Pumpkin Smoothie & First Weigh-in for HOLIDAY HOTTIES

Holiday Tips to Get it Done from Better Homes and Gardens: A schedule/timer is key to not crashing and burning when getting your house guest-ready. Clean main rooms, a little each day. Look for progress, not perfection. (I do this a lot throughout the year, I pick one room per day and clean it. I may start on a Monday and clean living room, Tuesday bathroom, Wednesday bedroom, etc. etc.; then by the weekend or the day of the holiday/event the entire house is spotless. I LOVE IT!)

Watch for this logo for healthy recipes this Holiday Season here on MOMS CRAZY COOKING.

My Holiday Hotties Teams are going strong. We are checking in with each other daily on our facebook group and it really helps being accountable to a team. We are all on our way to loosing weight with encouragment from one another along the way. My weigh-in last week Wednesday was 159.6 and today I am at 159.4 (I am still excited because I am still down from when I began this adventure months ago). This week our challenge from The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans was exercise minutes. I did NOT do as well as I wanted. I do NOT have an excuses except for LIFE. But I am in the adventure for the LONG-HAUL, so I will just pick up where I left off and press forward.

This week is Thanksgiving and my boot camp trainer today sent an email with some good advise; "to help with the extra calories that may be consumed on Turkey Day try to take it easy the day before and the day after. Also control your portions and drink plenty of water." Thank You SHE ROCKS, I am going to take this advise and put it to use.

We had this delicious smoothie this week. It's the perfect time of year for pumpkin flavored everything, so why not have a Pumpkin Smoothie. This smoothie is so packed with nutrition that I felt stuffed all morning. I even skipped my morning snack, because I did not feel hungry at all. I estimated this only has about 225-275 calories, so I believe this is a perfect healthy breakfast. What a great shake for the morning of Thanksgiving. It's quick, easy to make and will definitely hold you over til' the big meal is served.

Pumpkin Smoothie

recipe author unknown (found on a torn piece of paper from a magazine)

In the blender whirl together 1/4 cup canned pumpkin with low-fat vanilla yogurt, a banana, a spoonful of peanut butter, a handful of ice and fat-free milk to thin as desired. Top with a little whipped cream and cinnamon.