This is one of my FAVORITE sneaky mom tricks and one of my favorite Mom on the Go Meals. A super Easy Green Smoothie will fill you up and wake you up with no caffeine crash and without feeling bloated from eating a huge meaty breakfast.

You might remember the scandal a few years ago surrounding Jessica Seinfelds (Jerry’s wife) cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. The chick that wrote The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals claimed that Jessica totally ripped her off. Both of the books are fantastic if you have about 4 extra hours a week to puree vegetables and sneak them into your kids food.

Seriously, unless you have alot of extra time don’t bother buying either of these. This was the one recipe that I took away from Jessica’s book and made it my own. And I also make it for the boy all the time. As long as your kids don’t see you actually put the spinach in..THEY WILL NEVER KNOW it’s in there. The banana cuts the spinach taste and the blueberries turn the whole smoothie a lovely shade of purple.

Easy Green Smoothie Recipe

1 big handful spinach

1 banana

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup water

1 cup ice cubes

1 scoop Whey Protein Powder

Mix, drink and feel great. This is such an energizing breakfast and a great afternoon pick-me up that it makes me want to want dabble more into raw foods. The rest of my family will never go there of course, and I don’t think I would ever want to completely give up cooked food, but you really can feel the difference when you eat a lot of raw veggies and fruit. If you are interested in going a bit more raw check out Kimberly Snyder’s new book. All the celebs are raving about it so it must be good. :insert your own eye roll here:

Today for lunch I made the hubs and the boys a yummy cheese pizza, but I had something even better. This is one of the little tricks that keep me from going off the rails and eating a whole pan of brownies. When I start feeling deprived in any way…I start fantasizing about cake. Seriously. Like wishing the family would go somewhere for a few hours and I could sit alone on the couch with an entire chocolate coconut layer cake with cherries on top and eat every single bite myself with no interruptions. And I would eat it with a spoon because that way I won’t miss any crumbs or icing. I know. It’s sick.

So to keep that from happening I make healthy versions of the comfort food that my family loves. This is great one. Instead of wasting 350 calories on just one piece of pizza, this entire recipe is only 245 calories!!!!!

:random trivia: Did you know that California Pizza Kitchen claims to have invented the BBQ Chicken Pizza? And also Ben and Jerry’s was the first ice cream company to make Cookie Dough Ice Cream?

Moving on. While their pizza was baking I whipped this up for myself in about 6 minutes. This would be completely fine for Southbeach Diet Phase 2. If you are still Phase 1 you can make a BBQ Chicken Salad with these exact same ingredients and then serve over a bed or lettuce or cole slaw mix.

Here’s What You Need:

1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb Tortilla (50 calories)

1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese (35 calories)

2 oz canned chicken (60 calories)

1 tbsp BBQ sauce (40 calories)

1 low fat string cheese shredded (60 calories)

And then you:

Toast the tortilla in the oven at 400 degrees until crispy

Spread Laughing Cow cheese on tortilla then BBQ sauce

Add chicken and then shred cheese stick over the chicken

Put back in the oven for about 5 minutes

It’s rare that I make two recipes in one day, but today I actually made three. I don’t know what came over me. A moment of mommy-madness. It’s 10:30pm right now and I just started the dishwasher and the kitchen is finally clean. But..the boy has Pumpkin Muffins to eat for breakfast this week, I’ve got these yummy Cheesecake Bites for when the evil sweet tooth monster rears it’s head around 10pm every night. And I’ve got some fantastic-uber-healthy- Turkey Breakfast Muffins for breakfasts on the go this week. I’ll post that recipe tomorrow.

But back to the cheesecake!

I missed a step when I made these today so they ended up being just Chocolate Cheesecake Bites with no swirl, but they were still really good.

:recipe tip: store them in the freezer until you are ready to eat..they get too soft in the fridge

You Need:

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp Splenda

5 Tbsp Fat Free Cream Cheese

1 Tbsp Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa

1 cup Cool Whip

1 Tbsp Mini Chocolate Chips

And Then You:

Mix cool whip, cream cheese, vanilla and Splenda with a blender until all creamy and smooth.

For chocolate cheesecake bites just add cocoa and stir in thoroughly.

**Here is the step I missed so pay attention if you want that pretty swirl..or at least send your high-strung kid out of the kitchen so you can think straight for a minute***

To create swirl cheesecakes, divide batter in half and the cocoa to half the batter, mix thoroughly then recombine batter swirling chocolate batter into plain batter.

Spoon into 10-15 slots of an ice cube tray ( I used mini muffin pan)

Top each bite with 5-10 mini chocolate chips, one teaspoon sugar free chocolate syrup, or Smucker’s sugar free fruit preserves.

