Smoothies

Since I try to eat seasonally, I tend to avoid cold foods in the winter.  When the weather warms up, I happily reintroduce some of my favorite foods back into my diet, like smoothies! I can’t drink smoothies in the winter.  I am cold from November through March, so I avoid cooling foods as much as possible during these months.  When Spring rolls around, I giddily unpack my blender from storage and start whipping up my favorite smoothies for breakfast.

Personally, I love smoothies for a few reasons.  They don’t require the use of any silverware or dishes, which is a huge benefit since my toddler daughter likes to try to crawl into the dishwasher when I am loading it.  I find smoothies to be very filling, and am rarely hungry until lunch. There’s a  million different types of smoothies.  Green smoothies, veggie smoothies, fruit smoothies and everything in between.  I make pretty simple smoothies, and it is so easy to throw tons of superfoods and other healthy additions into them.  I always add some leafy greens, usually kale, spinach or dandelion greens.  This is a great way to add more greens into your diet and start off your day with nutrients.  I often add chia or flax seeds for my omega 3s.  I sometimes put half of an avocado into my smoothies for some healthy, filling fats.  Also, I always include a spoonful of almond butter for protein.  I prefer frozen raspberries as my fruit, but really, you can use any kind of fruit.  Including many fruits and vegetables in your smoothie will ensure that you are getting lots of vitamins and minerals.

There are various options for the smoothie base.  Many people make their smoothies with greek yogurt, which is full of calcium and protein.  Since I avoid dairy, I use almond milk.  Other options include water, ice, milk, regular yogurt, or really anything else that tastes good.

I use a pretty basic blender for my smoothies: the Ninja.  I love this blender.  I dream about getting a Vitamix one day, but I really have no complaints about my Ninja blender.

When I first started making smoothies, I experimented a lot.  I now pretty much stick to the same ingredients, with a few tweaks depending on what I have in my fridge.    I love my morning smoothie.  Lately I have had to make extra since my daughter loves it too.

This the basic recipe that I use.  Give it a try or make your own.  You can substitute almond milk with regular milk or any other kind of milk (soy, hemp etc.), and you can experiment with different fruits and greens.

Becky’s Simple Smoothie:

3/4 cup of almond milk

3/4 cup of frozen raspberries

1/2 a banana

1+ cup of chopped kale

pinch of chia seeds

1 – 2 tbsps. of almond butter

1/4 avocado

Put it all into the blender and mix until smooth.  Enjoy!