This weekend has been a bit of a bust. Steve returned from Cambodia Friday evening - - we were so happy to see him! Unfortunately, he had to get up at 4:00 the next morning, and leave for drill weekend (about 3.5 hours from home). Also, I woke up in the middle of the night, running a fever and experiencing chills and body aches...ugh! It seems that the horrid cold/virus that has been going around finally caught up with me. Of course it happens on a drill weekend! Luckily, my boys are awesome, and they have been very good for me. Camden tends to worry when I am sick, so I have to try to act completely normal, even if I just want to suck my thumb and whimper. I can tell you that it was a challenge, yesterday! So here we are on day two, and with any luck, Steve will be home in about 8 hours. Hooray!
I have not felt like eating much the last couple of days, so smoothies seemed like the perfect solution. I had been dabbling in them a bit, before getting sick, after reading this post on my friend Jen's blog, and also just from a nutritional standpoint. I have had some significant digestive issues for the past few years, which were complicated a little more when I had my gallbladder removed a couple of years ago. Anyway, fruits and veggies are particularly difficult, so I rarely eat them. I was recently reflecting on my diet and kind of realized that it lacks nutritional value for the most part, and I need to figure that out. I did a bunch of reading and found that blended fruits and veggies might be a way to get what I need, so I have been trying out some smoothies.
I was inspired by Jen's green smoothie, but was a little afraid of the spinach. Not because of the flavor, but because roughage and I do not get along. At all. Anyway, the green smoothie I made contained frozen pineapple, frozen mango, frozen banana, a bit of vanilla soy milk, a dab of vanilla extract, a drizzle of agave nectar, and frozen spinach. I Googled frozen vs. fresh spinach and found that frozen is just fine to use. Plus, it costs less and I don't have to worry about it going bad. This smoothie was absolutely delicious.
This is my smoothie from this morning - - frozen organic strawberries, frozen banana, vanilla soy milk, and a couple of heaping spoonfuls of vanilla Greek yogurt. This is definitely my favorite right now.
I have also tried a peanut butter, banana, and soy milk smoothie. If you like peanut butter and banana, you will like it. The flavor is very mild. I think next time I will substitute some of the soy milk with Greek yogurt for a thicker result.
Does anyone else drink smoothies? What are your favorite combinations?
7 comments:
Hey Heather,
I love my green smoothies. The big thing for me was investing in a high powered blender (Vitamixer or Blendtech)- made a huge difference in the consistency and grinding up all the spinach/veggies. Not cheap, but I make one everyday and You can use it like a food processer so I feel like I get my money's worth. I have a Blendtech and love it! My favorite smoothie is Almond milk, choco protein powder, Spinach, frozen banana and if I have cucumber or carrots I sometimes throw those in too! Dr. Oz has a few good recipes for green smoothies too.
Hi Kirsten! I feel so out-of-touch with you! It is funny that you posted this, because my blender is driving me nuts. I have what I thought was a nice Oster blender...but it just doesn't blend well. I have to stop it repeatedly to stir everything so it will blend. I will have to do a little research - - thank you for the suggestions!
Heather! This is so great! I'll be curious to hear if you have seen a difference in how you feel. A smoothie a day might just keep the doctor away!
I have my mother-in-laws blender from 1981 so my smoothies have to be very simple. A handful of spinach would kill it. Declan loves them and begs me for them. I just do milk, Yoplait plain yogurt(which Declan thinks tastes like ice cream) and whatever frozen fruit I have on hand plus some honey or lime juice.
I am curious to see if I notice any changes, too. I like knowing all the good things I am getting in one drink.
Kate my blender looks like it could chop up bricks but it smells hot the second I add anything that needs chopping.
I have yet to find a good blender. Of course, I have not been willing to fork over a lot of money for one, either. I got an immersion blender as a present, which says that it does smoothies, but I have yet to try.
My favorite smoothie is: vanilla Silk-light, strawberries, and pineapple. I confess that green smoothies have scared me. I like all of the things that go into them, but somehow I can't get excited about *drinking* spinach.
I hope that smoothies will do the trick for you, Heather! Keep us posted. Glad to see that you are blogging again! :)
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