Smoothie Saturday: Raspberry Apple Ginger

Ooh, this smoothie was one of my favorites so far!

 Ingredients:

• 1 Organic Pinata apple (or any apple, but I fell in love with this kind this week)
• 1 c. organic frozen raspberries
• A few small pieces of frozen avocado for creaminess
• 1/2 c. water
• Spinach (I didn't use much this time because I didn't have much left)
• Grated frozen ginger

Again, I put it all in the mixing cup and blended with the stick blender. Because of the raspberry seeds and because the apple was fresh, this wasn't quite as smooth as the smoothies I normally make, but the flavor was incredible!

The combination of the sweetness and tartness from the apple and the spiciness of the ginger made this super refreshing!

This smoothie also made just enough for me this time. Katie wasn't home, so I didn't make enough for her.

This is the apple I used. I found them at Wegmans this week. They are a large and beautiful variety from Washington called Pinata (I don't know how to make an ~ on blogger). They are tart and sweet with a hint of tropical flavor.

The sweetness of the apple allowed me to forgo any added sweeteners this time; no honey or sucanat. That's a win in my book!

What are your favorite smoothie in add ins?

Smoothie Saturday: Mango Spinach

Mango Smoothies are my favorite, but I made this one a little differently this time.

Ingredients:

Organic frozen mango (a little over 2 cups)

Organic coconut oil (about 1/2 tbsp)

Organic spinach (a small handful)

Organic coconut water (amount depends on the consistency you want)

Raw local honey-not pictured (about 1/2 tbsp)

Frozen ginger grated, to taste

Ground cinnamon, to taste

Like I said before, I use a stick blender, so I layer my ingredients in the mixing cup.

 As I mentioned above, I made this a little differently this time. I didn't use yogurt, which I usually use (I was out). This time I used coconut oil instead. Coconut oil is supposed to help with digestive health, and since I was still dealing with some gurgles from my stomach bug when I made this, I thought it would be a good addition.  Actually, both coconut oil and raw honey are supposed to be anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial.  I always put ginger in my coconut smoothie, but I thought that could help with my tummy troubles too. The spinach was for the folic acid.

My only complaint with this smoothie was that it was a little salty. I'm pretty sure that was because of the coconut water, which I've just recently started using in my smoothies. In the future I won't use so much. This recipe made two smoothies, and I shared with my sister. She didn't think it was salty at all, so it might have just been me.

 Other than while I was sick, I think I've been doing a pretty good job eating healthy breakfasts lately. This week I rotated between smoothies, Greek yogurt, oatmeal, and scrambled eggs.

What does your healthy breakfast consist of? Any good ideas for me?

Smoothie Saturday: Kiwi Strawberry

Happy Monday!

Now that I'm preparing my body for a baby, I've got an extra incentive to make better choices in the way I eat and exercise. I've been making some changes the past two weeks in the what I eat, specifically avoiding things with white sugar and gluten. I'm not cutting things out altogether, just trying to slowly cut back.

For example, I'm trying to only eat grains (outside of oatmeal for breakfast some mornings) to one meal a day. And even for that one meal, I'm trying to choose a gluten free grain. I've eaten some brown rice pasta and some quinoa for example. My lunches have been heavy on fruits and vegetables with some nuts, Greek yogurt, and cheese here and there.

I'm not a big fan of greens, but I'm trying to add more to my diet in little ways, specifically spinach because of how high in folic acid it is. One of the ways I'm doing that is by drinking green-ish smoothies for breakfast, not every morning (, but a couple times a week. This is great because it's filling and tasty and a sneaky way to eat things that are good for me.

I thought I'd share some of the recipes I've been using, and the new one I tried this week is a kiwi strawberry smoothie.

INGREDIENTS

• about a cup of organic frozen strawberries 
• 2 fresh organic kiwi
• about 2 tbsp. of  Greek yogurt (you could also use dairy free almond yogurt)
• a handful of spinach
• organic coconut water (I used Coco Libre brand)
• 1/2 tsp. sucanat or your preferred sweetener

DIRECTIONS

• Remove strawberries from freezer and let them defrost slightly for a few minutes. I find frozen fruit blends better and gives that coolness we like in smoothies, but if you use it fresh out of the freezer, especially strawberries, it's too hard.
• I use a stick blender (I have a turquoise Cuisinart and I love it because it's useful and pretty The other great thing about using the stick blender is that it's so easy to clean up. You just rinse the blades and stick the cup in the dishwasher.), so I put all of the dry ingredients and the yogurt in the mixing cup then add the coconut water. The amount of coconut water changes depending on how thick or thin you like your smoothies. Regular water would work fine,  but I like the added nutrients of the coconut water.
• Blend with blender until it reaches the desired consistency adding water or more sweetener as desired. I found I needed to add more sucanat to this one than the other flavors I make because it was so tart.
• Pour into glasses and add a big thick straw. This made about 10 oz. I think, and I shared with my sister rather than drink the whole thing.

Do you have any smoothie recommendations? I'd love to hear about them!