Shrimp Lettuce Wraps + Sesame Peanut Ginger Dressing

TACOS. There I said it again. I wanted to make tacos again this week (shocker) but I opted for a lighter twist. I swapped out my go-to corn tortillas for big pieces of butter lettuce. In actuality I made lettuce wraps (like I did here) but I used shrimp. They were just as easy to make & fun to eat as regular tacos except I felt a little bit better about the extra helpings.  I loaded mine with veggies & some sesame peanut ginger dressing. Click through to get the recipe for the tasty shrimp I made for these, plus the dressing! Yep you get two recipes today. You can use them together like I did or just make one or the other (ex: make the dressing to serve with salad all week long or make the shrimp & toss with some quinoa).

Mixed Berries & Banana Smoothie Bowls

If you follow me on instagram (& you should, it’s fun!) you’ll already know that I’ve been hitting the smoothie bowl train as of late. A smoothie bowl is simply a smoothie served in a bowl eaten with a spoon. The possibilities of ingredients for smoothie bowls are endless.  I like to top them with the same ingredients I use in the the smoothie portion for three reasons: (1) it looks really pretty, (2) it adds texture, (3) it’s a clear indicator of what’s blended up in the smoothie. If you don’t have time to arrange the toppings in neat little rows it will still taste the same. I like taking the extra time to make it look pretty because it makes me zen in the morning when I prepare breakfast. In case you’re wondering, Chris likes these too.

This first smoothie bowl recipe I’m sharing is a good gateway smoothie bowl because it’s sweet & familiar. So if you’re trying to work more fruit & protein into your breakfast routine this is the way to do it.

If you make your own smoothie bowls, I’d love to know what you put in yours. Please comment below!

Peanut Butter & Banana Boats

More often than not, if it’s breakfast time I’m eating avocado toast.  Yesterday was the rare day that I didn’t have avocado toast for breakfast, so I had it for lunch.  I opted to make a quick (yet somewhat fancy looking) protein packed breakfast centered around banana & peanut butter.  I remember seeing something like this on the web - I can’t remember where but I took a mental photo & stored it in my memory bank. Yesterday I pulled that memory out & I must say I’ll be revisiting this quick breakfast that kept me from a growling stomach into the middle of the afternoon. It’s also a great snack or dessert.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Banana Bites

Happy Monday & to those of you who have the day off - enjoy it! To those of you reading this from your office desk - I feel you, so am I :)

I thought I’d start the week off with being real. Sometimes you just want to eat dessert first - so if you need it justified tell everyone I told you to do it. Sometimes real is dessert first & sometimes it isn't pretty. I wasn’t going to post these deliciously simple bites because well they’re just not that pretty [insert whiny frowny face & voice here] - but as Chris replied to my mini tantrum “they taste pretty” which translates to they taste good, put them on the blog - so I am. Here they are.

The other night as we indulged in season 2 of a House of Cards binge (OMG!!! that first episode) I felt we needed some dessert but I didn’t feel like baking & all of the brownies were gone already. I looked around to see what we had. Bananas, check. Peanut butter, check. Chocolate, check.  So I decided to make mini peanut butter & banana sandwiches covered in chocolate. Luckily, peanut butter & banana make a complete protein & dark chocolate has lots of happy antioxidants in it so I felt good about eating these sweet little bites & you should too.