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spinach

Brunch/ Meals/ RECIPES

Easy Egg Spinach and Avocado Breakfast

Egg and spinach topped with avocado slices

The Beauty of Egg, Avocado, and Spinach

I posted the above Egg, Avocado and Spinach breakfast photo on Instagram, and it got lots of attention!

Maybe it is all of the beautiful colors in this ‘easy-but-looks-fancy’ dish. They really are quite beautiful; the dark green of the wilted spinach against the shiny cooked egg white and sunny yellow of the egg.

A sprinkling of seeds in all the neutral colors doesn’t hurt, either. Such a pretty dish! All those colors represent different textures, which make this dish very satisfying!

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Drinks/ GF, Vegan & Raw/ RECIPES

Blended Mango Spinach Salad

PicMonkey-Collage-SPINACH-MANGO

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to eat some form of greens everyday.  The more I read on the health benefits of greens, the more I realize how important it is to consume them daily and in large amounts. I am devouring the book Eat To Live Eat To Live  by Dr. Fuhrman. It is by far one of my most favorite books on nutrition, second only to The China Study. This recipe is taken from that book.

Dr. Fuhrman

Here is what he says about greens:

“Dark green leafy vegetables –kale, spinach, arugula, swiss chard, romaine, mustard greens, collard greens & watercress–get the very highest score in highest nutrient density foods. They contain the very most phytochemicals, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals of all foods. They are rich in all necessary amino acids.  They are packed with cancer-fighting phytonutrients that protect us from a variety of threatening illnesses.”

Spinach leaves

Greens rock!

I love a good salad, and it is a good thing since I eat them most days for lunch AND as a side to dinner.  I also love green smoothies.  But sometimes, I just want to get my greens in quick and not have to think about it the rest of the day.

Drink your greens

This Blended Mango Spinach Salad is an awesome way to do just that.  It only makes about 4 1/2 ounces, so to gulp it down takes just minutes.  Most of my green smoothie recipes make 2 cups of smoothie which takes a chunk of time to finish.  This blended salad recipe is the same idea of a smoothie, and uses the same amount of greens as a green smoothie (3 cups!) but it is more concentrated.

The mango adds a nice creaminess and sweetness.  It tastes very fresh and quite green.  I like it, quite a lot, but I’m also used to the taste of green smoothies and greens.  I could not drink 2 cups of it at once, but as a quick “shot” of nutrition, it is perfect.  I will be making it often.

Baby Spinach
Beautiful greens!
spinach and mangos
Only 3 simple, super healthy ingredients.
cutting a mango how to

Cut your mango and do your best not to eat it just like this!

mango art

Mango art!

Mango skin
Slice mango chunks off of skin right into blender.
Blending mango and spinach
Blend mango & spinach.
Green smoothie

Check out that beautiful color!

Kale and spinach

Add greens and milk.

Green smoothie in blender
Blend again, and you are done!
Green smoothie in mason jar
Now chug it, slurp it, drink it up!  Your body will thank you for this extra shot of energy and goodness!
…………………

Blended Mango Spinach Salad 
2 cups spinach
1/2-1 cup romaine or other greens (I used a mix of baby chard, kale & watercress)
1 cup fresh mango
1/8 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)

Peel and chop the mango and place in a food processor or high powered blender.  Add the spinach.  Blend until combined.  Add the greens and milk.  Blend until creamy.

………………..
 
Check out the nutrition facts in that green shot of goodness!
 
759 g potassium
5 g fiber
3.4 g protein
Almost 200% of your Vitamin A
Over 100% of your Vitamin C
Great source of iron, magnesium & calcium!

 

Nutrition Facts
User Entered Recipe
  1 Serving

 

 

Amount Per Serving
  Calories 128.0
  Total Fat 0.8 g
  Saturated Fat 0.2 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g
  Cholesterol 0.0 mg
  Sodium 74.4 mg
  Potassium 759.6 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 31.3 g
  Dietary Fiber 5.0 g
  Sugars 24.8 g
  Protein 3.4 g
  Vitamin A 194.0 %
  Vitamin B-12 0.0 %
  Vitamin B-6 19.8 %
  Vitamin C 118.3 %
  Vitamin D 0.0 %
  Vitamin E 17.7 %
  Calcium 10.6 %
  Copper 14.9 %
  Folate 49.4 %
  Iron 14.7 %
  Magnesium 21.5 %
  Manganese 42.6 %
  Niacin 8.1 %
  Pantothenic Acid     3.2 %
  Phosphorus     6.2 %
  Riboflavin 15.5 %
  Selenium 2.7 %
  Thiamin 11.1 %
  Zinc 3.6 %

…………………

What do you think?
Do you think you could handle a nice, sweet, fresh shot of greens?
Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Amy Bowman signature
RECIPES/ Sides

