount of yogurt I go through each week. I am a big believer in lots of protein each time I eat including snacks (and this is where yogurt really comes through for me).

So I thought ok pumpkin yogurt sounds interesting and I decided that on my next visit to the grocery store I would pick up some canned pumpkin. That would be easy right? Wrong — wouldn’t you know it when we went the next time they didn’t have any. I looked everywhere – in baking, canned vegetables and even in canned fruit. But none was to be found.  Penny even asked one of the store managers for me. It turns out there’s a pumpkin shortage???

Ok well by now my Type A personality starts to kick into high gear and I become obsessed with trying to find canned pumpkin. So on the way home we stop at the other grocery store in our small town… no luck. Then the next day I am still obsessing so I decide to try the big bad Walmart (ok it isn’t that big and bad but we don’t go there often). Still no luck!

So another couple of days go by and I am driving myself crazy (I probably drive Penny crazy on a daily basis). I am now craving pumpkin (yeah I know I have issues). So Penny tells me to try the local organic food store. Ah at last… success. So I am able to pick up a can of the orange gold (at almost $4 for a can) and I race home to give this a try. Ok it was worth the wait. It was out of this world.

So I continue to be on the lookout for pumpkin every single time I go into the grocery store and I even found myself looking at Target this past weekend when we went to the big mall about 45 minutes from us (like I said I have issues). I may have to check myself into one of those rehab places or maybe the family will have to do an intervention!

So after having this wonderful snack I decided that I wanted to try it as a smoothie. This is truly heaven.

What You’ll Need

• ¾ Cup of dry oatmeal
• ½ Cup of Canned Pumpkin
• ¼ Cup of Walnuts
• 2 Tbsp Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt
• 1 Tsp Flaxseed Meal
• 2 Tsp of your favorite Protein Powder
• Lots of Saigon Cinnamon (I figured that I easily added close to a tablespoon)
• 4 Ice Cubs

What to Do

1. This takes a bit of planning – make the oatmeal with water per the package instructions and then let cool for at least 30 minutes (this is the key)
2. Mix everything in the blender
3. Pour into a glass

Serves 1 Large or 2 Small

Nutritional Information (per serving):

If you know of any good pumpkin rehab centers please let me know.

Well as you know I believe in having smoothies play a leading role in my lean eating repertoire. I have also found that I have made my most progress when I have protein each time I eat and smoothies allow me to keep my body fueled. At just 415 calories this is one of my favorite smoothies for either my mid afternoon or evening snack on my low calorie days. Now sure this is great, as all smoothies are, because it takes just a few minutes of prep which is convenient but most importantly… I think that any smoothie that has peanut butter in it is just out of this world!

Now in the winter months 6 ice cubes is fine but once the weather warms up I may go a bit higher to keep the smoothie fairly thick. I have found the thicker the smoothie is the more filling it is. Might just be physiological but it works on my brain.

If blueberries aren’t your thing this smoothie can also be made with any frozen berry fruit and you would be fine.

What You’ll Need

• ½ Cup Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt
• 1 Cup Frozen Blueberries
• 1 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
• 2 Tsp Protein Powder
• 6 Ice Cubes
• 1 Cup 1% Milk

What to Do

1. Add all ingredients to your blend and mix until smooth.

Servings 1 large or 2 small

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Are you a fan of peanut butter in your smoothies?

One of the primary strategies in a good fat burning game plan is not to starve yourself. In order to keep your metabolism revving at a high level you need to keep refueling your body every 2 ½ to 3 hours. This of course means that you will need to eat 5-6 times a day. This is where smoothies have become a daily fixture for me.

I have at least one smoothie a day for one of my snack meals. This is typically the snack between lunch and dinner and these are quick and easy to put together and give me a nice calorie and energy boost. Now depending on if I am on a low calorie day or a high calorie day the smoothies can be as low as 170 calories or as high as 700.

This smoothie is somewhere in the middle of the smoothie calorie scale for me at 417. This smoothie has a great nutty taste and the honey and vanilla adds just enough sweetness. Sometimes I add more ice to make it thicker. I have found that the thicker the smoothie the more filling it is.

What You’ll Need

• ½ Cup Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt
• ¼ Cup Dry Roasted Almonds
• 1 Tsp. Flaxseed Meal
• 2 Tsp. Milk Protein Isolate (protein powder)
• 12 Ice Cubes
• 1 Tsp. Honey
• ½ Cup 1% Milk

What To Do

1. Add these ingredients to your blend in the order listed (keeps the honey from settling on the bottom)
2. Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds to a minute

Servings 1

Nutritional Information