What I Buy and Why - Honey -- Third Video Blog Post!

Below is the third video for my What I Buy and Why series, and I'm talking about honey! I haven't always liked honey. Maybe just because I didn't know what to use it for and it was SO sweet by itself. I'm still not really a spoon licker, but I love it for sweetening tea, granola bars, and I even put it in warm milk for relief from heartburn! I also have a prenatal multivitamin that I really don't like the taste of, plus it's huge, so if I start to gag on it (which I used to do very often, not as much anymore) I coat it in honey so I can manage to swallow it. As you'll hear in the video and can read more about below, honey can be quite nutritious when you know what kind to purchase.

Disclaimer: I am not formally educated in nutrition. This video the conveys the opinion I have developed through my own research.

Here is more information about honey for your reading pleasure:

What's So Special About Raw Honey

Making Sense of Honey Labels

6 Health Benefits of Raw Honey

Menu

Monday - Quesadillas, fruit

Tuesday - Turkey kraut burgers, broccoli

Wednesday - Chicken tacos

Friday - Southwest stuffed sweet potatoes

Sunday - Chicken dumpling soup


I haven't managed to make my next video yet, but it is coming! They always take more time and thought than I expect. There's another recipe coming soon, too.

My All-Time Favorite Green Smoothie

Over the past few years I have made many different smoothies. Some were great, some were good, and some were just good enough to get down. I try to keep green smoothies as a part of my regular diet, mainly because on most days it adds spinach to my diet that wouldn't have been there otherwise. And this smoothie is not just good enough to get down; I really like it.  This smoothie is also another way to sneak flax meal into my diet which never hurts.

I talked about my opinion about green smoothies and recipes a couple years ago, and though my opinion hasn't changed since then, my recipe definitely has. I was also making huge smoothies back then since I was marathon training. Now I usually drink 8 - 16 oz. depending on if it is a meal, part of a meal, or a snack.

After much experience, I would call this the perfect green smoothie. Of course you may have a different idea of what makes the perfect smoothie, but this is what I make almost every single time. It's been that way for about a year and I don't expect that to change. This isn't a foundation, a concept, or a mix and match kind of thing. This is a set recipe that I love, and it's basically the only smoothie I make anymore because it's so yummy and made from ingredients I pretty much always have. Plus, Marshall likes it! So feel free to make it your own, but just know that you will no longer be making my favorite smoothie; you'll be making your own smoothie.

I have yet to learn how to make a smoothie look pretty in a picture, so excuse the mediocre sludge looking pictures and just try this! 

Ingredients:
1 cup milk -- I often use unsweetened almond milk for my smoothies
1 cup spinach -- I use less if my bananas aren't as sweet
1 heaping tablespoon flax meal
1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder
1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter
1 banana

Directions:
Blend together milk and spinach until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend again until smooth. Enjoy!


I hear rumors that if there are foods you eat a lot while pregnant your baby is more likely to enjoy those foods, so that's another reason to keep drinking these! : )

Menu

Monday - Sausage potato kale skillet -- Marshall calls this a Rachel classic. We love it.

Tuesday - Tim is making chicken noodle soup and I am making bread.

Wednesday - Corn cakes, bacon, fruit -- These corn cakes are delicious!

Thursday - Single skillet chicken thighs with bacon, Brussels sprouts and apples -- Can't wait to try this!

Friday - Pepperoni pizza


I don't know what we'll be doing this weekend so I'm not going to make a menu plan. We are getting back to soup Sundays so a soup of some sort will probably be that day. I'm thinking a simple pesto pasta with toasted walnuts for Saturday. We may have company once or twice this weekend so that might change things.

Believe it or not, I am going to post another What I Buy and Why video soon! (First one on beef here, second one on dairy here) Keep an eye out for that. I'll probably post it next week. There will be another recipe before that though.

We've had chilly weather and lots of rain! Happy Fall : )