An Inspired Post

My trip to Smoothie King really opened my eyes to the possibilities of vegetables.  The fruits really blend well with the vegetables.  They also hide the taste.

Tonite was smoothie and muffin nite.  I decided to slip some spinach into my smoothie.  I was surprised at the fact that I couldn't taste the spinach at all.   

The one in the front is mine.  The only difference between mine and the girls' is the fact that I added spinach.  But honestly, I bet if I had added spinach to theirs they wouldn't have known.


Spinach Smoothie
Serves: 1
Calories: 226
Carbs: 41 g
Protein: 17 g


Ingredients

4 oz (.5 cup) Fat free plain Greek yogurt
.5 medium banana
About 2  cups of spinach
.25 cup blueberries
.25 cup raspberries
4 frozen strawberries
.25 cup light soymilk

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in the blender and puree until smooth.

Do you add vegetables in unexpected places?  I'd love to hear about it! 

Veggie Power!

Disclosure:  Smoothie King provided me with a $25 gift card to review their smoothie.  The opinions are mine.

I was really excited when I heard about Smoothie King's new Veggie Power line of Smoothies.  A yummy way to eat them without actually feeling like you're eating them.  It is also a great way to sneak vegetables into your kid's diet.  

Smoothie King has come up with 3 different flavors.

Apple Kale Kiwi -- Deliciously defending your immune system with tangy Vitamin C and free-radical fighting antioxidants.

Berry Carrot Dream -- Powerfully packed Vitamin A for strong eyes and skin, plus heart-healthy fiber for a lean digestive system.

Carrot Kale Crush -- A mighty serving of veggies, plus our Slim and Trim Vanilla Protein Blend for a strong body with fearless immunity. 

All 3 flavors have 280 calories in a small and 0 grams of fat!  One of these make a perfect lunch!  

Since Ken and the girls were all off today I decided it was a good day for smoothies.  I ordered the Apple Kale Kiwi.  It was delicious!  Sweet from the apple with a hint of tart from the kiwi.  If I hadn't been told that there was kale in it I honestly wouldn't have known.  Ken was actually surprised at how good it was.  Both Sunny and Mo agreed that it was delicious.  I think I will be headed back to Smoothie King soon to try the other 2 flavors.  

Homemade Protein Smoothie

 Don't you wish that all protein shakes looked like this?

I'm all about getting my necessary protein.  It's kind of hard for me because the foods I normally eat don't have much in them.  I have a ton of go-to protein sources that are very low fat or nonfat.  I love protein powder because it's only around 200 calories, has about 20 grams of protein and it's fat free.  Spiru-tein is my personal favorite.  You can find it at most health food stores.  Click Here to check them out.  They come in all different flavors.  Banana, cherries jubilee, chocolate chunk, cookies and cream, peanut butter.....the list is so long!  

But the thing I DON'T like about protein powders is the cost.  They seriously take a chunk out of my bank account.  I don't buy them very often due to that fact.  I came up with my own protein shake for at home though.  It comes in at 250 calories, 3.5 grams of fat and 25 grams of protein.  You can customize it as you'd like too.  The only downside is that it isn't portable like the protein powders.

Homemade Protein Shake/Smoothie 
1 cup (227 g) Nonfat, plain Greek Yogurt
2 T PB2
1 T Cocoa Powder (optional)
.75 - 1 cup Light Soymilk (I like Vanilla)

Directions

1. Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth.

Quick, simple, easy!  

Is it April Already??!??

Happy April everybody!  I can't believe that 1/3 of the year is almost over.  Only 3 weeks until Sunny's birthday and 6.5 weeks until Kaylee's.Next time I turn around I'll be leaving for vacation {vacation plan post coming soon!}

It's finally starting to warm up and it finally feels like spring.  I love spring.  The produce, the animals, and the weather.  I especially love the switch to spring produce.  Watermelon season starts the first week of May according to my watermelon guy (yes I have a watermelon guy)

On Easter morning the girls, my dad (he's been in town since Thursday,) and I went to Panera.  Panera has been a tradition for Kaylee, Mantha and him since it opened about a year ago.  Sunny just recently got included in the tradition (along with the Bob Evan's and McDonald's PlayPlace traditions.)  I was lucky enough to be able to join in on this trip.  

Sometimes I feel like it's easier to exclude myself due to the fact that I have to spend hours researching the menu in order to find what I can eat.  But I know that the time I get to spend with my dad outweighs the annoyance.  

On the menu there were only 2 things that I could consider, the Power Breakfast Egg White Bowl with Roasted Turkey (as long as you ask for it without turkey or pesto) or the Fat Free SuperFruit Power Smoothie.    I decided to go with the smoothie and a cup of coffee.

The smoothie was really amazing.  (It probably would have tasted better if I hadn't burned 75% of the taste buds off my tongue with my coffee though).  It was sweet but not too sweet, the flavor was complex, it was just all around delicious.  I would definitely go back for it again. Add bonus: it kept me full a lot longer than I expected. I normally get hungry about 2 hours after I eat and I start to munch.  I didn't eat again for probably 4 or 5 hours. 

According to Brandeating.com the smoothie is a "superfruit power puree (which includes apple, blackberry and blueberry purees, cherry, concord grape, pomegranate, elderberry and acai juices from concentrate, and plum puree) and blends it with Oikos organic plain Greek non-fat yogurt and ads a boost of ginseng for good measure." 


The nutritionals on the smoothie are pretty good too.  Besides being fat-free, it has 200 calories,  100% of your daily B6 and B12, 150% of your daily vitamin C, 15 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and a bunch of antioxidants.  I would definitely recommend this.

What do you look forward to most about spring?  What is your favorite spring produce?

Below are some links about seasonal produce.  Take a look.  I also have a graphic on my healthy photo page.

Seasonal Produce Links
Food Network Spring Produce Guide

 

Photo Courtesy of: For the Love of Food 

CeresSecrets List of Early, Mid and Late Spring Produce