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My Chocolate Green Smoothie recipe was one that a good friend of mine passed on to me.  This smoothie is what I usually eat drink for breakfast most mornings.  The great thing about smoothies is that you can add or take away ingredients and come up with your own taste, but I will share the one I enjoy most in hopes it will be something you may be interested in trying.

Disclaimer:  I LOVE this chocolate green smoothie recipe, but after my husband and children tried it they do not like it.  Well, I should say no one likes it in my family, but my 17 month old daughter and me. YAY!

They are missing out on a great taste and excellent nutritional benefits too.  Maybe one day they will grow to like it! And maybe your family will be brave enough to try it and like it! :)

Here’s a photo of my youngest at 17 months old drinking a chocolate green smoothie :)  She really does like it, I promise! :)

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Chocolate Green Smoothie Recipe Ingredients

In a blender:

* 1 cup of unsweetened Almond milk
* 1-2 cups water, depending on how thick or runny you want the smoothie
* 1 handful of organic spinach leaves
* 1-2 cups of frozen fruit (I like to use the bag of frozen mixed fruit and wild organic blueberries.)
* 1 scoop Whey Protein Isolate: buy HERE from Amazon OR 2 Tbsp plain, nonfat, gluten free Greek yogurt
* 1 Tablespoon of Organic Golden Flax Seed
* 1 Tablespoon of Chia Seeds
* 1-2 scoops of Stevia Natural Sweetener that I buy HERE from Amazon.
* 1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Hershey’s Cocoa

Blend all ingredients together and enjoy!  If your blender mixes the ingredients well enough, you will not be able to taste the spinach leaves and the smoothie will be…well, smooth!

It may be a taste you have to get used to, but it really is yummy and tastes like a chocolate shake to me without the guilt and filled with great nutrition!

Do you have a chocolate green smoothie recipe…or any smoothie recipe I need to try? Let me know! 

Tracy started blogging in 2010 because she loves sharing her Catholic faith, family and homeschooling journey. Her wonderful husband and 5 blessings keep her on her toes and make life beautiful and busy. When she’s not busy baking cakes for her family or dreaming she had a housekeeper/professional chef or making memories in real life, she enjoys blogging at a Slice of Smith Life. Find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and Bloglovin’.

You know those people who aren’t really into candy? Those who never really crave sweets? Those who who rather have a pear or a salty pretzels than a fatty piece of cake? Those who “don’t really like chocolate”?

Don’t you kind of hate those people?

Just kidding! But I am a bit envious of them because I am on the opposite end of the craving spectrum. When I’m wanting to indulge, I want chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies, chocolate covered bacon, chocolate candy, and chocolate chocolate. Any and all of it.

But my health (and my waistline) strongly protest against frequent indulgences like these, so I’ve had to find ways to sweetly satisfy my sweet tooth without going overboard (in which case, just send me a gummy lifesaver). When I saw how Katie makes her own chocolate candy using molds, I thought I might have a good chance at recreating my favorite candy of all time: almond joys.

The flavors of chocolate and coconut are so irresistible, and their smoothness is wonderfully balanced with the crunch of an almond. It’s magic in the mouth, people.

My attempt at making healthy homemade almond joys turned out to be pretty successful, and my husband devoured them on Valentine’s Day. They are incredibly quick and easy to make and are a great little treat at the end of a long day.

Ready to make your own? Here we go!

Ingredients:

• silicone mold (I use the heart molds, but there are so many other fun options!)
• 1 cup good dark chocolate (I realize the original Almond Joys are made with milk chocolate, but I prefer dark)
• 7 Tbsp coconut butter
• 15 almonds
• optional: heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

1. In a double broiler, melt half the chocolate over medium low heat. At this point, I add a few dashes of organic heavy whipping cream. You don’t have to do this, but I find it adds a richness. You could also use coconut or almond milk for added flavor and a smoother texture.
2. Fill 1/3 of the mold with the melted chocolate.
3. I like to chill my chocolate at this point to form the foundation; however, I don’t let it harden completely so that it will mesh with the coconut butter.
4. Add a 1/3 layer of coconut butter to each mold. Place an almond on top in each mold.
5. Melt the rest of the chocolate. In the remainder 1/3 of the molds, add the rest of the melted chocolate. Chill or freeze until firm.
6. Enjoy!

Have you ever found healthier homemade alternatives to your favorite candy? Would you try this recipe? Let us know below! I’m always on the hunt for a good candy replacement ;)

Special thanks and hugs to Jenna and Theo for letting me keep you fine Call Her Happy readers company while they get some good snuggles in. Congratulations, Hines family!

Olivia lives in Kentucky, where sweet tea and bourbon flow like milk and honey. She’s a middle school religion teacher turned SAHM who is married to her high school best friend. She spends her time changing diapers, exploring the crunchy side of life, organizing anything she can get her hands on, and dancing in the moonlight. You can come along for the adventure at To the Heights.

