Skinny One Ingredient "Ice Cream"

If you love soft serve ice cream and frozen yogurt as much as I do, this is a recipe you need to try. Somehow frozen banana discs that are pureed in a food processor turn into a rich, creamy whipped mixture that strongly resembles soft serve ice cream. I don't know how this is possible or how I'm just now finding out about it, but this might be my new go-to summer dessert (sorry Strawberry Banana Smoothie!).

Frozen banana discs

plus

turns into

yummy, skinny chocolate peanut butter soft serve

AMAZING!

Quinoa, Chickpea, and Avocado Salad

Quinoa is the newest cool food. If you want to pretend that you have any type of culinary knowledge, "quinoa" (pronounced "KEEN-wah") should now be apart of your vocabulary. Quinoa is the new greek yogurt, just like greek yogurt was the new sundried tomatoes. There is always a new "in" food, and quinoa is currently all the rage.

This grain has received lots of attention due to its high protein content (nutritional evaluations of quinoa indicate that it is a source of complete protein-pretty impressive for a grain!). Quinoa is also high in fiber, magnesium, iron, and calcium. Basically, this is a miracle grain.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

For the past six months, I've been working reallllllllly hard to cut back on my sugar intake. You don't need to do excessive research to know that Americans consume entirely too much sugar. If you take a peek at any nutrition label in your fridge or pantry, chances are sugar is not only one of the listed ingredients, but one of the main ingredients. Not good.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie from The Galley Gourmet

My quest to decrease sugar consumption started when my friend Sarah told me about her recent lifestyle change of cutting out all refined sugars. Do what?!? The thought of never eating foods that contained refined sugars was a foreign concept that I could not wrap my brain around. If you are one of those people who'd rather have two servings of dessert at the expense of skipping dinner, you know what I mean. But this is what made me realize that I needed to make a change-I was addicted to sugar. So, after pouting for a few days, I finally made the commitment to cut back on my refined sugar consumption.

Mexican Lasagna

The title of this recipe is what initially caught my attention. Who doesn't love lasagna? And who doesn't love Mexican food? If you are one of those unique people, then this might not be the recipe for you. But if you do enjoy layers of flavors, baked in the convenience of a one dish dinner, then you've found a good recipe to try.

Mexican Lasagna from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Banana Berry Oatmeal Cups

To say that I'm obsessed with oatmeal might be an understatement. I eat oatmeal, in one way, shape, or form, at least once a day. I'm always looking for new, fun ways to incorporate oatmeal into every day recipes, or different ways to prepare standard stove-top oatmeal. In my attempts to use oatmeal in new ways, I recently tried these Berry Oatmeal Cups from GreenLiteBites. This recipe is described as a "great breakfast idea, especially when you are on the run." How perfect since I was traveling the next day and didn't want to worry about making breakfast, or any snacks for the road.

Oatmeal Cups from GreenLiteBites