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Posts Tagged projito

New and Improved Pineapple Projito

Feb 26

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Vegetarian | 2 Comments

Hi blog buds!

Here is the newly updated projito recipe that I presented as one of my final recipes at school (the stuffed tomato recipe will post tomorrow).

If you are a new reader to FitFeat, a PROJITO is a basically a Protein [and Probiotic] fortified mojito-style smoothie, non-alcoholic of course!

I’m posting this one on a Saturday so you have time to run out and get your ingredients tonight – who needs to serve their friends alcoholic cocktails when you can sip on this?  It’s FAB!  Highly alkalizing, anti-inflammatory, good for digestion.

You can tell your dinner guests you are serving them mint in honor of the tradition of rubbing mint leaves on the tables in ancient Greece as they used to do as a gesture of welcome and hospitality.  ;)

Allergy note:  this revised recipe does contain dairy.

Pineapple Projito Smoothie

Serves 1 for a meal or 2 for a snack

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup frozen pineapple
  • 11 ounces coconut water
  • 1 small lime
  • 24 mint leaves, plus a few extra for garnish
  • 2 teaspoons maple syrup
  • 8 drops liquid stevia

Procedure

Slice the lime in half, cutting a round from the middle and setting aside for garnish.  Juice the rest and add to blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.  Serve with slice of lime and mint leaves.

This is a good chunk of calories, so if you aren’t drinking this right after a workout, split it with a friend!  ;)   If you drank the whole thing yourself (which I do, because it’s THAT yummy), here are the numbers:

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Finally Finals!

Feb 24

Posted by Shari B. in Natural Chef Culinary School | 9 Comments

Hi friends!

Wahoo! My final presentation is BEHIND ME!  I did a big time happy dance last night and MSP even surprised me with a bottle of champagne when he got home from work.

I don’t know exactly why, but my nerves were really on edge for this one.  Much more than for midterms or my prior presentation.  There were two students presenting before me, and I couldn’t even eat more than a bite of each of their delicious dishes.  My stomach was in knots and the last thing I wanted was any food in it.

Next thing I knew, it was my turn.

I couldn’t even tell you what I said during most of it.  I had 4 pages of notes to refer to during, but I never even had a chance to look at them.  I’ve had some classmates tell me they really liked my presentation – but I feel like I stood in front of my peers and spoke in a foreign language for 45 minutes.  It was like my brain took a vacation from the rest of my body.  Such a weird feeling!

Oddly, I tend to have no issue speaking in front of strangers, clients, etc.  But in a room full of my peers and instructors, I get the jitters.  :)   I’ve always been this way.

For our presentations we were to decide on a health/therapeutic nutrition topic and talk about it while cooking two recipes.

I rehearsed the cooking part in my head so many times, I knew my recipe inside out and backwards.  I also knew my topic inside out and backwards.  (I decided to present on Balancing pH on a Building Diet.)  I even practiced the ‘speech’ out loud while driving to school on Wednesday.  Then I step up to the stove and table.  And all that practice goes right out the window!

Fortunately, I got through it and at least timed the food perfectly so that everything was ready right at the end of the 45 minutes.

Since my topic had to do with pH balance, I chose to make “pHiesta pHood” and made a little sign to go with it:

For my recipes, I did a Vegetable & Tempeh Stuffed Tomato and a Pineapple Projito (longtime FitFeat readers will recall that I made something like this before – but the version I came up with for finals is even better!)

Here are pictures I took of the recipes from when I was testing them.  This weekend, I’ll get the recipes out here for you so that you can give them a try if you like.

Now that it’s behind me, I feel like I have a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders.  Tomorrow in class, I will just be a spectator – watching the remaining half of our class give their presentations.  I’m so excited to just get to relax and enjoy the ‘show’.  Then over the weekend I’ll be working on my very last homework assignment, due on Monday.

Next week, I’ll be a Certified Natural Chef!  Then the next adventure begins!

Hope you have all had a great week and I hope your Friday is FABULOUS!

– Shari B. =)

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How to Make a Projito (and just what IS a projito anyway?)

Jul 9

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 6 Comments

Hi friends!  Happy FRIDAY!! Woot woot!

I can’t remember the last time I was able to write a post on a Friday! But I wanted to get this one to you in time for the weekend, especially if you are hosting a happy hour anytime soon.  Allow me to explain…

There is a restaurant in Denver called the Samba Room that has THE best mojitos.  My favorite is the Pineapple Mojito.  Unfortunately they taste SO good because they are so sugary and aren’t very friendly to the waistline!  (And usually after I have a couple I might have the tendency to not give a hoot about apps either and consume way too many food calories to boot!)

Over the 4th of July weekend I was at the library (because we all know I do not need is MORE books…!) and I happened to see this great little gem:

Super-Charged Smoothies by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford.

And what do I find in the section for Grown Up Smoothies?  A Pineapple Mojito Slush!  Oh my!  You can bet I ran right on down to the store for some club soda, mint and frozen pineapples.  I had the all the rest.  (I’ve contacted the publisher for permission to reprint the recipe and am awaiting a reply.  In the meantime, I’ve found it at Scribd, click here and scroll down to page 7.)

In the words of my cousin Kevin:  GOSH. DARN. DELICIOUS.

MSP thought it could be lighter on the mint, so for our second batch I only added half of the mint leaves and it was still amazing.  And in future batches I’ll experiment with stevia in lieu of agave.

I’ll be serving this to guests in the future.  It’s a cocktail I can feel good about!

But wait … there’s more!!

So while I was sitting at my desk yesterday afternoon, I was craving one.  And I’m not really in the habit of mixing up frozen alcoholic drinks when I’m home alone and working.  :D   (No really!)  So I figured why not take this one step further and tweak this into a MOJITO protein shake (or as I like to call it, a PROJITO)?

Into the blender went:

  • 3/4 cup frozen pineapple (about 140g)
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder of your choice (for me it’s Jay Robb sprouted brown rice – half a scoop gives me about 12g protein)
  • 4 fresh mint leaves
  • squeeze of lime juice
  • 1/2 packet of stevia (or to taste, optional)
  • 8 oz can club soda + 4 oz water

Mmmm.  150 calories, 12g protein, 25g carbs and 0.25 of a gram of fat.  Can be enjoyed anytime of day without the stigma of “drinking alone”!  ;)

Let me know if you try either version!

Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY friends!

– Shari B. =)

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