'Purple smoothie'

Just made a smoothie tonight, super light and full of vitamins and superfoods. 

Mix some: 

Strawberries> low calorie, full of antioxidants ( about 21% of manganese daily needs), high amount of vitamin C, potassium, vitamin K and magnesium (good for the bones).  

Blackberries> fruit with highest amount of antioxidants (which are good for cancer prevention and healthy skin), omega 3 fatty acids (prevents heart disease), high amounts of vitamin K and C. 

1 Banana> high amount of fiber (about 10% of daily needs in fibers), high amount of vitamin B6 (helps with lymphoid glands), and potassium (good for healthy bones.) 

Almond milk (or regular milk) I chose almond milk so it would have less calories in it. Cow milk or other alternative milks also work fine! 

Ice

Protein Shake (optional) 

                                                  Yay for healthy and light smoothies!

Almond Milk vs. Cow Milk

Lately lots of different alternative milks have appeared in grocery stores... Almond, Coconut, Rice milk, etc...
I have been buying Almond milk lately because I was told it had less calories and was 'better for you' (please when someone tells you something is 'better for you', don't just believe it. Unless it is a dietician. Or a doctor.)

I decided to do a little bit a research and I am finding very conflicting research and comments... Here are a small view of the pros and cons to Almond Milk. 

PROS: 
- Great if you have soy allergies or are lactose intolerant (or gluten intolerant as well). 
Like any other nut milks, it can be a great alternative for cooking or drinking in case of food allergies. 
- It is way less caloric than cow milk (compare 100 calories/1cup for cow milk and 40-30calories/1 cup for almond milk.) and has equal if not a higher amount of calcium. 
- Contains lots of Vitamin E (found in research to prevent cancer) and for some brands less fat than cow milk and/or no saturated fat.

CONS: 
- Cow milk has more protein than almond milk (8gr>1gr on average)
- Almond milk only has four actual almonds in 1 cup of milk, so you are not really getting the almond nutrition out of it. 
- Can have added sugar unless you get the unsweetened brands. 
- Can have lower amounts of minerals  (selenium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, fiber, phosphorous.) than cow milk.

Both cow milk and almond milk labels compared.

The question is, what nutrients are you looking out of your milk? Protein? Vitamin E? Minerals? Less calories? From what I researched, it is not that one type of milk is better than the other, they just contain higher or lower nutrients. Also some brands of milk can be crappier than others or enriched with more minerals and vitamins. What you have to take from this is that researching and observing food labels when buying stuff is essential.

I would recommend investing in a good (cow or almond or whatever) organic milk. In both cases, you want to stay away from the hormones or chemicals used in the milk making process.

Here are the websites used in my research: 
 http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/almond-milk-what-is-it-and-is-it-good-for-you.html
 http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2012-05/milk-alternatives-are-they-really-better-you-or-it-hype

Classic snack- even easier

I'm sure I definitely did not invent anything here, and I'm 100% sure a billion people already came up with the idea.
However, what I like to do is put peanut butter on celery (nothing new here), and then
put it in the freezer in the zip bag.
This way, if you are in a hurry and/or haven't had a chance to cook for a while, all you have to do is
grab the bag from the freezer and you are ready to go!
It is less messy as well.
For College Students, this might save you from going to the vending machine because you are starving (baaaaad). It is also extremely cheap (count $3 dollars for a few stalks of celery and $3-4 for peanut butter.)

note: don't freeze celery in attempt to save it if it going bad. It will not help. In this case, I froze it only to get the peanut butter to be more crispy.

Breakfast #1

Just found an awesome tip on Pinterest for cooking eggs "breakfast sandwich style" for breakfast. 
Eggs are my favorite food. ever. I eat them in any form (but raw.) Eggs are so tasty. 

By the way, for those who see eggs as the 'cholesterol devil', keep in mind that according to recent studies (here Harvard study), there is no apparent link between eggs consumption and heart diseases. I have been told many many times as a kid that I shouldn't eat more than 2 eggs a week... because there were fat. 

They do contain fat, but the RIGHT kind of fat (limited saturated fat, which is the bad one.) 
It is a good and healthier source of protein than meat, it is good for the skin, eyes, hair, has tons of vitamin D and amino acids. In other words, ENJOY. 

To learn more about how awesome eggs are:  http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-eggs.html

Anyway, if you have an oven and a cupcake baking tray, pre-heat your oven to 350F (175C) , pour one egg in each cupcake spot and cook for 15 minutes. 
VOILA (again!) You just made awesome breakfast/poached eggs in less than 20 minutes. 
Ate mine with two whole wheat toasts and a glass of almond milk. 

Picture of the eggs (uncooked)

Smoothies for college students.

Smoothies, if made at home (the ones sold in restaurants/fast food have way too much fat and sugar) 
can be a great way to reach the 5 veggies/fruits goal a day. 
However, if you don't have the time to buy different fruits, peel, cut and slice them all before making your smoothie (so basically if you are a college student like me); it can be difficult to make them. 

I tried once or twice before to go buy fruits, cut them, etc. It often ended up getting bad in the fridge because I had just no time to make smoothies in the morning. Sad I know! 

Fortunately, lately I have discovered that most grocery stores will sell frozen fruit chunks just for smoothies. 
They can be zipped, so you don't have to use ALL the fruit at once and can put it back in the freezer for later (and that way only use what you need.) Just go to the 'fruit frozen section' of your local store. It blew my mind earlier today.

Some brands even have already a mix of fruits ready to go so all you have to do is add ice and/or juice to your blender. Personally I bought one bag of frozen blackberries, one bag of pineapple, one bag of strawberries and one of mango. This way, I can make awesome smoothies for a while fast and without having to worry about using all of the fruits before they get bad. 

  
So... I made 'slooshy', which is basically something in between a smoothie and a slushy. 

•  Ingredients: half a cup mango chunks; 

• half a cup pineapple chunks;

• a sip of almond milk (or more if you want your drink more liquid)

• 3/4 of a cup of Greek yoghurt 

• 2 teaspoons of sugar (optional)

• ice

Use the magic of your blender... and VOILA! Awesome drink, less than 300 calories, and you just fullfilled your dairy (healthy dairy too if you use almond milk instead of cow milk) and two of your fruit/veggie servings per day. You are now a healthy college student. :) 

Other tip... if you want to enjoy it more like an frozen yoghurt, put it in the freezer for a little bit after blending. 

 

Look at my awesome 'slooshy'! I was so proud I took an Instagram picture of it. I'm not even embarrassed ;)