lunch

          I don’t know about you but I’ve been on a HUGE smoothie kick all summer long. Seriously, when we got that crazy heat wave in NY I pretty much lived on smoothies because I couldn’t bare thinking of consuming anything that wasn’t cold and liquid. Smoothies are great for breakfast, I love making one after a workout or yoga sesh in the morning and taking it on the go with me as I start my day! I also confess that I do love smoothie pics on instagram. It’s so fun (for me atleast) to see what other people are concocting up. I mean, I’m sure we all enjoy a little of trial and error with our handy blender but sometimes it’s just nice to make something you KNOW is going to taste good! So when I saw my girl, Sarah, posting crazy yummy looking smoothie pictures and found out that they were made with some of my favorite super foods, well I just had to see if I could share them with all of you! Lucky for you, Sarah is a sweetheart and sent me over recipes and pictures right away! So get excited, this smoothie is total green gloriousness and amazingly good for you! Rev up those blenders…
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Sweet Summer Green Smoothie
– 1 layer of kale leaves
– 1 layer of spinach
– 1 in. chunk of ginger peeled and cut up
– 1 cup sliced strawberries
– half of a peach (cut up)
– 1 tsp. flaxseed
– 1 TBS Sunfood Maca Powder
– 1 scoop GNC Lean Shake Key Lime flavor
– 1.5 C almond milk (unsweetened)
And blended along with ice, of course.

vegan mac

In reality this dish is quinoa + cheese, but it really scratches the itch for it’s naughty alter ego mac and cheese! This stuff came out creamy and amazing, it’s SUPER easy to make and a definite MUST TRY!

VEGAN “MAC” and CHEESE
1 cup of water
1/2 cup quinoa
4 slices of Daiya cheese
1 tbsp of vegetable oil spread

Boil your quinoa in the water, and stir it around until most of the water has evaporated. Now add in your vegetable oil spread, tear up the slices of daiya cheese into your saucepan and mix everything together. I even added some chopped avocado after this picture was taken to kick it up a notch but it’s pretty delicious either way!

fruity french lentils

I LOVE LENTILS! Seriously. In the winter lentil soup is one of my favorite comfort foods and now that it’s hot outside I needed to find a lighter, more summery way to enjoy my lentils! Inspired by a recipe I found in The Kind Diet, these Fruity French Lentils are the perfect way to enjoy my favorite beans all year round! Enjoy these at home with some Cauliflower Steaks and salad or bring them to a barbecue as a great vegan/vegetarian alternative dish. They are sure to be crowd pleasers!

FRUITY FRENCH LENTILS
1/2 cup of lentils
1 cup of water
6 large strawberries, cleaned and chopped
2 tbsp of fresh chopped basil
2 tbsp of fresh chopped parsley
1/2 cup orange juice (I made mine fresh with a juicer)
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
a pinch or two of salt

In a saucepan, combine the lentils and water and let boil, mixing the lentils until all the water has evaporated. Chop the strawberries and place them in your orange juice while your lentils cook. When the lentils are finished, drain out any excess water and add in your basil, parsley and OJ’d strawberries. Gently fold the berries in and top it off with your balsamic and salt before your ready to serve. This a delightful light lunch on its own or side dish but can also be combined with some tofu or seitan if you would like something heartier!

raspberrykeylimesmoothie

It’s a scorching 90 degrees in New York City today and I was itching for something light and cold for lunch after running around to meetings all morning so I whipped up this delicious and refreshing protein and fiber packed concoction! Give it a whirl this summer!

Raspberry Key Lime Protein Smoothie
1 cup coconut milk
6 ice cubes
1 lime, chopped and skinned
1/2 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
4 scoops of Adonia Key Lime Pie fat free frozen yogurt
4 tbsps of vanilla hemp protein powder (Manitoba Harvest)

Blend it all together and top it off with a lime for a little added festiveness! This delicious smoothie has 10 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber!

summeravocadosalad

                Nothing says summer quite like colorful, light salads and this Summer Avocado Salad certainly fits the bill! I have been having some fun lately trying out various recipes for upcoming projects and I fell in love with this one! It’s perfect on it’s own as a light starter for your summer backyard dinner party or you can serve it with whole pita chips as an appetizer. Enjoy!

