Showing posts with label Bananas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bananas. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

New and improved Daily "Green Monster" Smoothie

About two years ago I posted my Daily Smoothie Recipe. Since then I have made some edits and changed it up a little bit, both for taste and for the health benefits of various ingredients.

The Base Smoothie:
  • Raw Cacao Powder (natural caffeine great if you don't like coffee and don't want to drink pop)
  • Low Fat or Greek Vanilla Yogurt  (Sometimes I use Activia for added probiotics)
  • Vanilla Almond Milk (I avoid soy milk, it can cause higher estrogen in women and men)
  • Rainbow Chard/ Baby Spinach (Both and great for you and have little taste, I prefer the chard)
  • Ground Flaxseed
  • Cinnamon (Read about the health benefits of cinnamon)
  • Frozen Banana (The riper the better, peel them before you freeze them! See my buying/freezing bananas post)
  • Frozen Blueberries (cranberries, acai berries, etc.) - for antioxidants
  • Protein Powder (again no soy)
  • Honey (Read about the health benefits of honey)
  • Vanilla
Optional Ingredients:
  • Frozen Apple Slices and Cinnamon (Read my post on why apples are awesome)
  • Apples and Peanutbutter
  • Peanutbutter and Cinnamon
  • Anything you want!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Delicious Kickstart Apple Cinnamon Morning Smoothie

So each morning I make a smoothie over the next few weeks I will post the different variations of smoothies that I make. I try to cram it full of foods, powders, and spices that will give me a healthy natural boost in the morning and will curb my hunger all morning! I try to have every food group present in my morning smoothies, especially fruits and veggies, because I have a hard time fitting them in on busy days!

Every day I use these ingredients in my smoothies:

  • Super Food Power (Cacao, Maca, Hemp seed powders)
  • Low Fat or Greek Vanilla Yogurt
  • Vanilla Almond Milk
  • Rainbow Chard/ Baby Spinach
  • Flaxseed
  • Cinnamon
  • Frozen Banana
  • Frozen Blueberries
  • Protein Powder
  • Honey
  • Vanilla

For the Apple Cinnamon Smoothie:

  • Half of an Apple (frozen or fresh)
  • Extra Cinnamon

Here's how I make my Smoothie: 

 1. The night before freeze; rainbow chard, blueberries, 1/2 - 1 banana, 1/2 apple
(If you put the chard on the bottom it is easier to break apart the frozen "clump" of fruits and veggies in the morning, this is especially helpful if, like me, you have a crappy blender)


2. Add 1-2 cups of vanilla yogurt. Greek yogurt is better for you and has more protein, I don't like the taste so I use light and fit or another low fat brand.



3. Add your frozen fruits and veggies.


4. Add dry ingredients to the smoothie, feel free to different ingredients depending on your own needs. Make sure you add the cinnamon for the flavor of this one though! I add a big table spoon of all of the ingredients except the ginger I add a pinch or two and the protein powder I add the powder's scoop (or two).

 5. Add a decent sized helping of vanilla for taste. I use all natural pure vanilla.
6. Add honey - I use 3-5 tablespoons. Honey makes the smoothie sweeter without raising your blood sugar. If you want to learn more about Honey read Suzy Homemaker's post on how amazing honey is for you!

 7. Add enough almond milk to get your desired consistency. I usually use vanilla flavored almond milk. You can also use coconut water/milk or soy milk. I avoid soy milk because too much soy can effect your hormone levels.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

My Daily Smoothie

So I posted my Peanutbutter Banana Green Monster Smoothie the other day, but pretty much every day I've been drinking some modification of a Banana Green Monster Smoothie so here's my basic recipe and a few optional ingredients you can play with, feel free to experiment, and let me know how it goes!

Banana Green Monster Smoothie

  •  1 c. Vanilla Non-Fat Yogurt
  •  1 c. Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk
  •  2 Scoops Vanilla Soy Protein
  •  1 Peeled, Cut, Frozen Banana (See Frozen bananas here)
  •  Big Pinch of Flaxseed (can't taste it at all)
  •  Two small handfuls of Baby Spinach (can't taste it AT ALL!)
  •  Benefiber (The no taste kind)
  • Cap full of vanilla (tsp.)
      Optional Ingredients:
  •  Pinch of cinnamon - Inspired by a Mexican Agua Fresca (delicious drink) all you need is a pinch and it gives your shake a yummy surprising twist!
  •  Chocolate Powder, Syrup, or Chips
  •  Peanutbutter
  •  Chocolate & Peanutbutter (The Monkey Business Green Monster)
  •  Coconut Oil - So good for you!
  •  Other fruits
  •  Other herbs

Monday, July 16, 2012

Take advantage of sales!

Freeze Sale Bananas!

 

Take advantage of sales at your grocery store! Tonight when I went to the store they had bunches of bananas that were pretty ripe on sales I bought two huge bunches of bananas, one for 57 cents and one for 87 cents! I cut up all the bananas and froze them for my smoothies! Perfect and cheap!

Frozen bananas are perfect for my yummy Peanut Butter Banana Green Monster Smoothie! 
The best part of freezing "older" sale bananas for your smoothies is they are sweeter and creamier when blended into your smoothie than newer more green bananas!

Love Rubbermaid Products!

I love my Rubbermaid containers. Rubbermaid USED TO be made in my hometown, until they got sold a few years back, long story, however, we still have a warehouse store I love getting these on their sale floor! This is an AMAZING price for a 50 pc. set though!