Hello, Kale...meet Mr. Blender...

Hey everyone!

It's been an exciting day for the kitchen/foodie enthusiast, to say the least. After my breakfast cookie, I had a cup of WATER :), browsed around for some new recipes, and zoomed off to the grocery store to pick up a few basic things like parsley and red pepper flakes, bananas, etc. While there, however, I got a little inspired and decided to also pick up some Agave Nectar and Almond Milk. These have been praised around the fitness world lately, and nonetheless, I figured "what the hell"...

(Note: For those of you still in the dark, Agave (pronounced ah-gah-vay) is a more natural form of sweetener that is supposed to have a lower glycemic index, made from the agave plant. Comparable in taste and texture to honey, this sweetener has swept the fitness world and is making appearances on health and cooking shows such as my fav, Rachael Ray, who says she's begun to use it in her daily cooking as well.)




I got back to my apartment, and a friend showed up to visit so I postponed my foodie adventures to grab some delicious Starbucks (on her)! I had the usual, a tall soy misto (about 70 calories), and while browsing the shelves I found a new collection of raw and gluten-free products the company is now carrying in their efforts to attract a more health-conscious crowd. Within this collection, I found this:



A Raw Granola bar! Made by Two Moms in the Raw, the ingredients are (all organic): millet, buckwheat, coconut, flaxseed, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pecans, almonds, pepitas, apples, blueberries, agave, cinnamon and sea salt. Since seeing a variety of these bars on tv, and on my fav blog (Fitnessista), I figured that at 220 calories I'd give it a try despite my skepticism. I took about a third of a chunk off to make sure it was edible :), and to my surprise it was DELICIOUS. Just another reason people should step outside of their comfort zones...

Here's a closeup:

Doesn't look so bad, eh? I'm excited to finish the other half at work tonight.

After the snacking sample, I heated up some of my glorious dinner from last night, but tried for a smaller piece. My friend and I watched American Idol on dvr, then she left and I proceeded to make another creation. For some reason, smoothies have been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe it's because I have a lot of time to make them, or maybe just because they're yummy. In efforts to continue to make them worthwhile nutritionally, I took a leap and made mine with Kale.

Kale? WHAT?! I know...that's what I thought when I first saw it on tv a few months ago. It may not have been kale, but it was definitely some sort of green that I didn't feel worthy of being blended with fruity goodness. Anyways, I browsed a few recipes online, and used this one for my basic guideline. In it, I put:

*about 1 cup chopped Kale= 40 calories
*half of a medium-sized carrot (I was nervous)= 20 calories
*half of a medium-sized banana (saving the other half for tomorrow's breakfast)= 50 calories
*about 1.5 tbsp of Agave Nectar (heres where it fits in!)= 90 calories
*about 1 cup of high-pulp orange juice= 110 calories
*1/2 scoop Designer Whey French Vanilla protein powder= 50 calories
*1 cup frozen berry mixture= 60 calories
*1/2 cup water and 4 large ice cubes

All together, that's about 420 calories...or enough for a meal. Soo, I split it into two servings and am saving the other half for a snack tomorrow...


As for the almond milk, I was again pleasantly surprised to find it was sweet, smooth, and nothing like I'd imagined it would be. I'm going to put it in the mix for my breakfast cookie tomomorrow and see how that works out.

Now, I'm off to go finish my energizing smoothie, head to work from 5-10ish, and then back to bed because I (sigh) have work super early tomorrow morning and have to be up by 6:30.

G'night all!

P.S. Figured calorie total for the day?
Breakfast cookie: 315
Coffee: 70
Sample of almond milk: 25
Lunch: 500 (to be safe)
Smoothie Snack: 210
Granola bar (to be finished for dinner): 220
Salad (yet to be had for dinner): 300 or less
Total: about 1640, but hopefully a little less.

Oh, and for the water intake today? I'll say about 5 cups by the time I'm done working. Better than yesterday, but still needs work.


<3, Jenna