Summer Avocado Salad

2 Avocados (or one avocado per person)

3/4 of a mango chopped

1/4 of red pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1/4 green pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 cup of grape tomatoes, sliced

1/4 of a cucumber, skinned and chopped

1/4 of a red onion, chopped

“Dressing”

juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1/2 a lime, 1 tbsp of Olive Oil and a pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in one bowl, cutting and slicing your avocados last (so that they don’t brown prematurely), mix up your “dressing” in a separate bowl and then toss it in with all the veggies and fruits. Serve either as a dip with whole wheat pita chips or in a fun glass (like I did) as a creative, light starter for your festive summer dinner party! Tastes so fresh and so summery, you’re going to love it!

Thanks for reading! I love that Go Sweet and Skinny is your go-to website for healthy living tips, vegan, vegetarian and low fat recipes, and dieting advice. Let me know if there’s a healthy recipe you want to see and feel free to ask me questions. I’m here to help!

Have you been tossing around the idea of going meatless this Monday?! Even if you haven’t till you read this post, I hope now you are. I understand the overwhelmingness of giving up meat for a lifetime or maybe even a couple months but how about for just one day a week? I’ve already written a post about why this is a fabulous idea and all the benefits you’ll reap from just one day off meat, so if you haven’t read that, check it out here.

Alright, so now you know why going meatless one day is a great start (or you skipped the article and are taking my word for it)! The great thing about going vegetarian for one day a week is that it allows you to experiment with all sorts of different food choices you might normally pass over for some chicken or steak! However, I often find my carnivorous friends struggling to eat anything more than carbs when they first try this out and that’s no bueno! So to make your meatless Mondays even easier, every Monday I’ll be posting a meat free meal plan full of easy practical options for you to indulge in and start your week off right! Of course you needn’t follow it exactly if you have some yummy meat free ideas of your own add them in! And please comment below and let me know some great things you’ve been eating!

Meatless Monday Meal Plan #1

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with almond milk, fresh berries and sprinkled with chia seeds
OR
Fresh green juice (if your one of hose people who aren’t very hungry in the morning)

Lunch:
A nice big bowl of lentil soup
OR
A make-it-yourself salad (but what about protein?! Lentils, kidney beans, black beans, quinoa, edamame or grilled tofu are all great protein packed salad add ons!)

Dinner:
Feeling decadent? Try my skinny eggplant parmigiana recipe
OR
Quinoa with sautéed spinach, onions, asparagus, zucchini, whatever veggies your heart desires..

Snacks:
Almond butter with sliced apples
Carrots or broccoli with hummus
Kale chips

Yay!! Your going to make it through this meatless Monday and maybe even find you enjoy some of these meat free options more than you’d ever imagine!

 

 
 

Thanks for reading! I love that Go Sweet and Skinny is your go-to website for healthy living tips, vegan and vegetarian recipes (from everything from appetizers to cupcakes!) and diet advice. I”m committed to helping you get skinny and live the sweet life! Please follow @gosweetnskinny on twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/gosweetandskinny) to keep yourself sweet and skinny 24/7. And as always, feel free to email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com and let me know what low fat, healthy recipes you want to see on the site, what diet books your trying and ask any diet questions your little heart desires! I’m here to help you!:)

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I literally just finished chowing down on this vegan mexican mountain of deliciousness! I’m so stuffed but so pumped to tell you about how you can easily make this little vegan dinner (or lunch) in your own home! I also want to say that EVERYTHING I used in this recipe was okay to eat during my detox, so you could even say this was a vegan DETOX dinner! I know, I’m blowing your mind right now, right? Anyway, I’ve got a wicked weakness for all things Mexican, with guacamole being at the very top of the list so I just knew I had to come up with some way of eating it without those greasy fried chips it always comes with! The quinoa, black beans and tofu provide you with a triple protein punch making this meal satisfying and good for you! You are going to LOVE this dinner whether your vegan, vegetarian or just had a cheeseburger for lunch, trust me.

VEGAN MEXICAN DELIGHT (DINNER)

1/4 cup of quinoa
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup black beans
tofu (I used a slice about the size of a chalkboard eraser and 1/4 inch thick)
adobo seasoning
2tbsp of Olive Oil
2 tbsp of chopped garlic

for the guacamole:
1 avocado
1/2 lime (for juice)
1 tbsp of chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 tbsp of chopped onions
two pinches of salt

