My Carolina Today I'm Cooking on Pinterest

Today was fabulous!  Welcome Spring!

The Tigers and I had the ultimate "Field Trip!" to our NBC17 Studio for a taping of a segment for My Carolina Today!  I love that whole Crew!  The Producer Kim is so on her game and Sharon and Valonda are fabulous on and off the camera!  Are you following their journey to wellness and fitness?! We are and today we got to share ideas.

Our segment covered Moms feeding their Families Fast and Fresh and on a Budget!  Yes, that's how we roll! I absolutely loved getting to work with them again.  That's what I love about My Carolina Today, they bring us awesome resources for wellness and fitness and good living here in Carolina!  Can it get any better than that!

So I shared my love of Pinterest and my "I'm Cooking!" Board where I pin/share all my favorite Smoothie and Fresh Cooking Recipes.  I collect ones I love and ones I make and share.  We love our Pinterest Smoothies!  Just sayin'!  Here are a couple of recipes to give you the idea and then you can check them all out by following the links.  

Slimtastic Smoothies: Nutritious and Delicious smoothie recipes on a Budget  These are our favorites.  The Tigers LOVE to make and create their own recipes.  Mix it up a little and enjoy! 

1. Banana: Blend 2 bananas with 1/2 cup fat-free Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup skim milk, 2 teaspoons honey, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 cup ice.
2. Blueberry-Banana: Blend 1 banana, 1 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk, 1 tablespoon each honey and lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and 1 cup ice.
3. Creamsicle: Blend 3/4 cup frozen orange or orange-tangerine concentrate with 1/2 cup cold water and 1 cup each vanilla ice cream and ice.
4. Spiced Pumpkin: Blend 1/2 cup each pumpkin puree and silken tofu, 3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, a pinch of salt and 1 cup ice.
5. Black Raspberry–Vanilla: Blend 1 pint blackberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 cup vanilla yogurt and 1 tablespoon honey.
6. Pineapple-Mango: Blend 1 cup each chopped pineapple and mango, 1 cup coconut water, a dash of ground allspice and 1 cup ice. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.
7. Chocolate-Banana: Blend 1 banana, 1 cup chocolate ice cream, 1/2 cup milk, a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup ice.

We LOVE Freschetta Brick Oven Pizzas.  The vegetables are flash-frozen and they have Sea Salt and Olive Oil in they Sauce.  Real meats. Real Cheeses.  Freschetta is a better for you option.  Good bye guilt.  Enjoy a fresh Freschetta and you can feed a family of (4) for about $14.00.  Join the Rally for Real Pizza on the Freschetta Facebook Page. 

Look at the AWESOME help I had on the set!  The Tigers LOVED getting to see what a real TV Station is all about in real life. 

No Cook Trail Mix Granola! 

We created this from a series of cook offs of Granola recipes and Trail Mix.  Our recipe is simple, non-processed and satisfying while being healthy. 

2 c. Lightly honey sweetened Multi-grain Cheerios

1 c. Golden Raisins

1 c. Dried Cranberries

2 c. Giradellhi Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

2 c. Raw Almonds

2 c. Lightly salted Peanut and Cashews Mix

2 c. Pretzel squares 

Mix thoroughly and store in air tight containers. Eat with caution.  This is so tempting and tasty it is hard to have one serving. If you prefer more crunch: *spread mixture on baking sheet, stir in honey and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, mix well. Bake for 15 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool and enjoy and use same caution when indulging. 

Tune in tomorrow, March 21st on My Carolina Today NBC17 here in the Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina area at 11:00am CST!

Here are a few hints about the segment and a few links to my Carolina Mama Pinterest Boards because we love sharing fun stuff like that!  Check out the whole scoop and the recipes on My Carolina Today.com!  Hey if you need an invite to Pinterest, please email me or message me, tweet me.  We'll get you there.  You'll so love it.

What are your favorite Tips for Feeding your Family on a Budget?

Warmly, Carolina Mama

*Disclosure: I loved getting to share what I do every day, Feed my family fresh and fast meals on a budget, with the My Carolina Today team.  I am a Freschetta Blog Partner.  These opinions and enthusiasm are all my own.