Protein Breakfast Shake

During the week, I don't get a chance to eat lunch until around 1 and my breakfast time varies. Because I'm a teacher, it's not like I can pull out a snack whenever the urge strikes, so I'm always on the hunt for healthy breakfasts that will keep me full until my prep period.

Enter Slim Fast.

Now, I am NOT a Slim Fast person. Admittedly, I did it for my wedding and did see results, but that's not necessarily a road I plan to travel again; it just doesn't work for my lifestyle. But I found a can of their protein shake powder at the grocery store and thought I'd try it out.

I threw in some additions and am really satisfied with the result. I make it a few times a week, and it's just as delicious as it is filling. I drink it in my car around 7am, and with a fiber bar or some fruit around 10am, I'm good to go until lunch.


Protein Breakfast Shake
adapted from the SlimFast canister

• 8oz skim milk
• 1 scoop SlimFast High Protein Shake Mix
• 1 banana, broken into 3 or 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup crushed ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender (or in a large cup to use with an immersion blender) and blend until desired consistency.

Fluffy Hot Chocolate

Have you seen these adorable little marshmallows?!  If not, run run run to Target and grab a bag full of little strawberry-flavored-heart-shaped goodness.

And then come home and make this.

I happened to see this recipe for hot chocolate the same day that I found the marshmallows.  That could only mean one thing - the stars above WANTED me to have this warm snow-day beverage.

So I did.  And you should too.

I will say, however, that I was excited to throw in Christina's addition of cinnamon.  However, that wasn't a great idea considering I used strawberry-flavored marshmallows.  It wasn't bad, but it was a little... off.  So pick one - if you're using regular marshmallows, add the cinnamon for sure.

Fluffy Hot Chocolate

just barely adapted from Allrecipes, by way of A Mad Men Kitchen

• 8 teaspoons sugar
  
• 5-6 teaspoons baking cocoa
  
• 4 cups milk
  
• 1 1/2 cup marshmallows
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, combine the first four ingredients.  Cook and stir over medium heat until the marshmallows are melted, about 8 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in cinnamon and vanilla.  Ladle into mugs.

Frosty Eggnog Latte

This delicious little drink is precisely the reason I made Eggnog Ice Cream in the first place. It's simple and decadent and would be perfect for entertaining this holiday season. You can, of course, make it with any flavor ice cream; I think a nice peppermint flavor would hit the spot as you're finishing your wrapping or watching the kids dig into their treasures.

I should note that it's imperative you use cold coffee! I completely messed up poor Brooke's demonstration by forgetting to brew the coffee in time to chill it. The result was a luke-warm concoction that tasted awesome but felt really weird.


Frosty Eggnog Latte
just barely adapted from The Pampered Chef

• 4 cups ice cream, softened
• 2 cups milk, chilled
• 2 cups brewed coffee, chilled
• sugar, to taste

Mix all ingredients thoroughly until smooth. Serve, topping with whipped cream if desired.

Serves 6

Shamrock Shake

I decided to take Ryan out on a little McDonald's date on St. Patrick's Day, and I was just as excited to have a Shamrock Shake as I was to spend the evening with my little man.

However, unbeknownst to me, NOT ALL McDONALD'S CARRY THE BELOVED SHAKE! Oh, the horror!

And, of course, mine is one of them. I was very distraught.

I poked around online and found this copycat recipe on recipezaar.com. Though it's not as good as the original, it's not too shabby when you can't get an authentic one.


Ingredients

• 2 cups vanilla ice cream or soy ice cream
• 1 1/4 cups 2% low-fat milk or soymilk
• 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
• 8 drops green food coloring

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth.

2. Stop blender to stir with a spoon if necessary to help blend ice cream.

3. Pour into 12-ounce cups and serve each with a straw.

Sangria

We had Brooke and Joe over for dinner last night, and I wanted a yummy drink to serve with my grilled chicken thighs and Brooke's delicious pasta salad.

Sangria was a hot topic on my cooking board a couple of days ago, so there began my inspiration. I found this really fruity one on Melissa's blog - Mrs Sac's Purple Kitchen. I loved the fruitiness of the drink; I thought too late that I should have added some strawberries. Oh well - next time! I also didn't have enough rum for the whole thing, so I used about 1/4 cup of coconut rum. I don't usually like coconut, but I loved the tropical taste it lent to the drink.

(I submitted this to Joelen's Sangria blogging event.)

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 1 orange
• 1 1/2 cups rum
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry redwine
• 1 cup orange juice
  

1. Have the fruit, rum, wine, and orange juice well chilled. Slice the lemon, lime and orange into thin rounds and place in a large glass pitcher. Pour in the rum and sugar. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours to develop the flavors.



2. When ready to serve, crush the fruit lightly with a wooden spoon and stir in the wine and orange juice. Adjust sweetness to taste.