What the Shack's are eating lately

Yesterday, I recapped what John and I were up to last weekend, and today I'm talking about what we've been eating lately. Read on for quick, yummy (and healthy of course!) recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, AND dessert.

Breakfast

Chocolate "Frosty" Smoothie

Coffee and Chocolate... perfect start to the day

This smoothie was so creamy that I ate it with a spoon. It reminded me of a frosty, so it was obviously quite a delicious way to start the morning. The key here is to use everything frozen so it's thick.

Serves 1 / Instructions: Blend together 1/2 frozen banana, 1/4 cup frozen blueberries, 1/4 cup frozen, chopped spinach, 3 Tbsp. chocolate hemp protein powder (I use this one), and enough almond milk to get everything blended together (probably about 3/4 cup). 

Lunch

5 Minute Pasta

I used gluten free pasta but any will work for this dish. I also had the pasta already pre-cooked from dinner the night before (see next recipe!) and reheated it, making this come together quickly.

Serves 1 / Instructions: Cook one serving of pasta. While pasta cooks, combine 5 halved grape tomatoes, 2 Tbsp. chopped sun dried tomatoes, 2 tsp capers, 1 tsp fresh thyme. When pasta is finished, drain and drizzle with olive oil. Toss with combined veggies.

Dinner

Italian Shrimp Pasta

Since John and I eat different types of pasta (i.e. he doesn't eat gluten free), I made spaghetti noodles for him and gluten free mushroom pasta for me (see 5 Minute Pasta picture above).

Serves 2 / Instructions: 

1. Preheat pan over medium-low heat. Add olive oil and half of a white onion, chopped. Caramelize onion (about 15 minutes).
2. While onion cooks, thaw shrimp. Quarter 10 grape tomatoes, halve 1/2 cup of green olives, and chop 1/2 cup of portabella mushrooms. 
3. Add in mushrooms and two cloves of chopped garlic to onions. Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Season shrimp with dried oregano and add shrimp, tomatoes, olives, and 1 Tbsp. capers to pan. 
5. Cook until shrimp is pink and done cooking. 
6. Toss everything with pasta, drizzle with olive oil, and top with fresh basil, sage, thyme, and ground pepper. 

Dessert- saving the best for last!

No Bake Chocolate Cookies

I got the urge to bake late last night and decided to make some gluten free, vegan cookies. They're not exactly healthy but not as bad as most cookies either! Plus, they definitely passed John's taste test!

The key is to use coconut oil to get a "coconutty" flavor (but you can use butter if you don't have it) and quality cocoa powder. Obviously Trader Joe's was my selection of choice:

2 dozen cookies / Instructions: Combine 1 mashed banana, 4 Tbsp coconut oil, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter (or substitute peanut or almond butter) in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Once it starts to boil, take pan off heat and stir in 3 1/2 cups gluten free (or quick cooking) oats. 

Spoon out about a tablespoon of the mixture and place in balls on parchment paper (or in Tupperware like I did). Stick in fridge to harden.