Here is what I do:

• 3/4 cup  Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1/4 cup Chocolate Milk
• 2 ounces frozen Banana – chopped into 3 or 4 pieces
• 2 or 3 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in your Magic Bullet (or blender if you don’t have a Bullet) and pulse until ice is chopped.

I love this because it’s healthy but it also really feels like a treat. It’s creamy and thick and sometimes I eat it with a spoon!

* You can use skim milk instead of the unsweetened Almond – you’ll actually get more protein from the real thing. But for me, this one is all about taste! The creaminess/chalky taste of the Almond Milk really brings out the banana and chocolate combo.

*Info:

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Here is how you turn your Artichoke Heart into a pita replacement!

1. Wash your Artichoke Heart
2. Cut the base stem off and the pointy tips on all the leaves. This is best done with scissors.
3. Place your Artichoke In a boiling pot of water, and let it boil for 30 – 40 minutes.
4. Remove and cool.
5. Serve along side any dip!
6. Pick a leaf off! Use the bottom of the leave (the meat) to scoop the dip and then with your teeth you scrap the leaf so that you get the meat from the plant and a little dip too!

* You can also scoop out the top few leaves and put your dip inside the middle of the Artichoke for a fancied up version!

P.S- The ‘heart’ is the BEST part. it’s hidden under all the leaves at the very bottom of the plant! YUMM!

Now, here is the scoop on the Artichoke:

1. 25 calories in a medium artichoke with no fat or cholesterol!
2. 16 essential nutrients!
3. 12% recommended daily Intake (RDI) of Fiber
4. 10% RDI of Folate
5. 10% RDI Vitamin C
6. Not to mention Iron, potassium, magnesium and calcium to name a few!
7. All these vitamins and minerals can help reduce the risk of certain types of heart disease, cancers and birth defects.

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• 1 ounce raw nuts. I like Almonds, cashews and brazil nuts.
• Fresh cut up veggies. I like celery, carrots, cucumber and peppers. If you can’t stomach veggies on their own try it with 2 tbsp of hummus or 1 tbsp of low-fat Ranch or Cesar dressing.
• Cheese Strings. ( These last a few hours outside of a refrigerator)
• An emergency bar like a LARA Bar or The Simply Bar.
• Piece of fruit.
• Whole grain crackers like WASA crackers and some Light Laughing Cow to spread on top.
• Celery/ whole grain crackers and Natural Peanut Butter.

If you are going to have a snack like rice chips, pretzels or something processed like that. Just make sure you look at the back of the bag and portion out your one serving. Place your 8 chips or whatever it is in a zip lock baggy and bring JUST THE BAGGY to work with you.

Snacks for your house OR if you have a refrigerator at your office:

• 3/4 cups skim milk with 1/4 cup chocolate milk. Have it on the rocks or warm it in the microwave for a hot cocoa.
• Cottage cheese with cinnamon for a sweet tooth.
• Cottage cheese with cucumber and tomato for a savory tooth.
• Cottage cheese with fresh berries for a sweet tooth.
• Single servings of yogurt.
• 1/4 cup low fat Ricotta cheese with fresh berries.

I never leave the house without something on hand. And if I do find myself in a situation where I don’t have anything to eat and I’m out running errands – I grab a tall non-fat latte. It’s approximately 8 ounces of milk and a great tide me over snack that holds me until my next meal.

Feel free to write in with ideas and thoughts!

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I promised I would give you some ideas as to what to fill your cupboards and refrigerator with. Let’s start with breakfast. I’ll hit snacks, lunches, dinners and your purse/car in the next few days. Keep these lists handy and use them to help you grocery shop Even put them on your refrigerator door so that you can use them as a reference when you are deciding what to have in the morning. The key here is to have healthy (yummy) things readily available to grab in the morning on your way out the door. This way you don’t have the option of grabbing a high sugar processed cereal bar – or even worse, noting at all.

1. Skim or 1% milk.
2. 1% Chocolate milk
3. Yogurt – I personally would choose a Greek Style Non Fat Plain Yogurt- but if you hate plain yogurt, pick one that you like.
4. Eggs.
5. Cheese.
6. Cottage cheese.
7. Fresh fruit like apples, bananas, berries, grapefruit, kiwi’s and pineapple.
8. Oatmeal.
9. High Fiber, low sugar cereals like Weetabix and Bite Sized Shredded Wheat
10. Whole grain or sprouted wheat bread.
11. Natural peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter.
12. Pea-meal Bacon.

10 healthy breakfast ideas you can make with this list:

• Fresh Fruit Plate.
• Cottage Cheese and Berries.
• Yogurt and berries.
• Toast with Peanut (or other nut butter) and a glass of 1/4 cup chocolate milk – 3/4 cup skim milk.
• Breakfast sandwich with pea-meal and eggs. – Great to go!
• Cereal. With or without fresh berries.
• Banana dipped in Peanut butter with a glass of milk. (add 1/4 chocolate milk to this for a delicious chocolate peanut butter banana breakfast)
• Oatmeal. You can add banana to sweeten it up. I have a client who puts 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter in her oatmeal!
• Scrambled, poached, soft boiled or sunny side up eggs and toast.
• Cheese Toast.

