Peanut Butter and Jelly Protein Shake

I have been making quite a few protein smoothies lately.  Maybe it is the occasional 55 degree day that makes me think it is so balmy outside, i need to have a cold, refreshing shake.  Maybe it is because I want to have something good that will time me over until lunch.  Who knows.  I love them and they are so YUMMY!  My brain thinks I am having an actual shake but my brain knows that this is sooooo good for me.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Protein shake
serves 1

2 Tablespoons of PB2
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup of greek yogurt (I used Fage 0%)
a couple of hands full of frozen strawberries
1 scoop protein powder

Blend and serve!  This one rang in at under 300 calories.  DELISH!

Portion Control

If there was one thing I learned on my weight loss journey it was too look to see how much was an actual serving before putting food in my mouth.  I used to guess what they were, but you really need to measure and weigh, so you know what you are getting yourself into.  I have a food scale and I have several sets of measuring cups and spoons

so I can measure food all day long.

 I remember the shocking day when I was making my son a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I would always get a spoon and have some peanut butter when I was done making his lunch.  One day, I actually looked and found out that I was eating more than a tablespoon of peanut butter which was more than 100 calories mindlessly!  That is a lot of calories!

If you can't trust yourself or need to grab something easy for a snack, grab some that are already portioned.  I get hungry sometimes in between lunch and dinner and I know I always have preportioned  servings of some kind of nut butter in my pantry.  Just grab one of those and an apple or some celery.  Easy Peasy, right?

Lower sugar cookies

I have made the basic cookie recipe on the back of the bag of chocolate chips hundreds of times.  There is a lot of sugar in those cookies.  My kiddos ask for some kind of dessert almost every night.  Sometimes, it is an actual treat, other times it is a "treat" that is a much healthier option.

These cookies are really yummy.  I was surprised.  I love sugar and these cookies hit the spot!  I didn't even feel bad when I had one....ok, fine.  I had 2.  I found the recipe here...

http://foodbabe.com/2013/04/18/does-your-cookie-need-all-that-sugar/

You can add whatever you want to them to make them your own like raisins, chocolate chips or cranberries.  I added dark chocolate chips (because dark chocolate is good for you).  :-P

Try them out!  See if you can fool your kids too.