Charlie Brown Smoothie (serves 2)

This recipe is PERFECT to recover from workouts. I also find it to be a very satisfying breakfast. Hey, it can even help you for those moments when you are craving Charlie Brown ice cream!

Ingredients:
- 1 chopped frozen banana
- 2 cups of Silk chocolate almond milk
- 2 Tablespoons of almond butter
- 1 scoop of LifeTime Chocolate Protein Powder
- 1 teaspoon of coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed

Directions:
Place the banana in the blender on the ice chopping setting for about 10 seconds. Add the chocolate almond milk and almond butter and then blend for 10 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and blend for about 15 seconds! Enjoy!

Butternut Squash for a SNACK?

Yes, you read that right! If you've been reading my blog for a while or if you've been a client of mine, you know a lot about the convenience trap that forces us to make unhealthy food choices...and we sabotage our good intentions!

Butternut squash is a satisfying snack that can attack the allure of convenience foods. Some of you may be thinking you do not have time to peel, de-seed, and chop a butternut squash. Hey, I don't have time either. Do what I do: pay a little bit more and get pre-peeled and chopped butternut squash that is available in the produce section of most grocery stores! Here's a delicious recipe that takes only 10 minutes of your time (the oven does most of the work) and voila, you have a healthy snack available for the week.

Shannon's Cherry-licious Baked Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
- 1 pack of Wegmans family-sized butternut squash
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup organic dried cherries
- 1 cup organic raw pecans
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- Sea salt to taste

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450.
- If the squash pieces are larger than one inch, take a bit of time to chop them into one-inch pieces.
- Drizzle olive oil over the squash in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
- Arrange the squash in a casserole dish and sprinkle the cherries and pecans throughout.
- Add a tiny bit of sea salt.
- Drizzle maple syrup over the squash.
- Bake covered for 50 minutes.

Healthy Hot Cocoa Fix?

Yes, you read that right! I have discovered a healthy alternative to hot cocoa. Would you believe me if I told you that it is even has fiber? If you are like me, hot cocoa is a must in order to survive winters, especially Syracuse winters. There's nothing quite like curling up on the couch with a steamy mug of hot chocolate and a good book. It makes the winter almost worth it.

I am not the biggest fan of dairy (or rather it's not so fond of me), so I try to limit my dairy consumption. This hot cocoa alternative is vegan! Silk's Pure Almond Dark Chocolate Milk hit the market this winter. Brent and I picked it up to try in our post workout smoothies. One evening I was fiending for hot cocoa. We didn't have any milk or cocoa. I heated up a couple cups of the almond milk. I was amazed at the result--a super-tasty hot cocoa alternative!

I have to say Silk's tag line for this almond milk is quite accurate: Choose Wisely. Drink Happily.

In a 12-ounce serving of this hot cocoa, you get 1.5 grams of fiber, 1.5 grams of protein, over 50% of your RDA for vitamin C, almost 70% of your RDA for calcium, 75% of your RDA for vitamin B12, and a good amount of zinc, riboflavin, magnesium, manganese, vitamin D, vitamin A, and iron. Yum!