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Copycat Orange Berry Blitz
Jamba Juice and I go way back. My favorite female cousin introduced me to the place when I was about 12-13 and treated both me and my brother to whatever we wanted there. The two of us have extremely similar tastes in food, which rears its ugly head most often at sushi buffets, because without fail, one of us will pick up pile on pieces of sushi onto our plate in the exact order that the other would’ve taken them. It’s a good thing he’s one of my best friends. :O But back to my derailed story, we both ended up picking Orange Zinger (now known as Orange Berry Blitz and also no longer on the menu, although if you ask, they usually know how to make it).
It was love at first cup, and although I’ve since tried a bunch of the other flavors, Orange Berry Blitz will always be my favorite.
This is, of course, before I moved to a land where it doesn’t exist (alright, fine, the closest one is 107.22 miles away–yes, I really did just check) and also stopped being able to afford $5+ drinks (I miss when they were ~$3.50; those were the days!). As with most things in life, I’ve learned to make do with what I have.
Whilst boards-studying earlier this month, I was making a smoothie for myself. As per usual, I was trying to use up ingredients in the fridge, and bam! A wayyyy cheaper and healthier version of my favorite drink was born. It was a happy accident, and now that I’ve found the ingredients for the real thing, it makes sense why the taste is so similar. :] I threw in protein powder (think of it as one of their protein “boosts”!), but that’s entirely up to you.
I unfortunately didn’t think to take a picture of the first one I made (well, I did, but more on that later, I guess), so that first one actually came out looking way more similar than the one I actually took a picture of (the pineapple-mango-strawberry ratio in the bag I used wasn’t entirely even). This makes a gigantic cup! (I poured it into a mason jar so it’d look a little more presentable.)
Copycat Orange Berry Blitz
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups Private Selection Tropical Smoothie Blend (Kroger’s fancy way of saying pineapples, mangos + strawberries)
-1/2 cup frozen blueberries
-1/2 cup Fage Greek yogurt
-1 cup orange juice
-1 scoop unflavored protein powder
Instructions:
1) Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth!
Peppermint Patty, that’s not for you!
This is why I couldn’t really showcase the first one I made. :/ This is all that was left by the time I thought about taking a picture.
Chocolate Cherry Protein Shake
I made this after Tetris-ing a whole lot of boxes/bags and the like into a car and a moving van. (The guys were moving all my stuff to Kentucky for me because I was stuck in Lewisburg studying, so I figured the least I could do would be to help them stuff everything in.)
Chocolate Cherry Protein Shake
Ingredients:
-3/4 cup Homestead Creamery chocolate milk (any type of chocolate milk would do)
-1/2 cup frozen kale
-1/4 cup frozen cherries
-1 scoop unflavored protein powder (you could probably use chocolate)
-1 banana
Instructions:
1) Add all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth!
Can you tell that I played Tetris as a child? This is basically what happens when you try to combine the refrigerators of two foodies. :x
Recipe ReDux: Gochujang Turkey Mushroom Burgers [sponsored]
“By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by The Mushroom Council and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”
The Mushroom Council is hosting a Swap It or Top It contest, so if you’d like a chance to win $5000, now might be a good time to go for it! The contest lasts til August 15, and you can submit a recipe each day.! There are three categories that you can enter under:
- Blendability Burger: substitute mushrooms for a high-calorie part of the burger (e.g. meat) to add an extra serving of veggies to your meal, while reducing calories/fat
- Swapability Burger: use mushrooms to make a meatless burger
- Mushroom Topped Burger: top your burger with mushrooms as an ingredient
There were fresh white button mushrooms on sale at Kroger, and I had a whole ton of lean ground turkey I wanted to use up, so I decided to make burgers! (Now that it’s actually warm again outside, grilling things doesn’t seem so bad.) I guess in theory, this would fall under “Blendability” and “Mushroom-Topped!” My food chopper/”processor” of sorts is packed away somewhere in a box, so I did not have the luxury of pushing a button to slice and dice em’ all. If you aren’t in my current predicament of having just moved out and into a place, but about to move again in about a week (it’s a long story), I would highly recommend using a food processor to cut down on time. :]
I decided to take a break yesterday evening and wanted to make a healthy dinner for Linda and Donna, two of my favorite ladies in town who run the local cat sanctuary and dog sanctuary in town, respectively. (They were also my guinea pigs for this recipe.) I was slightly worried about whether or not they’d like it since there were a lot of flavors in here that really aren’t as common (especially here). Donna wasn’t a fan of spicy foods, so she opted out of the sauce and just had the burgers over a bed of greens, but both of them really enjoyed it, and we had a lovely, relaxing evening, which I think we all really needed!
L: Thank you so much for dinner!
F: Of course! I’m so glad you liked it!
L: I didn’t just like it; I loved it! When you were telling me about all the things you put in there, I was a little worried, but the flavors came together so well! The pickled ginger you added gives it this extra twang that made it really unique.
F: :]!!!
In any case, she banned me from the kitchen when I tried to help clean up, so I am now here, typing up this post.
- Turkey adds a healthy amount of protein to the meal.
- Mushrooms are low in calories, full of B vitamins, and add a serving of veggies.