Freeze for two hours. After fully freezing they should pop right out. You may have to run warm water on the bottom of the ice tray if that’s what you use.

***Safe for South Beach Phase Two

Nutritional Information per cheesecake bite…recipe makes 12 mini muffin cheesecake bites

Calories – 29.8g

Fat – 1.1g

Carbs – 3.4g

Protein – 1g

Sorry I don’t have a picture for this one because I haven’t made it in a while.  I was going to whip up a batch this morning but ground flaxseed isn’t something I keep on hand unless I plan to make these. Although I should because the benefits to adding flaxseed to your diet are awesome.

:sidenote: I’ve made these numerous times and NEVER added the psyllium husks. It just sounds too ….yuk.

:sidenote: I never could find “ground flaxseed” and I definitely do not have time to grind my own…so I use Flaxseed Meal which is readily available in any grocery store now. Check the organic aisle.

Flax Meal Pancake Recipe

2 eggs
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 tablespoon psyllium husks
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 packets splenda
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash vanilla

Stir until combined, let sit a couple minutes to thicken

You can add a couple teaspoons of water if it’s too thick

Pour into spray oiled pan  and brown on both sides.

Makes 2 big pancakes.

Stay in Phase One by serve with sugar free pancake syrup or add fresh fruit if you are in Phase Two.

I am so sick of eggs for breakfast lately. Cheese eggs, salsa eggs…cheese and tortilla roll ups. I can’t take it anymore. So I’m going to whip up a big batch of these South Beach Diet Phase Two friendly pancakes tonight to heat up for the next few mornings. They are great with a little sugar free syrup or if you are feeling froggy, roll up a turkey sausage link in one.

Great on the go mom breakfast.

You Need:

4 egg whites

1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese

1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal

1 tsp vanilla extract

nutmeg to taste

Blend all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and then cook in pan as you would regular pancakes

I usually make a double or triple batch and freeze 2-4 servings in sandwhich bags..then just grab in the am.

I bought this on a whim at Target one day while out wasting time with the boy. He loves things that are ‘boy sized’ and I thought it might come in handy one day so we bought it.

I’ll skip the meltdown that came after he realized this was to stay in the kitchen and not for his playroom.

I bet I use this tiny pan at least three times a week, maybe more. For some reason the absolute only breakfast the hubs will eat is a Egg and Cheese English Muffin. Actually that’s not true. He will eat loads of bacon and sausage too, but I don’t do breakfast meats.

So this little $5 pan has more than paid for itself. I am a McMuffin makin’ fool with this pan.

I usually make His and Hers McMuffins. His is whole egg with real cheese melted on top…mine is 3 egg whites usually with no cheese.

I won’t bore you with a recipe on how to throw together an Egg and Cheese English Muffin...but I will tell you if you put the cheese on top of the egg while it’s still in the pan it gets just the right amount of melty-ness. Yum.

It’s a been a while since I had an entire afternoon to spend alone with the boy. We used to run this town before the girl came along.

We had playdates, we went to lunch, we saw movies, we went to story time, we played at the park, we went shopping, to petting zoos, to any and all kid function in the tri-county area. Ok, we don’t live in a tri-county area but you get my point. We were BFF’s. Then the girl came along and the boy went to school and now everything is all topsy-turvy.

But every once in a while we get the opportunity to do something, like this week we took my SUV for a much needed and way overdue detailing. I’m talking sticky cupholders, ground up goldfish and various Disney World vacation detritus in the carpet, ya’ll. While the boys at the carwash were cleaning my ride (for over two hours FYI..it was that dirty) the boy and I walked next door to McD’s for some lunch and play. I don’t really enjoy eating at McD’s so I was tickled beyond pink that there was a ..wait for it…STARBUCKS...two doors down. Mommy heaven, Life source in a cup..whatever  you want to call it.

The boy got bored at McD’s quick because there were no other kids there to play with so he happily escorted his momma to the Buck for a brownie. He remembers what sweets every single restaurant has..and also where the bathrooms are.

I had just seen an announcement that Starbucks had lowered the calorie count on the Turkey Bacon & Egg English Muffin so I jumped at the chance to try one. With a Skinny Vanilla Latte please. :sigh: I get all gooey just thinking about it.

For 320 calories and 7 grams of fat you get a very healthy and filling whole wheat english muffin with a few eggs whites and two fat turkey bacon strips. It gets a major thumbs up from me. I normally eat the Spinach egg white feta wrap when I am there but I think I liked the english muffin better.

I’m not sure the middle-aged men on laptops trying to look busy were too pleased that me and my chatty date took over the sunniest corner of the joint…but we cared not. The Starbucks girls were fawning all over my little man and his hip glasses and a stranger even told me to get him in commercials..stat! It was a good day.

