Making Smoothies

 

One thing I’ve noticed is that when you eat a really clean diet of primarily plants and animals you aren’t hungry all of the time.  Two small meals, quite often only one with maybe a small snack, and I am pretty much good to go.  Sometimes though, I realize that I’m probably not always getting all of the nutrients I should have.  If I make a large veggie packed salad I’ve got it all covered, but I don’t eat one of those every day.  I needed to come up with a good alternative.

 

Smoothies have never really been my thing.  I just never got into them, especially the ones that taste weird or like lawn clippings after you just mowed the grass.  But, as with anything, things do change.  Recently I figured out a way to make smoothies that I actually enjoy drinking.  They are not only healthy and packed with nutrients (which is the theory behind a smoothie, I think), but they taste really good to me.  Surprisingly, they are fairly low in carbohydrates too.

 

I start with the base – a cup of organic whole milk (Darigold Fit has 40% less lactose (sugar)) and two heaping tablespoons of organic vanilla whole milk yogurt.  The nutrients I’m after here are calcium, vitamin D and protein.  Next I add a quarter cup of berries, a small handful of spinach leaves and half a small banana or a third of a regular size banana for vitamins, minerals (like potassium) and a touch of sweetness.  I also like to add half a scoop of JUCE which is a concentration of powdered beet root and other fruits and vegetables that are deemed to be heart healthy and also give another boost of essential vitamins and minerals.  It also tastes pretty good.

 

A couple weeks ago I added a Magic Bullet to my kitchen for the sole purpose of making smoothies, my homemade salad dressings and sauces.  After blasting salad dressing all over my kitchen using my immersion blender I felt it was prudent to add a small blender appliance like this to my kitchen.  Deciding to make smoothies on a more regular basis helped me to go ahead with that plan and make the purchase.  I love that thing!

 

For a while now I have been adding unflavored collagen to my daily Keto coffee which I do think is helping my arthritic joints.  After determining it was helpful and not a waste of money I went ahead and invested in a chocolate protein version so I can add that to my smoothie base and make myself chocolate “milkshakes”.  I do add the banana and spinach which, by the way, you don’t even taste the spinach.  I can also add the unflavored collagen powder to my fruit smoothies if I wish.

 

Once I began making smoothies I realized I could make so many different varieties using berries, unsweetened cranberry and/or pomegranate juice, unsweetened pineapple juice or the chocolate protein powder and of course you can make a ton of combinations.  I can tell you I do not care for a chocolate and peanut butter combination, but berries, strawberries or straight chocolate make me happy.  I do keep track of the macros on each ingredient so I don’t overload the carbohydrates.

I try to drink a smoothie about three times a week to supplement my regular meal or meals I eat each day and make sure I’m getting those important nutrients and antioxidants.  Do you have a favorite smoothie combination?  Have you ever supplemented your diet with collagen powders or something like JUCE?