Last year when I first started my fitness journey, I began to research better food options, ingredients, and look for ways to get more fresh fruits and veggies into my diet. Of course everywhere you look, the #1 way people suggest is to make smoothies. Sounds easy enough right? Throw everything in a blender, let it do its thing, and viola… instant healthy meal or snack! Being a “clean eater” at the time, it just made sense to add smoothies into my daily routine. I definitely became a smoothie addict. I would have at least one blended concoction a day and loved coming up with different flavor combinations. I was eating a ton more fresh produce and feeling pretty darn good!
However, after a few months of blending, I started to get REALLY tired of smoothies. As much as I had loved them, I just had little to no taste for them at all anymore. I went from having 1-2 a day, to having one every few days, then once a week, then maybe once a month, until eventually I hadn’t had a smoothie in 8-9 months. It’s so strange to think about how long I went without one single blended drink considering how addicted I had once been.
As the weather here in San Diego continued to get hotter and hotter… literally 90° in April (so disgusting), I actually had a HUGE craving for a smoothie one day recently. I decided to dust off my Vitamix, throw in whatever I had one hand that day, and blend away.
And so began a reignited love and I am officially back to blending again!!!!
Before I got into the nitty gritty of testing flavors and new combinations, I had to start with the basics! I remembered one of the first things I had made last year was a simple “green” banana smoothie. Easily a staple of mine back then and one you can never mess up. However, with my “clean” eating days well behind me and I can safely say that my smoothies are that MUCH better now because I can enjoy the additions of a few more “fun” ingredients!!! Since I’m no longer forcing myself to make sure I only use certain items and stay away from certain food & ingredients, my mind is definitely racing even more these days! This time last year, I would have never thought to add the Fat Free Redi Whip and chocolate syrup but I’m happy to report that these things will most likely be included in any and all smoothies from now on…. especially the whipped cream. It’s definitely a must now. Absolute must. Be prepared for LOTS of smoothie action in the coming weeks!!!
Scrumptious huh? Cannot wait to share everything I have been blending up here! For now, I will leave you with this very basic staple recipe!!!
Basic “Green” Banana Smoothie
Print recipeIngredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup Vanilla Muscle Egg- Egg Whites
- 20 drops Vanilla Cream Sweet Leaf Stevia
- 1 splash vanilla extract
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 1 Medium ripe banana
- 2 tablespoons Walden Farm's Chocolate Syrup (** OPTIONAL **)
- 2 tablespoons Fat Free Redi Whip (** OPTIONAL **)
- 1/2 tablespoon Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips (** OPTIONAL **)
Directions
| Step 1 | |
| Place first FIVE ingredients (almond milk, egg whites, stevia, vanilla, and spinach) into a high speed blender and mix until all spinach is completely broken down. | |
| Step 2 | |
| Wipe down sides of blender and add banana. Blend for 10-15 seconds. | |
| Step 3 | |
| Add 3/4 cup ice and blend until smooth. | |
| Step 4 | |
| Take chocolate syrup and and pour along rim of glass. Pour smoothie in and add whipped cream. Top with chocolate chips. | |
FYI last year I hadn’t discovered Muscle Egg and was using plain old powdered egg whites or my beloved Trutein (BEST protein ever), but I’m happy to report that now I have another option to include some protein into my smoothies! Between Trutein & Muscle Egg… my smoothies have NEVER tasted so good!!!
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