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Desserts, Recipes, Snacks

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!

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Desserts, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Raw Gingerbread Men

Congratulations to the winner of my #ChotallyAwesome Chobani Giveaway: Kaitlin!
Don’t forget to check your email to claim your prize! xo

Giveaway Winner 12:13:13
Merry Christmas Eve Eve little bunnies!

Is it just me or has this holiday season been crazy? I’ve been working on a lot of graphic design projects and I’ve barely had time to create new recipes, which makes me bummed. But today, that changed! It’s been a way-too-warm 70 degrees here in southern California, and as awesome as it sounds to have beach weather and sunshine, it makes it feel less like Christmas. I literally don’t even want to turn on my oven to bake anything because it’s too hot in my house, haha.

Instead of traditional gingerbread cookies, I created a no bake, raw, vegan, paleo, gluten-free, gingerbread cookie recipe with no grains or refined sugars! How do you like them apples?! I don’t want to toot my own horn, but toot toot, this is probably the healthiest gingerbread recipe you will find! Minimal dishes required. What whatttttt!

Grab your almond milk, turn on Elf, and prepare to be a man-eater. ha. ha .ha.
But seriously, these Medjool men are so scrumptious!

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Raw Gingerbread Men

1 cup + 1/4 cup Natural Delights Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup almonds
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp cloves

Before you begin, REMOVE PITS FROM DATES! Combine all spices and almonds in a food processor and blend until finely chopped. Next add the dates and vanilla extract and blend until well combined. Even if it doesn’t resemble dough, it should stick together when pressing it into a ball. Transfer the ball of dough onto a picee or parchment or wax paper, cover with another sheet of parchment paper, and flatten to 1/4 inch thickness with a rolling pin. Remove the top layer of parchment paper and cut into gingerbread men or various shapes using a cookie cutter. Continue balling up the dough, rolling it out, and cutting into gingerbread men until there is no dough left. Eat right off of the plate, or store in refrigerator until serving!

Note: If you don’t have a cookie cutter, you can also roll them into 1 Tbsp sized balls as Gingerbread bites!

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Have a Merry Merry Christmas my loves!
xo Catherine

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Breakfast, Desserts, Lunch, Recipes, Snacks, Treats, Vegetarian

Girl Scout Cookie Smoothie

Motivation Monday: “Suck it up now and make healthy choices so you don’t have to suck it in later.”

The other day, I was organizing files on my computer and came across this photo. I was speechless to say the least. Although I strongly dislike seeing photos of myself at my heaviest, I cannot hide what I looked like for many years of my life. This is what shaped me and my character, and gave me a completely different outlook and goal in life. I thought I would share this photo as a reminder of all of my accomplishments. Even if I fell off that wagon a few times, I have come such a far way and love my new lifestyle! Take a moment to acknowledge all of your healthy accomplishments, whether it’s taking the stairs instead of elevators, switching from refined grains to whole grains, or hitting a milestone on your weight loss journey. You should be so very proud of yourself. As I always say, all of the little things help you reach your goal!
Before & After

With that being said, it’s time for a healthy version of a not-so healthy favorite! Ahhhh yes. ‘Tis the season of Girl Scout Cookies. It seems as though this year those adorable little ladies have made it even easier to find those scrumptious cookies with their cookie finder iPhone app and “find cookies” locator on their official website. Refrain!
PUT DOWN THE THIN MINTS!
Coookies. why. must. you. be. so. addicting?

I thought I would bring back one of my favorite smoothie recipes to help you guys get through this cookie season sans weight gain! As usual, this one has an extra special ingredient: spinach! A tasty take on the green monster!

Thin Mint Protein Smoothie
Girl Scout Cookie Smoothie: Thin Mint
Serves 1

1 cup frozen spinach (or 2 cups fresh)
1 cup almond milk
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/8 tsp peppermint extract

Toppings:
1 Tbsp walnuts
1 Tbsp 70% dark chocolate chips

Combine the almond milk, spinach, protein powder, rolled oats, and peppermint extract in a high powered blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a glass and top with walnuts and chocolate chips and enjoy with a spoon!
Note: If your blender has a hard time blending certain things, start by blending the milk and frozen spinach first and then add in the oats, followed by protein powder and peppermint extract.

Thin Mint Protein Smoothie
The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: spinach
Whole Grain: rolled oats
Protein: protein powder
Plant Based Fat: walnuts and dark chocolate chips

What healthy accomplishments have you made? Let me know in the comments! xo
Thank you so much for all of your awesome veggie restaurant suggestions for me while I’m here in Denver! I am so excited to try them!

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