Get Strong and Healthy with Simple Spinach Dip

I love cooking. Experimenting with healthier recipes has been my mission the past few months during my off season for my bodybuilding show. Today, I have a Christmas Party with my church young adults group. I know many will bring the sinful sweets... which I may or may not partake in. I want to stay on the healthier side of the spectrum in my contribution as a guest. The holidays are great for enjoying this time with friends and family. It is really easy to indulge in too many good things. I know, how is that possible, right? Very easy to do.

Nonetheless, to help balance myself and others, I am bringing this delicious Simple Spinach Dip!

Why spinach? Because not only is it easy to incorporate and low cost, it is healthy for you!

As stated from Web MD, by having your daily recommended intake of 2 cups of spinach, you can fulfill some nutrient requirements for your body to function at its best on a daily basis. Read more about why spinach is great for you here:
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/why-is-spinach-good-for-me. 

If you know me well, I always choose spinach over a romaine, iceberg, spring mix, etc. No sense in passing up on vitamins when your body needs them. Popeye knew it was good for him, and I hope you will too! Add spinach to some yummy dairy products and you are golden.

Prepared spinach with tablespoon of garlic.

The biggest caution when selecting dairy, whether it is sliced or shredded cheese, milk, cottage cheese, yogurt and ice cream, is the fat content per serving. As you will see in this recipe, I chose nonfat and low fat products. Many holiday and everyday foods have more fat per serving than we may be aware. This is one thing you can easily decrease in your eating habits.

I used low fat shredded mozzarella cheese.

Since you are all dying to see the recipe, please know it only takes about 15 minutes preparation, followed by 2-4 hours chilling time in the refrigerator. My recipe yields about 16 servings.
Thanks to the MyMacros+ app, I can calculate the following macronutrient breakdown:

Simple Spinach Dip, per 1 tablespoon:

-

28 calories

-

3.5g Protein

-

1.3g Carbs

-

1g Fat

-

also known as, macro awesomeness! 

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Simple (& Healthy) Spinach Dip

Ingredients:

2 cups spinach

1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

1 cup reduced fat mozzarella shredded cheese

1 tablespoon minced garlic

Dash of sea salt

Dash of black pepper

Procedure:

1.   Get a container you plan to keep the dip in. I used a smaller, microwavable bowl that allows me to mix all the ingredients, cook and will serve from the same bowl!
I always try to save on dishes when possible.

2.   Prepare the spinach. I used fresh spinach and cooked in the microwave for about 1 minute to wilt and warm it. Then, I used kitchen shearers and chopped it up. 

3.   Now, mince your garlic. I took two small pieces off the clove, used the bottom of a mug to crush it to peel off the skin, then in that same mug, chopped it up with the kitchen shearers.
Add it to the spinach.

4.   Add sea salt and pepper and mix together.

5.   Using a 1-cup measure, add 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella to the bowl. Microwave for about 30 seconds. Take it out and stir. Put back into the microwave for another 30 seconds. Remove.

6.   With that same 1-cup measure, add 1 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt to the bowl. I used a generic, plain Greek yogurt. Stir, stir, stir! If the shredded cheese has a lot of chunks, put in the microwave for another 30-45 seconds. It should thicken up.

Thickening up that dip! You can still see the shredded cheese,
but it is separated throughout for consistency.

7.   That's it! Place in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours to chill and serve with whatever your heart desires. Chips, Pretzels, crackers, veggies, you name it. Just remember, its all about balancing what you eat. The calories above do not include whatever you dip into it. :)

Have fun at your holiday parties! Are their any other healthy recipes you go to for parties? Please share or if you have other recommendations for this recipe, let me know.