Healthy Smoothies!

I started making myself healthy smoothies this week. We got a blender to make margaritas for card club, and I have been taking full advantage of it. I first got inspiration for making smoothies from Iowa Girl Eats. If you're not familiar with her blog, you should be. It's very popular and she posts SO many healthy and delicious looking recipes. I can't cook so I don't attempt any of them, but they sure do look yummy. I even saw her on the news last week! Did I mention she lives in Des Moines? Even better!

Anyway, she made this Green Monster Smoothie and insisted it didn't taste terrible. It included lots of spinach, so I was skeptical. 

All this week I've been trying different concoctions and I've been thoroughly enjoying my smoothies. I make them each morning and sometimes after my workouts. I have actually lost weight eating these smoothies! I think it kick starts my metabolism in the morning. My fitness says "The second most important meal of the day is the meal you eat after your workout," because your body is a sponge. I think the post-workout smoothie is also doing my body good.

I don't have a real "recipe" with measurements (of course), but I will tell you the kinds of things I throw together. 

Frozen strawberries (about a handful)

Frozen banana (half a banana--I would suggest cutting it up and freezing it first)

Frozen blueberries (about 1/4 cup)

Pineapple (about 1/4 cup)

Skim milk (about 1/2 cup)

Orange juice (about 1/4 cup

Greek yogurt (2 tbsp)

Peanut butter (1tbsp)

Spinach (1 large handful)

I make this about 10 minutes before heading to school, and then I put it in the freezer to get it extra cold. Sometimes my blender makes it a little too frothy, but I think that's because I keep it in there for too long. I also bought kiwis and oranges that I'm going to try out. I use Greek yogurt because it's high in protein. I haven't been brave enough to try the Green Monster yet, I wanted to make sure I could commit before I spent extra money on Almond Milk and Chobani Greek Yogurt. For now I'm using A&E Skim and Yoplait Greek and it's doing just fine.

I really can't say enough good things about this smoothie thing! It saves me time in the morning because I can eat breakfast on the go, and it re-energizes me after boot camp. Go make yourself some healthy smoothies!