It’s pretty self explanatory, put the water and quinoa in a pot and boil it till all the water evaporates and your just mixing quinoa. Then, add your black beans and fold them into the quinoa till they’re heated up. In a separate frying pan add your olive oil and garlic on low heat. Add chopped tofu to the pan and sprinkle with the adobo seasoning. I like to cook my tofu till it’s pretty golden brown but you can do it however you like. Now for the guacamole, in a separate bowl cut the avocado in half and then cut it down and across a few times, take your knife around the skin till all the avocado falls out into your bowl. Add your chopped tomatoes and onions, sprinkle with salt and squeeze your lime. Now just finish it up by folding all the ingredients together! I then take the quinoa and beans and place it down on the plate first, topping it with my sautéed tofu and finishing it off with a nice scoop of the guacamole! It is a vegan mexican masterpiece! (The portions here are for one person, so if your cooking for two just double everything and so on)

 

 

 

 

 


Thanks for reading! I love that Go Sweet and Skinny is your go-to website for healthy living tips, vegan and vegetarian recipes (from everything from appetizers to cupcakes!) and diet advice. I”m committed to helping you get skinny and live the sweet life! Please follow @gosweetnskinny on twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/gosweetandskinny) to keep yourself sweet and skinny 24/7. And as always, feel free to email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com and let me know what low fat, healthy recipes you want to see on the site, what diet books your trying and ask any diet questions your little heart desires! I’m here to help you!:)

amylentil

 

Now noone from Amy’s Organic Soups is paying me for this sweet publicity, but hey if you want to send me some free soup – I certainly wouldn’t hate it. I just felt that I needed to share this gosweetandskinny approved soup with you during this freezing cold flu season because I know sometimes we can all be a little to busy (or sick) to make something from scratch. So when that happens and your trolling down the aisles of your local super market, Amy’s offers a ‘just a good as homemade’ alternative for vegans and omnivores alike. Whenever I buy something pre-made I ALWAYS check the ingredients on the label and you should too! I’ve included a pictures of the label from my lentil soup and you’ll see why it’s clearly my favorite. A canned soup with REAL ingredients!? I can’t believe my eyes. This picture doesn’t really do the flavor justice, it’s a really yummy lentil soup and it’s got lots of good for you veggies and lentils in it to give you tons of fiber and protein. You won’t see a label that says NO MSG, NO BIOENGINEERED INGREDIENTS and NO PRESERVATIVES to0 often in the soup aisle so reach for some Amy’s and have one less thing to worry about because you can count on only putting the best ingredients in your body.

amys2

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading! I love that Go Sweet and Skinny is your go-to website for healthy living tips, vegan and vegetarian recipes (from everything from appetizers to cupcakes!) and diet advice. I”m committed to helping you get skinny and live the sweet life! Please follow @gosweetnskinny on twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep yourself sweet and skinny 24/7. And as always, feel free to email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com and let me know what low fat, healthy recipes you want to see on the site, what diet books your trying and ask any diet questions your little heart desires! I’m here to help you! 🙂

Tis the season to indulge in a little comfort food, eh? Well one of my favorite splurges is an amazing penne a la vodka with shrimp from an italian restaurant by my apartment and this past sunday I decided to let myself have it! Now, in order to prevent myself from a mega carb binge, I also ordered a salad and made sure to eat a bit of that first so I wasn’t ravenous once I got to my pasta. Secondly, the size of the pasta dinner (as it is at most italian restaurants) was actually enough to feed me all week for dinner, so I had a average bowl sized amount and took the rest home. And now comes the good part- I recycled my penne a la vodka in to a delicious frittata that I’ll be able to eat all week long guilt-free because I loaded it up with protein and veggies!

PENNE ALA VODKA FRITTATA

The amount of eggs you use will depend on how large your pyrex dish is (mine took 8 eggs) but scramble enough eggs to fill your dish at least an inch or so and then add 3 tbsp of fat free greek yogurt and continue to scramble the mixture together.

Meanwhile, throw some baby spinach (three large handfuls), olive oil and garlic into a frying a pan on the stove and sauté that for a couple minutes. Pour the spinach and left over pasta in the pan and spread it out evenly. Now pour your eggs on top and feel free mix it up in the dish so that the eggs are mixed through out. Sprinkle a little reduced fat cheese on top (if you please) and stick that in the oven on 425 degrees for a about 20 minutes or till you see the top getting golden brown!

