I'm strong to the finish-

-'cause I eat my spinach!

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!! (toot! toot!)

Spinach. So versatile and easy. And SO GOOD FOR YOU!

I have always liked spinach. Matter of fact, when I was in grade school, I would get the school's hot lunch. I would love it whenever we had spinach (or broccoli). I would trade my cake (or whatever other dessert there was that day) with other kids to get THEIR spinach! I recall kids just willing handing over their spinach (and broccoli) and I thought I was the lucky one~getting ALL this spinach!

Fast forward many (many) years and I still love it. These days I am enjoying this super veggie in a few more creative ways then the boiled mess they offered in school lunch.

Here are some of my favorite ways to eat spinach!

I love to start the day or wrap up a workout with a protein shake and my favorite has to be one I have named "The Green Monkey". This is not my original recipe, it was actually an adaption from Tammy's recipe for her spinach protein shake, so a big thank you to her for sharing her recipe with me!

THE GREEN MONKEY PROTEIN SHAKE

• 1 cup of Almond Milk (or your favorite milky liquid~coconut, rice, soy, cow, goat etc.)
• 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein isolate (or your favorite protein powder)
• a dash of stevia or your favorite sweetener (honey works well here too)
• a dash of vanilla extract
• 1 generous tablespoon of all natural peanut butter
• 1 frozen banana cut into chunks (you don't have to use frozen but it's really really good if you use a frozen banana)
• a couple ice cubes (more if you used a non-frozen banana)
• a BIG hand full of raw baby spinach

put all of the above in your blender in that order and WHIZ until smooth. Enjoy-you won't even know you are drinking spinach-I promise!

A couple weeks ago after running a race, I was craving pizza. Now I did not want to go out nor did I to consume 9,000 calories in a single sitting so I played around with what we had on hand and came up with a great solution~yummy melted cheese, mostly figure friendly and satisfied my craving. Now this is a quick and easy lunch~add a big salad and you've got a great dinner too!

Easy Spinach Quesadillas

• 2 whole wheat wraps (I really like Joseph's Oat & Flax wraps)
• 1/4 cup (or more!) of LF shredded cheddar cheese (like Cabot 50% reduced fat is awesome!)
• 2 tblsp cottage cheese (optional-I have made it with and without, both are good!)
• 1 big hand full of raw baby spinach-chopped

Spritz a skillet with olive oil or non-stick spray and place one wrap in the pan. Layer cheese, spinach, cottage cheese and then more cheddar cheese.

Top with the other wrap. Cook on med-med/high heat until the bottom wrap is toasty and golden. Flip onto a dinner plate and slide back into the skillet. Repeat to toasty golden perfection on the other side.
I make a yummy salsa dip for this that is also super easy!

DIP: equal parts of plain Greek yogurt and your favorite salsa (1/4 cup each is good). Top with chopped cilantro and green onion (optional) or make it spicy with some extra hot sauce!



I came up with this salad combo this summer after a visit to Longhorn Steakhouse and several trips to pick strawberries.

Spinach & Fruit Salad with Feta

• 4 cups of raw baby spinach leaves
• 1 cup of fresh strawberries, quartered
• 1 cup of green grapes, cut in half
• a couple rings of sliced red or sweet onion

Toss the above in a large salad bowl and top with crumbled feta cheese. You can also add some grilled chicken to this to make it a great lunch or meal. I even like it with some toasted nuts like pecans or almonds. As for dressing~something light and simple goes well with this salad. A raspberry/walnut vinaigrette or poppy seed dressing is really good!

What is YOUR favorite way to eat spinach??

What is YOUR favorite super veggie??

When Zucchini Attack!

When zucchini attack...HUG EM!

We certainly have a bumper crop from our garden this year~it seems we are just overflowing with zucchini, yellow squash and cukes right now...and I could not be happier! I just love 'em all. The cherry tomatos have been coming in for a while and now the BIG tomatos are starting. Ahhhh, summer and the bounty of the garden.

Casey has been working hard to keep up with everything and we are already making plans to make next years garden a lot bigger!! We have been busy making pickles, breads, muffins, squash and zucchini boats-you name it, we are making it!

Now it's really time to get creative with our cooking stills and see what else we can come up with!

Last night I made a Garden Pasta Salad and it was delish (and easy!).

Garden Pasta Salad

• 1 box of whole wheat bowtie pasta or tri color pasta cooked
• 1 1/2 cups zucchini-raw, chopped
• 2 med cukes, chopped (we leave the skin on)
• 2 big handfulls of cherry tomatos, halved
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 bell pepper (any color) chopped
• 2 green onions chopped
• * you can use any kinds of veggies you like, we just used what was on hand

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup of your fav italian dressing (we like Newmans Own Lighten Up Italian with Lemon, Drew's Classic Italian or even just home made vinegrette)
• 2 tbsps your favorite mayo (we like Vegenaise)
• dash of italian seasoning, pepper and celery salt

Mix pasta, veggies and dressing. Let chill out in the fridge for an hour or so. Enjoy!

As I come up with more creative ways to use up our veggies I will keep you all in the loop!