In January I decided to go on a diet of sorts. I have no plans to lose weight at all but I have always failed miserably at eating the fruits and veggies that are necessary to good health. My new “diet” plan is to incorporate one green veggie into every cooked dinner and at least 2 servings of fruit a day. That doesn’t seem like much but I really don’t like to eat fruit. I love the taste but the textures of most bother me. It is better in the summertime when everything is fresh and delicious but the winter tends to make ripe fruit hard to find and EXPENSIVE!
Enter smoothies. I started drinking a protein rich fruit smoothie for breakfasts which has actually been nice. I am a zombie in the mornings and have no ambition for cooking. While my kids are more than happy to eat cereal everyday, I am not. Which meant that I went many a day with no breakfast at all. I made oatmeal a couple times a week but most days I would skip. Forcing myself to take 30 seconds to blend a smoothie has really increased my energy(duh! right?) and it wakes me up because it is so dang cold. This motivates me to workout to warm up. It has worked out very nicely. Then in the afternoon, usually around 2:30, I get very hungry so I make a fiber rich smoothie. If the hunger isn’t too bad I still drink one but put whatever I feel like in it. My Mom has asked for a couple of my recipes so here are the combos that I have loved.
Note:I do not use yogurt. You can if you want but I can’t stand the stuff so it won’t be in any of these. If you want to add it just use less milk of your choice and add it in.
Note 2: I do not recommend using any kind of protein powder at all. It is unnatural and highly processed. If it comes with a warning label, do not ingest it.
Note 3: I don’t measure anything. These are all guesstimates. If I measure then I have to wash and I don’t wanna.
Breakfast or Protein smoothies-
Banana, 1/4 cup Peanut butter, 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, dribble of honey, 1/4-1/2 cup almond milk(I prefer almond but use whatever. Cows milk sometimes curdles so be cautious). Toss in a couple of almonds and 4-6 ice cubes. This one is often requested my girls. I don’t add almonds to theirs but they love this combo.
Apple(cored, no need to peel if your blender can handle it) banana, 1/3 cup almond milk, 3-4 almonds and a dash of cinnamon or apple pie seasoning. Add some ice if you want it cold but I don’t. This one is sooo good!
Apple, cored, 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries, 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds, touch of almond milk to blend and 3-4 almonds. I have added oatmeal to this one too. Very good but gets stuck in the straw.
Other combos without real recipes include:
Banana, apple, strawberrie and almonds
Banana, mango, cherries and almonds.
Banana(seeing a theme here?), peaches, strawberries and almonds.
Banana, oatmeal, peanut butter, honey and ice.
Bananas are good in the mornings. They are packed full of good stuff. I hate the texture but love the flavor so this is how I can eat them. All of my fruit is frozen with the exception of bananas, apples, pineapple and pomegranates.
Afternoon:
There are no recipes, just combos. I like to go crazy and some have NOT worked but most do.
Peach, mango, pinapple(Fave!)
banana, mango pineapple
blueberry, strawberry, peach
apple, blueberry, raspberry
Mixed berry, peach and banana.
Mixed berry, peach and apple.
Pineapple, strawberry and mango(Jared loves this)
Raspberry pineapple and mango.
All of these have worked well for me. I add fresh spinach to any of the ones that are dark, i.e. raspberry, blueberry and so on. I don’t like adding it to the light colored ones because it is gross looking. Pineapple and spinach are a good combo though so I like to add blueberries to that mix.
I have tried a few I am not a fan of but I won’t post those because they are personal opinions. I love kiwis but I don’t add them to my smoothies for a couple of reasons. 1-they are hard to find fresh and 2-the seeds. I despise sucking up a giant seed through a straw. However, they are a good green fruit so spinach, kiwi and green apple are a great combo.
You may notice that all of my recipes are fruit only with honey often added. The reason for that is, I will not drink it if it doesn’t taste good. I know my weakness so I don’t push my limits. But hey, go crazy, add whatever you feel like. You may find a combo that is fantastic even if it sounds bizarre.
Warnings-Raspberry, blueberry, pomegranate and all citrus will curdle dairy milk. If that is your milk of choice, add all of your other ingredients first, add the milk and blend before adding in the sour fruits.
Soy milk is not good for you. Do not drink it. Choose any other option.
Agave has more glucose in it that pure can sugar. It may be touted as a healthy option but it is bad bad bad. If you want a sweetener, go with honey.
Have fun and learn to love fruit.
Funny thing is, I actually crave smoothies each day 