Enjoy! You can cut it into individual portions and eat it for breakfast all week! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading! I love that Go Sweet and Skinny is your go-to website for healthy living tips, vegan and vegetarian recipes (from everything from appetizers to cupcakes!) and diet advice. I”m committed to helping you get skinny and live the sweet life! Please follow @gosweetnskinny on twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/gosweetandskinny) to keep yourself sweet and skinny 24/7. And as always, feel free to email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com and let me know what low fat, healthy recipes you want to see on the site, what diet books your trying and ask any diet questions your little heart desires! I’m here to help you!:)


There is nothing I love more than a good homemade veggie burger, if you read my article on The Diner you know that I have a penchant for seeking out killer veggie burgers. So when I saw this recipe while flipping through the pages of fitness magazine, I knew I had to try it! Can you believe I had never even attempted to make my own homemade veggie burger before? Blasphemy! I know! Well this burger combines my beloved veggie burger with a splash of Mexican flair for a tastebud knock out. Eat up kiddies!

Black Bean Fiesta Burger
Makes four burgers

1 15 ounce can of black beans drained and rinsed
1/2 cup of finely crushed blue corn tortilla chips
1/3 cup salsa
1/2 cup of reduced fat grated cheddar
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 scallion finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 large hamburger buns (optional)
2 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 butter lettuce leaves (optional)

First, blend or mash your black beans till they’re a chunky puree. Now stir in your crushed chips, salsa, black pepper, cheddar, egg and scallions. Set the mixture aside for 10 minutes then shape into four patties. Next, place the patties on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. When your ready to eat up your delicious creation simply put a teaspoon of oil in a large non stick skillet on your stove top. Cook each side till golden brown just like a regular burger and then remove from the heat. You can serve them however you like, on a toasted bun or whole wheat pita, I would probably just keep it on the butter lettuce and top with salsa and maybe a little more cheese if I was feeling naughty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading! I love that Go Sweet and Skinny is your go-to website for healthy living tips, vegan and vegetarian recipes (from everything from appetizers to cupcakes!) and diet advice. I”m committed to helping you get skinny and live the sweet life! Please follow @gosweetnskinny on twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/gosweetandskinny) to keep yourself sweet and skinny 24/7. And as always, feel free to email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com and let me know what low fat, healthy recipes you want to see on the site, what diet books your trying and ask any diet questions your little heart desires! I’m here to help you!:)

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Not that you have to wait till fall to enjoy this scrumptous soup but nothing makes me happier than a warm bowl of homemade soup on a brisk October day. However, when it comes to soups you can never be too careful, the canned stuff can come with an extra helping of sodium and preservatives, yuck! So here’s an awesome and quick recipe for a soul warming carrot ginger squash soup I found in Health magazine! It’s veggie and vegan friendly but mainly just a great healthy choice. You can also make a large batch and keep it in the fridge for a quick healthy afternoon snack .

Carrot Ginger Squash Soup

Saute 1/2 cup chopped onions, 1 tbsp fresh ginger and 1 clove minced garlic in 1 tsp olive oil for 3 minutes in medium pot. Add 1 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth, 1 cup frozen butternut squash cubes and 1 cup of carrot slices. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. With a hand blender, puree until smooth; if desired add broth for thinner texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading! I love that Go Sweet and Skinny is your go-to website for healthy living tips, vegan and vegetarian recipes (from everything from appetizers to cupcakes!) and diet advice. I”m committed to helping you get skinny and live the sweet life! Please follow @gosweetnskinny on twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/gosweetandskinny) to keep yourself sweet and skinny 24/7. And as always, feel free to email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com and let me know what low fat, healthy recipes you want to see on the site, what diet books your trying and ask any diet questions your little heart desires! I’m here to help you!:)

You know those mornings when you wake up just ravenous for some sweet carby treat?! It usually happens to me on the weekends or during that lovely time of the month. Well this is perhaps an unusual but totally satisfying breakfast idea for you to give a spin!

Sweet Potato with Almond Butter and Maple Syrup

Poke a medium sweet potato with a fork 3 times; microwave on high until cooked, 3 to 5 minutes. Cut the potato in half lengthwise and mash up the insides a bit. In a seperate bowl, mix 2 tbsp of almond butter and tsp maple syrup and drizzle it over the potato! There you have it, quick and easy and loaded with good for you foods!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading! I love that Go Sweet and Skinny is your go-to website for healthy living tips, vegan and vegetarian recipes (from everything from appetizers to cupcakes!) and diet advice. I”m committed to helping you get skinny and live the sweet life! Please follow @gosweetnskinny on twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/gosweetandskinny) to keep yourself sweet and skinny 24/7. And as always, feel free to email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com and let me know what low fat, healthy recipes you want to see on the site, what diet books your trying and ask any diet questions your little heart desires! I’m here to help you!:)