Valentine's Day Detox

2/15/2013

Happy Friday, Challengers!

Whew! Did anyone else go a little overboard for their cheat meal? I am definitely guilty. I had my first experience at Daniel's Broiler yesterday, and judging by how much I ate, it should probably be my last experience as well.

I walked into the restaurant looking like this:

And walked out looking like this:

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. But I sure felt like that. You know what, though? It was all WORTH it. My Valentine is a pretty cool guy. Plus, he ate a steak that was 16 ounces more than mine. So I immediately felt better about myself. Especially when he finished and then picked up the bone and started gnawing on it.

Even though the cheat was definitely worth it, I was definitely looking for a cleanse of sorts to even out the indulgences. The thing I find that works best for me is having a meal replacement shake for breakfast and lunch, followed by a light snack in the afternoon and a challenge-friendly dinner. I have a few recipes for shakes I'd like to share with you. Feel free to comment with some of your favorites as well!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

6-10 ice cubes
1/3 of a banana
2 tbsp pureed pumpkin
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 cup almond or coconut milk
dash of pumpkin pie spice & cinnamon

Green Coconut Supreme

6-10 ice cubes
2 tbsp shredded coconut
1/2 banana
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup almond or coconut milk

PB & J Smoothie

6-10 ice cubes
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup fresh strawberries chopped
1 tbsp peanut or almond butter
1 scoop vanilla or peanut butter protein powder
1 heaping tbsp oatmeal
1 tsp cinnamon

Cookies'N'Cream

6-10 ice cubes
1/2 banana
1 scoop Cookies n Cream protein powder
1 tbsp chocolate peanut butter or chocolate almond butter
1 cup almond or coconut milk

And to finish off today's post, here's one of our Challenge members, Joff, with someone you may have seen on this blog a time or two!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

8 Comments

Tracy

2/15/2013 06:43:01 am

Mmm, I've had the pumpkin pie smoothie a few times and it's gooooood. Since I'm a coffee-holic I'll share one of my favorite shakes, I call it the No-Crap-uccino:

1/2 - 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 - 3 shots brewed espresso
Scoop of chocolate protein powder
1/2 a banana
Tbsp. almond butter
Tbsp. ground flax seed
1 scoop greens powder
Blend, add ice, blend again. SO GOOD.

Casey

2/15/2013 08:50:50 am

Yumm!!! Looks great, Tracy! Thank you for sharing!

Sandy

2/15/2013 08:31:11 am

Those sound great, thanks!
Casey, what type of oatmeal do you use in the PB&J? Is it cooked or uncooked? (Don't laugh, I seriously don't know.)
Tracy, does the scoop of greens powder add flavor to the shake? I usually use a couple handfuls of spinach.)

Casey

2/15/2013 08:52:09 am

Uncooked oatmeal, sorry! I actually wrote uncooked oatmeal because that's something I would be unclear on but thought maybe only i would ask that question! hehe! I like that we think the same way :)

Tracy

2/15/2013 11:03:24 am

I use Barlean's greens, and to me it does have a tiny bit more of a flavor than baby spinach. It's not bad.

Jennifer

2/16/2013 08:20:57 am

I enjoyed the Green Coconut Supreme... plus the adorable puppy at the end! Thanks Casey!

Joff

2/16/2013 12:34:14 pm

Wonderful recipes, Casey. And thanks for introducing me to Dutch. What a rambunctious cuddly ball of activity. Can't wait to meet his brother.

Linda

2/17/2013 09:45:29 am

I had a Pumpkin Pie smoothie today, and it was fabulous! I even forgot the banana, but it was still amazing.