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Banana Bread Smoothie

April 26, 2015 · by Ari ·

This thick and creamy banana bread smoothie tastes like a milkshake, but it’s naturally light, vegan and gluten-free.

Summer is coming. I know those of you that don’t live in Arizona are super excited that it’s finally Spring but, here in Phoenix, it’s been Spring since about November and the summer temps are taunting us. In fact, next week it’s already supposed to hit 100 degrees. Wahhhhh.

This will be the first summer in a long time that I’m not training for a marathon (I trained for the New York marathon 3 years in a row and finally crossed the finish line last year!), but it will also be the first summer in an even longer time that I am staying in Phoenix almost the entire summer. I’m kind of terrified. And even though I’m not training for a marathon, I do have to keep training for the Bourbon Chase which means 90 degree runs at 4am and plenty of ice cold smoothies immediately to follow.

I have a confession: I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not into protein powder. I know most of the healthy living community likes to put protein powder in their smoothies, but I just prefer to get my protein from foods that already contain it. The cup of Silk soy milk I used in this recipe has 8 grams of plant based protein, and often times I’ll beef that up with some nonfat plain Greek yogurt, but this recipe is so smooth and creamy without it, plus I wanted to keep it vegan and dairy free.

You can get an extra protein boost from lots of soy products–tofu, edamame and more will bulk up the protein in your diet. And this smoothie? You will fall in love with how creamy, dreamy and delicious it is. The oats and frozen banana give it the flavor of freshly baked banana bread, and the dates add a little extra sweetness naturally.

Banana Bread Smoothie

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Author: Ari Ziskin

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 1

This thick and creamy banana bread smoothie tastes like a milkshake, but it’s naturally light, vegan and gluten-free.

Ingredients

1 cup Silk soy milk (I used light vanilla)
2 dates, pitted
1 banana, peeled and frozen
1/4 cup oats (use certified gluten-free if necessary)
1 cup ice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Soak dates in soy milk covered in your refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. Blend all ingredients in a high quality blender until smooth. If smoothie is too thick, add a little more soy milk. Drink immediately.

Make sure to check out Silk’s website to get a coupon and fall back in love with soy yourself!

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

Chai Spiced Vanilla Bean “Buttermilk” Muffins

February 6, 2013 · by Ari ·

Soft and fluffy whole grain chai spiced muffins with fresh vanilla bean, made with vegan buttermilk. A perfect healthy treat for brunch, or a mid-afternoon snack.

I don’t eat a lot of muffins. I mean, I’ve never met a baked good I don’t like, but a muffin isn’t what I generally grab. I usually find them to be glorified cupcakes without the frosting, and really, why would you want a cupcake with no frosting???

Well, these muffins do not taste like a cupcake, and I love that. They taste like everything you could ever want in a breakfast: spicy chai, sweet vanilla and, of course, carbs. Yes, carbs have a taste. I would describe it as “amazing” or “perfection”.

I have a secret. These actually started out as cupcakes. You see, that’s much more my style, but as I frosted them with a sugary glaze, I just wasn’t in love. These flavors are bold, and the “cupcake” came out so perfectly soft and moist that I didn’t want to hide it. So I tried again. I took away some excess sugar, cut the frosting, and I discovered that muffins can actually be pretty spectacular.

They would pair perfectly with your breakfast protein of choice, or smeared with peanut butter as an afternoon snack, or dusted with some cinnamon and powdered sugar for dessert. They are incredibly versatile and at 89 calories a pop, why not enjoy??

You may have noticed my untraditional “buttermilk”. Well, it’s not only to make the recipe vegan (added bonus!), but honestly, every time I seem to buy buttermilk, it just sits in my fridge and then goes bad. Instead, I used a cup of Silk Pure Almond Vanilla with 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar. In addition to keeping the muffins vegan, using the Silk saved an extra 5 calories per muffin opposed to making homemade buttermilk with skim milk. Now, 5 may seem like nothing, but as my tagline says, I truly believe that “Little changes make a big difference”, and I promise that after you’ve gone through the entire batch (trust me, it’s inevitable), those 5 calories will add up!

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Chai Spiced Vanilla Bean “Buttermilk” Muffins

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 1 dozen
Serving Size: 1 muffin

Soft and fluffy whole grain chai spiced muffins with fresh vanilla bean, made with vegan buttermilk. A perfect healthy treat for brunch, or a mid-afternoon snack.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 vanilla bean
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and spray lightly with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Measure out almond milk and add apple cider vinegar. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and applesauce. Scrape out the center of vanilla bean and add to the mixture. Beat until combined. Alternate adding dry and wet ingredients to the sugar and apple sauce mixture in 3 additions beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.
Divide batter evenly between lines muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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https://arismenu.com/chai-spiced-vanilla-bean-buttermilk-muffins/

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and FitFluential LLC. All opinions are my own. To learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter.

Elvis Smoothie

January 18, 2013 · by Ari ·

Okay, I promise I’m not crazy. Elvis did it. He put bacon on his peanut butter sandwich. If Elvis can put bacon on his sandwich, I can put bacon on my smoothie.

This smoothie is really quite simple. Imagine the components of an Elvis sandwich being blended together to make the perfect breakfast drink. Peanut butter, banana, honey, bacon—what can I say? It just works. The sweet and salty flavors balance out perfectly, and by making it into a smoothie, it’s so easy to grab it, and go on your way out the door. It literally takes 5 minutes, so if you’re one of those people who tries to say you don’t have time for breakfast (I don’t get it…I ALWAYS have time for food!), then I say to you: You have 5 minutes, especially when your breakfast tastes like dessert.

This smoothie may sound indulgent, but it is actually packed with fiber and protein, and filled with nutrients that provide a balanced breakfast that only tastes like dessert.

To help keep the smoothie thick and delicious and the calories low, I used Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla. The same smoothie using skim milk would come in at 372 calories—a pretty huge jump! Just the one change of using Silk instead (it is the lowest calorie almondmilk on the market!) saves 50 calories!

Elvis Smoothie

Yield 1 huge smoothie

1 medium banana, frozen
1 cup ice
1 cup Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla
1 tbs honey peanut butter (regular peanut butter is fine too)
4 oz nonfat honey Greek yogurt
1 slice center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
extra peanut butter and graham cracker crumbs for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Place banana, ice, Silk, peanut butter and yogurt in a blender, and blend until well combined, about 2 minutes.
If desired roll the top of your glass in graham cracker crumbs and drizzle some extra melted peanut butter on the inside.
Top with crumbled bacon.

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and FitFluential, LLC. All opinions are my own. To learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter.

Banana Bread Smoothie

Chai Spiced Vanilla Bean “Buttermilk” Muffins

Elvis Smoothie

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