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It’s very hard to find healthy energy/protein bars. Most of them are filled with chemicals, fake food and tons of sugar. They are branded andmarketed as healthy, but for 99% of the bars out there- healthy – they are not. This is why I love the LARA bar so much. It’s simple two ingredence make it top bar pic on my list. BUT I FOUND A NEW BAR I LOVE! It’s called The Simply Bar.

Here is why I love it:

1. Although it has more than two ingredents, all it’s ingredence are real whole foods. No preservatives, no chemicals.
2. It’s low on the glycimic index scale which means it won’t spike your insulin levels. AKA – you won’t feel hungry after you eat it.
3. Lower in calories than most bars, it’s a great mid – afternoon snack.
4. It’s packed with protein! For an all natural bar the amount of protein is very impressive at 16 grams a bar.
5. Great for those with food allergies- it’s milk and gluten free.
6. It contains 20% of you recommended daily intake of iron.

My favorite flavors are Chocolate Peanut Butter, Cinnamon Raisin (obviously) and Cocoa Coffee. You can find these at most health food stores. Big supermarket chains such as Loblaws are selling them as well.

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A small popcorn, buttered (5 cups) has approximately 470 calories and 37 grams of fat. Of which, 22 are saturated.

A large popcorn, buttered (20 cups) has approximately 1640 calories and 126 grams of fat. Of which, 73 are saturated. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

A large un-topped popcorn has approximately 1, 200 calories- more than half a day’s worth for most people. And that’s without the topping!

This does not even factor into account the amount of sodium you get from a small bag of popcorn. Not to mention the sugary pop you may have to wash it down.

NOW THAT YOU KNOW… IS MOVIE THEATER POPCORN REALLY WORTH IT?

Some Ideas to avoid popcorn at the movies:

1. Bring your own home made air popped popcorn and save 345 calories, 35 grams of fat and 21.7 grams of saturated fat for 5 cups.
2. Get a large tea and drink it during the show! This is what I do The hot beverage takes any cravings I may have away. Plus it takes a long time to finish, leaving less time to think about popcorn.
3. Bring a bag of fresh cut veggies, an ounce of nuts or even a snack like a Lara Bar.
4. Some movie theaters now have Yogen Fruz in them. I sometimes get a small low fat with strawberries. Yumm.

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Here is what my snack list looks like- pretty predictable if you read this blog!:

• Skim milk/non fat milk
• 1% chocolate milk
• 1% cottage cheese
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Carrots. Not the baby kind, but the real ones.
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Almonds and Cashews – Raw, unsalted
• Non fat plain yogurt
• Cheese strings
• Brick of Cheese (Parmesan or Old Cheddar)
• Lara bar
• Fresh Fruit

When I get home from the grocery store (before I put these snacks away) I portion them. I cut up all my veggies and put them in water and store them in the fridge so they’re easy to grab and munch on. No prep work needed when I’m hungry at 2.30 pm and I don’t want to cut celery!  I also divide my nuts into one ounce bags.

For me personally it sets me up for success during the week. I know I have a house stocked with tons of snack options to choose from. When I get hungry at home- I have no excuse but to reach for one of theses healthy munchies. As well, most of these snacks travel well – so if I’m going to be out all day- I carry at least two snacks with me. If I don’t need them, I just bring them home! But chances are I eat them both Being prepared keeps hunger at bay which keeps a binge at my next meal at bay.

*Don’t feel like you have to have the same snack list as I do. The point of the list is merely to have one. Stock your house with healthy snacks and carry them with you. Chances are you are going to reach for what’s easiest when you’re hungry. And if the cut veggies happen to be the easiest thing to grab, your laughing!

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I know this may sound funny, but I’m always on the look out for snacks that feel like chips. You know that feeling of reaching into a bag and grabbing something crunchy, then reaching into the bag again and grabbing another and another. Munching on something that’s not celery! (Although I do love celery!) We’ll I think I just found the answer to my snack in a bag dilemma! It’s called Sensible Foods and it’s simply freeze dried fruit. Nothing added, nothing taken away (expect the water!) They are crunchy and sweet and taste just like a treat. ( I fully had not intention of rhyming, but I’m leaving it) But the secret is- they are really healthy! All natural, no added preservatives no added sugar! Packed with fiber and Vitamin C!

Have a look in your local health food store for them! I just discovered the Cherry Berry Flavor – freeze dried blueberries, strawberries, cherries and apples. Yumm. I’m almost tempted to go buy a freeze drying machine because I loved them so much! I figure they must be crazy easy to make with the right equipment! Anyway, for now, they are worth of the pricey two or three dollars that I paid for them.

Check them out:

http://www.sensiblefoods.com/

Here is the breakdown for one bag (21g) :

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Try this:

• 1/2 cup cottage cheese (my favorite brand is Sealtest Country Choice Cottage Cheese – you can find it at Walmart)
• Cut up cucumber
• 1/2 a chopped tomato  (or you can use cheery tomatoes)

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