BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE

Another great treat from my friend, Ashley.  How she ever came to think of peanut butter mixed in with all this is beyond me, but it is delicious.

Serves 2

1 cup Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups frozen berries
2 tablespoons of peanut butter or almond butter
2 tablespoons of flaxseed
1 cup of water

Mix in blender - drink up!

GREEN (or Purple?) SMOOTHIE

Another weird healthy smoothie for you.  I was reading the "What's Your Workout?" column in yesterday's Wall St. Journal and thought the Green Smoothie mentioned in the article sounded good.  No recipe was given, just ingredients. I did the usual of a little of this and a little of that. I added a bit of Greek yogurt for extra protein. The almond milk really made the difference and I loved it. Kind of sludgy looking (another case of "don't judge a book by its cover"). A nice change from last month's Veggie Berry Smoothie.  So, give it a try.

Big handful of spinach
1 cup of fruit (frozen or fresh) - I added frozen blueberries or 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup strawberries
1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds
1/2 cup of almond milk
1/2 cup of water
Greek yogurt - spoonful (I added to recipe for a bit of protein)
A bit of Agave syrup
Stevia (natural sweetener)

All tossed into the blender.  That's it.

VEGGIE BERRY SMOOTHIE

When my friend, Corinne, told me that she drank this concoction every morning I was intrigued.  Then she told me it took her about a week to get used to it.  Hmmm.  I'm not one to mix vegetables and fruit in a drink (see those flecks of green in the drink? spinach) and needing a week to adapt sounded not too tempting.

But downing all those veggies early in the day without the extra sodium found in typical vegetable drinks won me over.  Of course, it is full of anti-oxidants, etc. Oddly enough, I got used to it on day three and by day five I found it enjoyable.  But remember, Jamba Juice it ain't.

So, ready to toss the following ingredients into your blender?

handful of spinach
handful of baby carrots
one celery rib, snapped a few times
one tomato
one cup of frozen blueberries
a bit of water or splash of fruit juice (I added 1/4 cup of cranberry pomegranate juice plus water)
I also sprinkled a bit of Stevia for a little sweetness
Blend and drink up!

PEACH CARDAMOM SMOOTHIE

This is from Dr. Alex Junger's Clean Diet--which I have not done.  However, the combination of peaches and cardamom sounded intriguing. It isn't too sweet, actually a bit savory which I liked.  My sister and I split it and gave it a thumb's up.

PEACH CARDAMOM SMOOTHIE

Serves 2

Ingredients
1/4 cup almond butter
2 cardamom pods or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups pure water
1 cup frozen peaches
1 to 2 teaspoons agave syrup
1/2 cup ice

Blend together until smooth.

CITRUS SMOOTHIE - Joy the Baker

When I saw this posted on Joy the Baker I knew it would be delicious. Really, anything citrus is divine. This is creamy (frozen bananas) and tart (all that lovely citrus). And it is healthy so drink up!

A juicer

A blender

2 Tablespoons Meyer lemon juice (I used our local lemons)

the juice of 1/2 a grapefruit

1/2 cup fresh orange or tangerine juice

2 tablespoons honey

heaping 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 frozen banana (they blend better when frozen)

1/2 cup ice cubes

In a blender, combine juices, yogurt, and honey. Blend for a few seconds. Add the ice cubes and blend until smooth. This makes two regular sized smoothies. Heaven.

BANANA MILK SHAKE

This is a great treat-and it is not what you think. There is no ice cream--just over-ripe frozen bananas with milk, vanilla, and a little sugar. Instead of tossing out your over-ripe bananas, peel and freeze them. You can use them for baking and cold, frothy drinks.

Banana Milkshake
1 frozen ripe banana, cut into chunks

1 cup milk

1 - 2 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
Blend all ingredients until smooth. Sprinkle a little nutmeg on top--yum!
Makes two servings

Recipe from Pinch My Salt.