Good Luck Em: Good way to drink your breakfast

I have been an absolute smoothie freak for the past couple months now. I have mixed smoothies in the past but have never stayed with it. I really find that drinking a smoothie every morning gives me a great amount of energy. It also is a very simple way to get my fruit and some veggie servings in for the day. Another bonus is that Alex drinks them too so he is also benefiting! I have shared with some people of everything that I put in my smoothies so I wanted to post it on here. It seems that every week I have something extra that I’m putting into it; my counter is pilled high with stuff by the time everything is out and ready to be tossed in the blender! I have found that if I mix it up throughout the week I don’t get bored with the same smoothie. Just to give you a heads up, if you like exact measurements you will hate this because I don’t measure.

Smoothie Recipe #1:

Handful of ice

1.5 cups of frozen fruit mix (I get mine at Sams club, it’s a dole mix)

4-5 fresh strawberries (I think fresh makes the drink so much better)

½ cup of greek yogurt

1 banana

1 cup of Bolthouse mango juice

1 scoop of protein powder

1 scoop of Barleans strawberry kiwi greens mix

1 tsp of Chia seeds

1 tbls of Flax oil

1-2 handfuls of spinach

Smoothie #2

I do everything above except take out the bolthouse juice and replace with 1 cup of chocolate almond milk

Smoothie Tips:

OK so smoothie making does not take much skill, just some time and sometimes money depending on the ingredients you use. I usually have enough to fill a large to go glass and a half of a to go glass for my afternoon snack. I purchase my fruit at Sams Club. Sams has a great big bag of Dole mix and they also have large bags of berries as well. I like to add blueberries to my smoothies when I have them. Sams also has a large container of spinach for around $6.

My plan for this summer is to buy as many fresh berries when they are on sale and freeze them, I’m honest when saying that fresh are much better and I have found that my frozen strawberries that I have done are much better than store bought. Fresh pineapple also does wonders for smoothies! Some folks also add lemons, I have not started that yet.

I use the bolthouse juice because it is packed with fruits and veggies, no added sugar.

I have recently started adding in the Barleans powder, chia seeds and flax oil. I have been told that these three have good cleansing powers for the body. I have discovered vitacost.com and have found them to be cheaper than local grocers by about $10 each for my Barleans brands (greens mix and flax oil). Barleans also has a cocoa greens blend that I plan to purchase and use as my chocolate flavoring for smoothies as chocolate almond milk has 22grams of sugar per serving, holy cow!!! But for those of you that don’t have to watch sugar intake, it’s delicious!

I have also added cooked oatmeal to my smoothies for extra whole grains to keep me full longer. It does give a different texture to the smoothie but still is good.

In regards to protein powder; I recommend going to Vitamin World or wherever you prefer to shop for your supplements and speak to a sales person about what your goals are for drinking protein powder and what kind of protein you want.

Use your imagination! That's what being in the kitchen is all about. Happy Blending!

Now it’s just time for me to save up for my vitamixVitamix!