recipe: morning go-to smoothies

         Hey everyone! I can't believe its already the end of April. Time is flying by! I wanted to stop in and share a few recipes that have really been life changing to my morning routine for the past 6 months or so. I have always loved smoothies but the smoothies I used to know and love were packed with sugar and ingredients that weren't exactly making the smoothie that healthy.

          I started making my own smoothies daily and not jamming white sugar and juices in them and they have really made a big difference to my morning routine. Unlike most of you reading this, I don't like coffee or anything hot in the morning. I don't know why I just feel better each morning if I am drinking something ice cold. Smoothies have been great for me and now learning and knowing what to put in them has been amazing.

          There are several juice shops that I enjoy visiting on a weekly basis (not kidding) for lunch if I don't have time to pack my lunch I am stopping into a local juice shop. Here are a few of my local favorites:

-Urban Juicer in Franklin & Arcade Alley area

http://theurbanjuicer.com

-9 fruits in Franklin 

http://www.ninefruits.com

-Juicebar in Hillsboro Village 

http://ilovejuicebar.com

       When I am not enjoying a smoothie at one of these fabulous places I am making my own. I try to make my own for breakfast almost every day unless I decide to have one for lunch instead. I can't do two in one day that would be fruit overload for me haha!  I wanted to share a few go-to recipes that I have tried and really enjoyed. 

Smoothie 1: 

-1 cup of frozen or fresh pineapple

-1 cup of frozen or fresh mango

-1 cup of coconut milk 

-A sprinkle of coconut chips

Smoothie 2: 

-1 cup of spinach

-1 banana

-1 cup of coconut water

Smoothie 3: 

-1 cup of strawberries

-1 banana

-1 cup of coconut milk

-A sprinkle of coconut chips

Tips:

-Use coconut milk, almond milk, or coconut water as your liquid for a healthier smoothie

-Adding bananas makes each smoothie taste better 

-Meal prepping your smoothies in advance by cutting up fruits and veggies and freezing them make smoothie making much easier during the week and for breakfast when you can grab a container or bag of pre-made smoothie and go 

This is the pineapple smoothie incorporating "dang foods" coconut chips= so good!!

recipes: whole30 homemade breakfast sausage

                    hey guys! i hope you are all having a great week. Is it Friday yet?! haha just kidding, or maybe I'm not! I wanted to share a delicious whole30 sausage that we made over the weekend for the first time. we really liked this one and it was literally so easy to make. here is the recipe and this one can actually be found on page 251 of the whole30 book. the sausage we purchased fresh at sprouts and it didn't contain a lot of the preservatives like most meats do; therefore, this was really light and not a heavy meat. this recipe is so good!! 

ingredients: 

-1 pound of ground pork

-1/4 tension of ground sage

-1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

-1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme

-1/4 teaspoon of onion powder

-1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

-1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

-1 teaspoon of salt

-1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

-grated zest of one lemon

details:

(this recipe calls for baking the sausage patties; however, i actually used a grill pan on top of the stove to make them a little crispy- either way is great)

-preheat your oven to 350

-in a large mixing bowl, mix all of the sausage ingredients

-form into 8 equal patties (i did smaller patties in this recipe)

-place on a plate and chill in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes

-remove the sausage from the freezer and place on parchment paper in your baking sheet (i actually put mine in a grill pan on top of the stove instead until golden brown and all of the pink is gone)

-to bake: you can pop these in the oven until no pink remains in the middle of the patty--check with a fork 

-i sprinkled some salt and pepper on top and made breakfast for dinner with this! 

enjoy!! have a great week, ill see you again real soon xoxo

whole30 blueberry pancakes, egg muffins, and sausage- dinner for breakfast! blueberry pancake recipe is coming soon :)

(sorry these photos are a little dark, they came from my phone)