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Lightened Up Date Shake

Living in Southern California my entire life, I grew up going to Palm Springs every Easter with my family. Every trip to palm springs always included a quick stop by the date gardens in Indio to get a date shake. Since you guys know I love “healthifying” comfort foods, today is the day for a Lightened Up Date Shake. Traditional date shakes consist of full fat vanilla ice cream, whole milk, and dates. My recipe still consists of 3 ingredients, but adds up to nearly a fraction of the calories! Plus it’s vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, paleo, and low-fat!

A traidtional date shake adds up to:
Calories: 626
Fat: 25.3g
Sugar: 77.5g
Fiber: 4.5g
Protein: 13.2g

And my Lightened Up Date Shake totals:
Calories: 330
Fat: 1.25g
Sugar: 57.5g (all natural unrefined sugar)
Fiber: 8g
Protein: 3g

Not all sugars are created equal. Say a candy bar (refined sugar) has the same amount of sugar as a banana (natural sugar). They process through your body completely different. Whole fruit has a lot of fiber, which actually slows down your body’s digestion of glucose, so you don’t get the crazy insulin spike (and crash) that candy causes. That also means your body has more time to use up glucose as fuel before storing it… as fat.

That’s the #1 reason why I love using Medjool Dates as a sweetener in baking and other recipes versus regular table sugar!

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Lightened Up Date Shake
Serves 1

3 Natural Delights Medjool Dates, pitted
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup unsweetened original almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Remove pits from dates. Blend blend blend until smooth and creamy!

Tip: To make this more filling as a meal replacement, try adding 1/4 cup of dry rolled oats to the blender!

Huge thank you to Natural Delights for supplying the dates for this recipe!

Take 5 Salad Dressing

Congratulations to my DOLE Salad Circle Party giveaway winner, Vanessa G!
” My favorite salad ingredient is juicy, red tomatoes. :) I told my teacher friends I work with about the giveaway. I hope that counts as points! You know how teachers love free stuff! Haha. I’d love to win so we can have a salad party. :) ”
Enjoy! xo

Holy guacamole, yesterday was absolutely crazy! As you may know, I launched my official online store with my signature “EAT MORE RABBIT FOOD” shirts! In under 30 minutes I was sold out of all size large and extra larges! WOW, seriously made me blush! I received tons of emails asking for shirts, but I never could’ve imagined them selling this fast! Your support is truly amazing! It’s just me, myself, and I running my blog, Facebook, Twitter, PinterestInstagram, Email, and now my store, so I really appreciate your patience and support! In a few short hours I had a triple digit number of orders that I am now organizing and shipping to their recipients. I am sooo excited for you guys to get your shirts! Because of the super quick sales, the online shop is down for some maintenance and updating, but it should be back shortly, since I still have some shirts available for purchase.

This whole online store thing is brand new to me and I am quickly learning so much. For example, I need to find shirts that are available in more sizes! I have been getting quite a few comments and messages about shirts not being available in larger sizes, and this is a great suggestion for my next batch of shirts! Since the first day that I launched my blog, I have been receiving inquiries about the “EAT MORE RABBIT FOOD” shirt that I am wearing in my main photos. By popular demand, I did everything that I could to get the exact same heather green American Apparel racerback to sell on my site. Unfortunately American Apparel only offers a small variety of shirts in this color, which left me with my favorite racerback in sizes XS-L and a women’s T-shirt from S-XL, so I made sure to order every size available!

I in no way shape or form intended to exclude anyone from being able to buy a certain sized shirt. I have been the girl who didn’t fit clothes at a “regular” store before and I know how it feels to leave empty handed and never wanted that to happen on my own website. I’m still getting the hang of things and learning what everyone wants to see on RFFMBT! This was only the first round of RFFMBT shirts and I’m positive that there will be many more to come.That being said, I would love YOUR input on what YOU would like to see in the next round of shirts/merch! I have had all different types of suggestions from gym bags, to socks, and some different clothing brand options! One reader suggested that I look into Just My Size by Hanes for a variety of sizes and comfy basics to print on!

What would you like to see in the RFFMBT Store? New styles, brands, sizes, colors, designs?
I can’t wait to hear your ideas!



Since I announced my DOLE Salad Circle Party Giveaway winner today, I thought that it was appropriate to give you guys a salad dressing recipe! Today’s super simple recipe comes from none other than Chef AJ. She has created a sweet and tangy, fat-free, plant based salad dressing that takes only 5 ingredients to make! What a woman! This is a fabulous addition to salads that already contain your recommended serving of plant based fat. Say your salad already includes nuts or avocado… just drizzle one tablespoon of naturally fat-free Take 5 Salad Dressing for great flavor and balance. This can also be used as a dip for veggies i.e. sliced bell pepper, carrots, and broccoli!

Take 5 Salad Dressing
Makes nine 1 Tbsp servings

2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp low-sodium miso paste (I use Kyoto White Low-Sodium Miso Paste)
2 Tbsp date syrup or maple syrup
1 Tbsp dijon (preferably low-sodium)

Combine all ingredients in a small jar or container with lid and shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your dressing. shake your dressinggggg!
Note: If you have never purchased miso paste before, it can usually be found in the refrigerated soy/dairy/yogurt section of most grocery stores. I buy mine at whole foods.

Have a fabulous weekend! xo

Carrot Cake Smoothie

Hi little bunnies!
This week has been so busy! I have been working with a couple of different companies and have some really exciting giveaways coming up! This week I also had the chance to try a new barre class called Physique 57, which was sooo much fun! They gifted me with a 2 week challenge, and after the challenge I’ll give you guys a review and let you know how it went.

I wanted to say thank you to all of my loyal readers! I would not have half of the opportunities and success I have without you! Your emails, tweets, and comments make me so happy to blog every day. You have no idea how much you guys inspire me, and I am so thankful for all of your support!

I’ve been receiving tons of emails recently, and while most of them are somewhat specific and personal, I do get quite a few of the same questions. I am thinking about doing a little Q&A on my blog of popular questions that I receive. If you have any questions, feel free to Tweet or Facebook them followed by the hashtag #RFFMBTFAQ and I’ll compile a list of the most common frequently asked questions to answer and post them next week! It can be anything from health, fitness, and beauty, to fashion!

Now on to the wabbit food! Since I am still going through a carrot cake obsessed phase (such a bunny), I created a Carrot Cake Smoothie!



Carrot Cake Smoothie
Serves 1

1 cup chopped carrots
1 frozen banana
6oz Chobani Pineapple Greek Yogurt
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of your choice – I love Almond Breeze by Blue Diamond!)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add almond milk as needed to acquire your desired thickness.
Note: For a vegan option, omit the Greek yogurt (and almond milk) and sub with 1 cup of coconut milk instead.

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: carrot and banana
Whole Grain: rolled oats
Protein: Greek yogurt
Plant Based Fat: chia seeds