Beverages – Sweet Heat Chefs

I don’t know about you…but after a hard workout I come home and drink a TON of water. Sadly after birthing 4 kids, I can’t drink water while I workout or I’d never get through it without hitting the bathroom every 10 minutes (sadly I am NOT joking)!

The weather lately has been magnificent, in the 80’s warm and sunny! It has brought out the “smoothie” in me 😉 I haven’t ever tried smoothies as far as a meal replacement, I tend NOT to get full off them and feel like, well there was “x” amount of calories down the drain that didn’t stick to my ribs. So I usually just forego liquid food and end up eating food or munch a Luna bar instead.

I have though now, added this green smoothie to my post workout regimen. It is clean, refreshing and makes me feel re-hydrated after my runs. This drink is full of all kinds of yumminess fruits, veggies, and protein!

If you are a person who is ok with drinking a meal, (and no I don’t mean a bottle of wine…oh how I miss thee…) you can drink the entire content of this recipe and still be looking good in the end..REAR end 😛

**Parent alert….even kids like it**

INGREDIENTS

1 cup fresh baby spinach, washed and packed
2 medium strawberries WITH the tops left on, washed
1.5 tbsp flax seed
1 medium sized banana ( I slice mine into 8 pieces (1 banana) and keep in freezer to make a thicker smoothie and so I don’t have to add ice)
2 oz. Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt, Plain (I freeze mine in an ice cube tray. Each cube is 2 oz., see pic below)
16 oz. Almond Breeze Almond Milk, Vanilla Unsweetened
1/3 cup fresh mango, sliced
2 tsp toasted unsweetened coconut
2 tbsp. honey or your favorite sweetener

DIRECTIONS

In a blender, add all ingredients except honey and coconut.

Blend until well mixed and a gorgeous green color.

Add honey (or whatever sweetener you are using) one of two ways:

1. I use honey and drizzled the glass before adding my smoothie, Starbucks style

2. After everything is blended add sweetener and blend again.

I then garnish the drink with a little toasted coconut that I keep in the cupboard in a mason jar for sassy little drinks like this 😀

Like this recipe? Then you might like these other low fat low cal recipes I made too!

There are 2 things that are constant in my life (food wise) Wine and Coffee, and not necessarily in that order and if possible I’d drink them together! I am a huge fan of a particular coffee spot that I visit DAILY, yes DAILY. I have tried so many different coffees in a way it is like wine tasting, you try them to see what you like the best. In fact, why isn’t their coffee tasting…hmmm, maybe I stumbled upon something new…

Anyway, in my experience people are fans of either a light or mild coffee, or a medium coffee, or even a bold coffee or espresso. I am a HUGE fan of bold and espresso varieties. Again, each brand and company makes them differently so a bold at one company is not necessarily my idea of bold from another. With that being said, I continue to try different brands and flavors to make sure I am maximizing my coffee potential! 😛 After all I am raising 5 kids, going to school, blogging, and co-chairing this years Relay For Life event, so I’m a tad tired!

You can imagine my delight when I was offered a chance to taste coffee and do a review of it. It went something like this when I got the news:

S Q U E E E E E E L!!!! S H R I E K!!! W O O H O O!!!

Now the details. My opportunity came from a company called Don Tomas Coffee, you can visit them here. I was not familiar with them at the time, but as I asked around people I knew had. I guess my head had been stuck at the previous coffee store too long. I read up on the history and the story behind this company, all I can say is O M G! I feel horrible for even drinking coffee from anywhere else besides Don Tomas! These farmers are 4’th generation coffee cultivators. They live on the farm they cultivate from, they give back to their community, they have built schools and medical clinics on the farm for their own employees AND their community! THAT IS NOT ALL…For every purchase that is made 30% goes to a fundraising organization of YOUR choice. (they have a list, but you can add your organization!) How dedicated and amazing is that??

Now, you are going to say “ok, well they do all that, but how is their coffee”. Have I mentioned that I love coffee?? Yes? Ok, well I consider myself a coffee snob, meaning I only drink the best of the best, because frankly life is too short to drink crappy coffee plain and simple. I LOVE DON TOMAS COFFEE! 2 years ago I got a Keurig machine for my birthday. I stopped using it because the pre-packaged coffees just did not suit me. They were too weak or un-flavorful, whatever the case, I was not happy with the coffee I had to use. I now know, you can make your own coffee blend with a special filter thing-a-ma-bob that I have. I just put my Don Tomas Coffee in it, and viola, it was done….smelled divine and was out of this world CRAZY GOOD! I am serious, I don’t say I like or even LOVE something if I don’t, it isn’t in me (I am sure you know this by now).

I have found my new coffee company, Don Tomas Coffee. I can’t go wrong with a $10 bag of excellent tasting coffee, of which $3.00 is donated to an organization of MY choice. Knowing that the company is just as awesome as can be. I hope you will give this coffee a try, I think you will switching just like me….yep that is right, no more of “that” other coffee place for me folks, I have been converted!

Have you tried Don Tomas Coffee? Tell me about it, and leave a comment below 😀 I just can’t say enough awesome things about Don Tomas Coffee.

I said it once and I’ll say it a million times over…