Fruity Smoothie

 

Goodness! 

It has been months (years?) since I posted a recipe. I haven't made too many new things, I suppose. Much of what I've made has come from Dashing Dish, so I don't post her recipes, since you can get them from her site!

Last week, though, when I was on the sugar detox, I found my favorite smoothie recipe yet, so I wanted to share it today. I've made many smoothies over the years, and this one is my favorite blend of fruity and creamy - and filling. And it doesn't use yogurt, milk, or protein powder, so if you don't like or can't have any of those things, you won't have to worry about it. You can also switch up the fruit if you don't like the ones I picked. Ryan has even started drinking these, so they have his seal of approval, too. 

I would also like to go on record as saying that even though this has a banana in it, the banana flavor is not overpowering. I actually don't like banana, but I love this smoothie. The other flavors take over enough for me to be able to handle it - and the banana is what makes it creamy!

Ingredients:

* 8 Ounces Water
* 1 Tablespoon Flaxseed
* 1 Heaping Cup Frozen Strawberry/Blueberry/Pineapple Mix
* 1 Banana
* 1/2 Cup Spinach
* 1 Tablespoon Nut Butter

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in smoothie blender and blend until desired consistency.

A few tips:

* I make my own frozen fruit packs. I purchase fresh blueberries and strawberries and canned pineapple chunks. I clean and cut the strawberries and clean the blueberries, and then I portion them out into generous cup size servings and freeze them in bags. I grab one bag per smoothie. If you don't like those particular fruit choices, change it up! 

* Yes, the Flaxseed makes the smoothie a little crunchy whenever you hit a seed. If that bothers you, I would leave out the seeds.

* One day, both Ryan and I wanted a smoothie, but we only had one banana left. We split it and left the remainder of the recipe the same. Neither of us felt like it suffered in flavor or creamy texture. So if you prefer to conserve your bananas, you should be able to use just half and be okay!

* I have used both almond butter and peanut butter and haven't noticed a difference in taste. We've been trying to use more natural nut butter to cut down on sugar.

* I learned one day when both our smoothie cups were dirty, that using the regular blender did dot provide the same consistency of shake, so if you try this in a regular blender and it doesn't get smooth, try getting a smoothie blender (or attachments for your blender) instead.