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I have found a system to plan meals that has been a much better fit with both our schedule and our wallet. So when Jenna asked for a guest post that was a “How To” I knew that if it helped even one person then I should share!

Here are some details about us, and why this fits so well in our lifestyle

• I am home most days and we try to eat at home as much as possible
• We have a deep freeze and can stock up on meats and freezable foods
• I like to cook (sometimes) and am fairly proficient at adapting recipes
• I get bored of repetitive meals, quickly
• We don’t have any allergies or sensitivities and eating healthy, balanced meals is important to us

My first trick – Buy meat only when it is on sale, and not just a little bit, but a good hefty discount. Walking in the store with things like “pork tenderloin” and “rump roast” on your list, and having to buy them whether they are full price or not can increase your spending tremendously. As I gradually came to learn what a good price for each kind and cut of meat is, now when I see it, I can stock up! The large box of frozen chicken breasts that I like to buy is full price $36.99 but goes on sale for $25! I also stock up (buy enough for 3 or 4 meals worth) on beans, rice, pasta, tomato sauce, and other canned or frozen goods that can last a long time when they are significantly on sale.

Second trick – Shop the edges. When I get out to the grocery store, which is always super fun with a 2-year-old and 1-year-old, I try to make it in and out as fast as possible. I usually load them up in the double cart, and race around the peripheries of the store because the edges are where all the fresh stuff is – all the additives and preservatives live in the center aisles of most grocery stores. I load up the cart with any meats and freezable staples but only if they are on sale! Then, I grab the vegetables and fruit and dairy and other perishables that are needed for this weeks recipes, as well as any other must haves that are on the grocery list. Since veggies make up half our meals (more on that later), we go through a lot of them, so again, I buy a lot of what is on sale and in season, and have had to stretch myself to learn how to cook them in delicious ways (which is possible!)

Third trick – Shop your freezer (and pantry).  Within a few weeks of buying meats on sale, my freezer usually has quite a few options. I use my handy freezer inventory (which, honestly, is normally in my head, but I wrote it out all pretty for this posts sake!) and pick a protein to base each days meals off, usually trying to rotate through beef, pork, chicken and fish (we try to have at least one meatless day each week too). This also gives me a chance to take into consideration what days a crock pot or a quick meal would be helpful. I don’t plan a left over night for every week, because I find with my husband taking leftovers to have for lunch at work and the kids and I eating other leftovers for our lunch some days, we usually take care of them pretty well.

Trick number 4 – A Balanced Meal. My meal philosophy (ever since we did a Whole30 this past August) has been trying to have our dinner plates look something like this:

and in real life:

Not that it is always laid out on the plate that pretty. Sometimes it is all stacked up, like in the “cottage pie” that I like to make, which has a base of half vegetables and half meat, covered with a mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Roughly the same proportions but as a one “pot” meal… less dishes! Other times it is baked chicken thighs, rice, a quick salad of whatever is on hand, and some steamed frozen veggies. But working vegetables into at least half the meal is important to me, and I try to do it as much as possible.

Trick 5 – Remember what you like! When I am trying to think of meals based off the frozen meats we have on hand, I sometimes use a list I keep (in the back of Kelly’s awesome planner!) of meals I know we love and I can make without too much trouble. You could easily keep this list as a Pinterest board, or in Evernote or however you like to organize, but it is helpful in moments when I am not too creative. Other times I look on Pinterest or Google for recipes centering around two or three of the main ingredients I am working with (try it… type in three random foods in Pinterest and almost always something delicious appears! This started out that way and turned into a fam fave!)

I like to use the Pocket app on my phone to save recipes people (like some of my favourite bloggers) share or that I see on Facebook. So sometimes I look there too.

Trick 6 – Leave some room for Spontaneity. Once I have picked 5 main dishes (I guess it’s still the main dish, although often it doesn’t take up the majority of our plates) I just work with what I have on hand for sides and vegetables. I also do not plan for the weekends, since our plans change a lot on Saturday and Sunday, and my husband also likes to have his ideas (and his hands) involved in the cooking those days. Since vegetables don’t normally require as much forethought and planning (read: defrosting) I often just add that part on the day of, and use whatever needs using up or seems to fit with the main dish. But other days it is more integral to the meal (like when it’s spaghetti squash and meatballs or a one pot meal…) so it all depends on the meal.

Last Trick up my sleeves – Know what motivates you. In the end, I am left with something like this:

Having something organized and ecstatically pleasing to look at makes me excited to follow it, but I try not to feel trapped by my plan and allow myself to make last minute changes when life just gets in the way (and when I forget to defrost something).  Knowing I am capable of putting delicious and healthy plates of good food in front of my family is also a big motivator, and I try to remember that on the days when takeout sounds soo appealing.

Amy is the wife to Brian and mother to Clara (2 and a half) and Hugh (1), she enjoys organizing, planning, and crossing things off her to-do list whenever her two little bosses let her. She reads blogs and sometimes shares her own thoughts at www.AllForHeavensSake.WordPress.com because it is the best way for moms to share a whole thought without being interrupted.