One of the recipes that's helping kickstart a healthier 2012 for me and the kids, is drinking smoothies!
My main smoothie recipe comes from my friend Gwen, who currently looks as good, or better than she did twenty years ago in college when her white-crochet-bikini wearing bod laying out on the quad was seared into the memory of college coeds the way Farrah Fawcett's red bathing suit was seared into the minds of a generation of young men. Unlike Farrah though, Gwen is so sweet and unpretentious that she probably never knew that dozens of guys suffered whiplash walking by her! (and dozens of girls went on diets the next day, lol!)
On our weekend away in Kennebunk, Gwen taught us all how to make the smoothies that start her day off on the right foot, and based on her positive and energetic attitude (and maybe a little on her gorgeous skin and shiny hair?) I wanted some of what she was having! Here's how I've been replicating it.
Fill a blender half full
with organic baby spinach.
Add half a pitted, skinned avocado
and a whole, peeled banana
Add three cups of cranberry or orange juice (or a combination of the two)
Whizz for 30-60 seconds
until everything is pureed.
And voila! You have an amazingly delicious and nutritious way of getting in your 5 a day before most people brew their first cup of coffee.
This makes enough to fill my reusable Starbuck's iced coffee cup (grande sized) twice, and it lasts until the second day in the fridge, though the ingredients tend to separate and need to be shaken up a bit.
Molly wolfs these down with me, and if Jack's not around Ben does too. But one "Ewww!" look from Jack the veggie-phobe and Ben won't touch the stuff (looking up to your brother is powerful stuff!)
Gwen uses protein powder in the smoothie and says it keeps her sated until lunch. After researching options, I bought some organic hemp protein powder at Whole Foods this week and will update when I give it a try.
Marc has gobs of whey protein powder in the house, which he uses to feed his muscles after his intense P90X2 workouts. From what I've read, whey is great for this because it is metabolized quickly and can get to those shredded muscles asap. But hemp is metabolized more slowly, which is exactly what I need to keep me from getting the hunger pangs that spell disaster for my eating habits.
Eek! It's 11:24 and I need to head to bed!
This self-care stuff is not easy.
5 comments:
Very similar to the "green machine" we tried at the gym, loved, and burned out our blender making. Ordered and received new blender, and needing to get back in the daily green habit. Ours is half avocado, whole kiwi (rather than banana because we all need that required outcome...), spinach, and apple juice. We add yogurt and ice - which killed the blender. Been thinking about the protein powder add in, too. Thanks for that bit o research you did!
http://gggiraffe.blogspot.com/2008/09/in-search-of-green-smoothie.html
I miss my green smoothies, but they are so tough for me to drink in the winter - something about a cold beverage in the morning doesn't work for me right now. We do a lot of kale, mango and banana smoothies, and I'm thinking about tossing in yogurt for some protein and fat for better mineral absorption...
Yum! I want one of these right now!
M, Genius on the Kiwi!!! Because while it adds the perfect sweetness, the banana has long been a nemesis for certain members of the family.
Megan - I'm working us up to kale, but I'm nervous about rocking the boat when I can't get buy in on spinach yet. And added yogurt is always a favorite here!
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