Delicious Strawberry-Kiwi Spinach Dump Salad

There have been times when I was asked to bring a dish to share at a party, and I am running behind with no time to cook.  What to bring?  Strawberry Kiwi Spinach Dump Salad! 
Grab a large bowl and serving tongs, hit the grocery store on the way to your party, cut up your fruit once you get there, then dump it all in and enjoy!
As you can see in the photo above,  it uses Kashi Asiago Cheese crackers in place of croutons.  They soak up the dressing just enough and because they add a cheese taste, you can skip buying cheese.  This makes the salad much easier on the budget and some stomachs!  After the salad sits for awhile, the crackers get a bit soggy, but I’ve had people say that is the best part!
Strawberry Kiwi Spinach Dump Salad 
(a no recipe, recipe)
1 pkg spinach
slivered almonds
Kashi Asiago Cheese crackers
Kiwi, skinned & chopped
Strawberries, chopped
Newman’s Own Balsamic Vinaigrette
Put in a bowl, toss & enjoy!
I recently brought this to a family gathering at my sisters, and it was well received.  My dad was the official grill man of the day.  Why does everything grilled taste better when Dad grills it?

I totally forgot to take a photo of the finished salad, but you can see it back there behind my Fresh Lemon Pasta with Asparagus & Tomatoes.  Feel free to say hi to one of my favorite nephews, whom I promised someday would make the blog.  E–that day has come!  

Meals/ RECIPES/ Sides

Spinach, Tortellini & Grilled Chicken Salad

In the summer, many of our dinners consist of a main salad and bread.  I just use what I have on hand and throw it together, making sure I have some sort of protein, which helps keep us full.  Tonight the protein I used was grilled chicken, but I have also used hard boiled eggs or beans/lentils.  We use whatever dressing we have on hand, or just keep it simple by drizzling it with a good olive oil and some fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Here is what I used tonight, my family loved it.  Another no recipe, recipe.

Spinach, Tortellini, & Grilled Chicken Salad

Spinach

“Almost Naked” Grilled Chicken

Tortellini

Tomatoes

Green Pepper

Cucumber

Corn

Mandarin Oranges (I’ve also used Craisins)

Croutons

My family loved the salad, but see that grilled summer squash in the background?  My youngest cried about eating it, then gagged on it.  Thought you would like to know…:)

Meals/ RECIPES/ Sides

Veri Teriyaki Bowtie Spinach Salad

I am very excited about this spinach salad recipe.  I found it at one of my favorite blogs “The Dear Diary Stories.”  Marta is the author, and she said she eats a version of it almost every week.  If you want to see beautiful photos of this recipe, click on over to her site.

So let’s start with the dressing-oh yum.  I think the key ingredient is Soy Vay Veri Veri Teri Yaki Marinade. Why did I not know about this product?

I found it at Walmart and was happy to see that it did not have high fructose corn syrup in it.  My girls loved it, to my relief, because they are very picky about their salad dressings!

I made this recipe last night for the first time.  We had about an hour before we had to leave for my daughter’s soccer game, so I needed something for dinner that was fast and healthy.

I threw some chicken on the grill (seasoned with grill seasoning), put some noodles on to boil, and chopped a red pepper. The dressing went together in a snap-I used a mason jar of course. 🙂

This dish is well rounded, it contains a protein, carb, vegetables, and fruit- all in the one dish.  It took maybe 20 minutes to make–I love feeding my family easy, healthy “fast” food:)


Veri Teriyaki Bowtie Spinach Salad 

16 oz. bowtie pasta, cooked and rinsed with cold water to cool
1 bag of baby spinach
1-2 cans of mandarin oranges
1 cup craisins
1 red pepper, chopped
1 bunch green onions (didn’t use)
1 cup peanuts or cashews (didn’t use)
1/2 cup fresh parsley (optional-didn’t use)

1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted (optional-didn’t use)

  2 cups cooked chicken (optional)

Dressing:
1 cup oil ( I used canola, wondering if olive oil would taste mild enough for this)
2/3 cup white wine vinegar (didn’t have any, used rice vinegar-was great!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2/3 cup Soy Vay Teriyaki sauce (or any brand-I recommend Soy Vay!)
5 Tbs sugar (I used rapadura)

Cook pasta according to directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water, let sit while whisking the dressing together.  (I put it all in a jar and gave it a good shake)  Pour dressing over pasta and let refrigerate for an hour ( I skipped this, didn’t have time).  Combine salad ingredients in a bowl, add pasta/dressing and combine.

***I put all the ingredients in separate small bowls and let my family build their own salads.  It worked well, no soggy leftover salad.

****The next day,  I tossed all the leftovers, (minus the spinach and mandarin oranges) together in a bowl, added cut up clementines, and it made the most amazing, fresh-tasting pasta salad!! Mmmm.

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