- Gochujang (made of red chili powder, glutinous rice powder, powdered fermented soybeans and salt) contains protein, vit B2, vit C and carotene.
- Ginger contains vitamin B6, magnesium, and potassium.
- Hemp seeds are high in essential fatty acids/amino acids and protein.
- Greek yogurt makes the sauce creamy, while still allowing it to be low in calories + high in protein!
Gochujang Turkey Mushroom Burgers
Ingredients:
(Burgers)
-2 lb extra lean ground turkey
-9 oz white button mushrooms, diced
-2 eggs
-1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
-1 4 in. piece pickled ginger, diced (aka fresh ginger marinated beforehand for at least an hour in equal parts black rice vinegar + sweet vinegar)
-2 tbsp gochujang sauce (Korean hot pepper paste)
-1/2 lime, juiced
-2 tbsp garlic, minced
(Topping)
-1 oz. white button mushrooms, diced
-1/2 red onion, diced
-sprinkle of hemp seeds
(Sriracha Yogurt Sauce)
-1/4 cup Fage 0% Greek yogurt
-1 1/2 tbsp sriracha sauce
-1/4 lime, juiced
(Sriracha Wasabi-Mayo Sauce)
-2 tbsp wasabi mayo
-1 1/2 tsp sriracha
-2 tbsp Fage 0% Greek yogurt
-1 tbsp gochujang sauce (Korean hot pepper sauce)
Instructions:
1) In a large bowl, combine all the burger ingredients until well mixed.
2) Form into ~3-in. diameter patties. (They’ll be soft and may not hold their shape quite so well, so you might want to use a grill pan, and also non-stick spray since there’s not much fat in there.)
3) Grill until turkey’s internal temperature is at 165 F.
4) While the turkey burgers are grilling, prepare the sauces! Mix the ingredients for each sauce into a separate small bowl.
5) When the burgers are done cooking, top each one with a dollop of sauce and a spoonful of the hemp-seed/red onion/mushroom mixture. Serve with a side of greens.
The recipe made 11 patties!
Sriracha Yogurt Sauce
As the first and only recipe challenge founded by registered dietitians, The Recipe ReDux aims to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoy! (Please note that this is a closed link-up for Recipe ReDux posts only. Any links added to this collection for non-ReDux posts will be deleted.)
Sweet & Spicy Dijon-Encrusted Salmon
I made this almost a month ago, but there were too many backdated entries to add it in, so here it is now!
I am the first to admit that my original reasoning behind getting an instagram account was solely so I could look at the food porn/stockpile even more recipes. I found Fresh Fit N Healthy because of this, and later found out that she is a fellow Recipe ReDux-er (if that’s a word)! It’s on my list of goals to try out other Recipe Re-Dux-er’s recipes, so here’s the first one I attempted! (It was part of the mother’s day dinner!)
We were super hungry, so I put less effort into making it pretty. We also grilled it instead of baking it, but I think it turned out really well! :] Super tasty and a very interesting blend of flavors.
Sweet & Spicy Dijon-Encrusted Salmon
~420 calories, 24g CHO’s, 15g fat, 48g protein, 4g fiber, 926mg sodium.
Ingredients:
-3 salmon fillets
-1/2 cup Fage 0% Greek yogurt
-2 tbsp Dijon mustard
-1 1/2 tbsp sriracha sauce
-1 1/2 tbsp honey
-2 Breton Gluten-Free Original with Flax crackers, crushed
-2 Breton Gluten-Free Garlic & Herb crackers, crushed
-4 tbsp walnuts, crushed
-cinnamon
-cayenne pepper
-sea salt
Instructions:
1) Mix together yogurt, Dijon mustard, honey, sriracha, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and salt. Coat the salmon fillets.
2) Combine crushed crackers + walnuts and sprinkle on top.
3) Wrap in aluminum foil and put in grill for ~5-7 minutes.
I’m joining in on the Wine’d Down Wednesday linkup/blog hop! I don’t actually drink wine (I’m missing my acetaldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme!), but it’s pretty much a way to link up a recent post and virtually mingle with other bloggers since we can’t really meet up in person, so here we are!
Banana Almond Microwave Muffin
From start to finish, this took under 5 minutes to make! :] It may not look the most appetizing, but it’s great as a grab-and-go breakfast. I threw all the ingredients into a mug before going to school for my morning workout, microwaved it and bam! There you go. :O I didn’t want to microwave it for much longer, lest it get all dry and difficult to eat. Two minutes seems like the perfect consistency–moist and tastes just like banana bread (which it pretty much is)! The guy sitting next to me asked if that’s what it was and said it smelled amazing.
This is another one of those crazy meal-replacement calorie bombs, but…so many nutrients and good fats! :] It’s much better than many alternatives out there!
Banana Almond Microwave Muffin
455 calories, 35g CHO’s, 22g fat, 32g protein, 6g fiber, 126mg sodium!
Ingredients:
-1/4 cup almond meal
-1 scoop Designer Whey French Vanilla protein powder
-1 egg
-1 banana, mashed
Instructions:
1) Mash the banana and mix everything together in a microwave-safe mug.
2) Microwave for 2 minutes.
A pretty spring sunset from outside the gym the evening before! :]
fairyburger 