It was the tastiest fast food I’ve had in a long time, then again maybe it was just the company.

I might have mentioned before that we have taco night quite often at my house. It’s just one of those things like spaghetti that I always seem to have the ingredients for and the boy will always eat a cheese quesadilla, so it’s pretty much a staple.

Since I don’t eat red meat (and very little chicken/turkey/fish) I usually have a taco salad made with fat free refried beans. But last night I switched the script up a bit.

I used to eat alot of Morningstar Farms ground beef style veggie crumbles when I was in full blown vegetarian stage…and lately since getting sick at Disney off some poorly cooked chicken I am totally remembering why I was veggie/vegan for so long.

Anyhoodles…I found this ginormous bag of veggie crumbles at BJ’s and I’ve been cooking with them on a daily basis. Here is my latest concoction.

Low Calorie Vegetarian Quesadilla Recipe

2/3 cup Morningstar Farms Veggie Crumble

1 triangle Laughing Cow Cheese

1 Flour Tortilla

Heat crumbles in microwave for about 1.5 minutes…add laughing cow cheese and mix well.

Place mixture in tortilla and fold over like a taco…

Spray omlette pan with cooking spray and gently place tortilla in pan once it’s hot.

Let each side get toast and crunchy.

Remove and CHOMP!

Delicious alternative to a fatty dish ..coming in at around 230 calories!!!

I added a 90 calorie serving on edamame for a total of 310 calories and I was full and happy. But still on my way to losing those last few.

This morning was one of those magical times when the boy was sleeping late and the girl was taking an early nap..so I had an entire 45 minutes to myself. What? Free time? What is that?  Most of it was spent working, but I did take ten minutes to make myself my all time favorite breakfast to scarf down while I try to get as much done before the endless Spongebobs started and the girl starts  her new habit of grumbling at me until I sit down and spoon feed her about a pound of peach baby food…she is 6 months old now and so ov-ah Similac. Yeah, the baby is throwing attitude at me already.

Back to my yummy tumm b-fast. I’m am always on the beach. Meaning…even if I’m not following The South Beach Diet to the letter I am eating as close to it as possible.

This recipe is Phase Two friendly..but would be more effective if you only had one piece instead of two and added some scrambled egg whites and a veggie or glass of V8 (if you can stomach that stuff).  But since it was a special morning, and because I really didn’t have the time to cook eggs..I just made two quick pieces of toast with sugar free pancake syrup and it was DELICIOUS.

Ingredients:

Ezekiel Whole Grain Bread (found in freezer section of grocery store)

1 Egg

Cooking spray

Directions:

Beat one egg in a bowl, add cinnamon and sweetner (optional)

Dip both sides of each piece of bread in egg mixture

Fry in pan with spray oil until golden brown

Use 1/4 cup sugar free pancake syrup and you have a satisfyingly sweet breakfast that is unbelievably healthy and clocks in a mere 250 calories.

:side note: do not confuse whole wheat bread with whole grain bread.whole wheat bread is just white bread in disguise. still made with processed flour it’s just not bleached white. most of it still contains sugar. if you must have regular or white bread opt for potato bread. seriously I think potato bread is the only bread out there not made with high fructose corn syrup. that’s just what you to make your kids lunch with right..sugar bread!

whole grain bread is made with no processed flour and can only be found in the frozen section of chain grocery stores. some health food stores carry fresh loaves on the bakery shelves. once purchases whole grain bread must be kept in freezer in home (unless you are going to eat it very very fast) to keep it from going bad. no preservatives means shorter shelf life but also means better health for you. Ezekiel makes the best whole grain bread I’ve found they have many different varieties.

Ok..off my whole grain soap box now.

So remember the cute little silicon cups that I posted about the other day? Well that make AWESOME eggs!!!

Not only awesome but FAST. Crack the egg..pour in the cup…nuked for 30 seconds and you are eating breakfast!

I didn’t think this was going to work like the instructions said it would..but color me wrong…IT DID. A perfectly fluffy delicious, protein packed eggy in half of a minute. It’s little things like this that make me happy.

30 SECONDS people….even the busiest mom can handle a 30 second egg.

I cut open an english muffin and put one triangle of Laughing Cow cheese and viola! A delicious and healthy 200 calorie breakfast that can be eaten on the go!

I love these little cups..totally worth the $17 for the set that I’m sure can found at Amazon for half that but I had to have them right away. I told you I am not naturally frugal…but I try. Most of the time I fail, but just like I tell the boy…never give up.

Next up for me and the cups….mini lasagnes and ham and cheese cresent roll popovers! Pictures and recipes coming soon peeps!

I cooked mine in the silicon cup inside a plastic bowl..but that was really unnecessary. Not a drop of egg cooked over.

My delicious and fast 200 calorie breakfast