Recipe: Fruit & Veggie Smoothies

Do you ever get home from work to find yourself heading straight to the kitchen? Spacing out snacks and meals while at work can be a real struggle at times; meetings, watchful bosses, and a lack of refrigerators or microwaves can sometimes serve as a barrier to keeping your fire fueled. By the time you make your way home that evening, all you can think about is what’s for dinner.

Whether it’s fast food on the way home or reaching for a bag of chips from your pantry, this sudden urge to eat can throw a balanced diet completely off-track. Instead, try having a planned snack you can throw together easily when you get home. One of my favorite go-to snacks is a quick and tasty fruit and vegetable smoothie.

This is a recipe to play around with for sure - there are countless ways to combine fruits and veggies to make a smoothie, so start with some of your favorite produce and blend away! Here's my current favorite combination:

Makes 1 smoothie.

Ingredients:

·         1 big carrot, chopped into carrot coins

·         ½ bell pepper, any color

·         A handful of spinach or kale

·         1 banana

·         A handful of mango or peaches, sliced

·         A handful of berries

·         A splash of juice – I prefer Healthy Balance Juice Cocktails by Old Orchard, which are sweetened with Splenda and are extremely low calorie AND tasty.

Directions:

1.       Wash your fruits and veggies.

2.       Add veggies and juice to blender and pulse until smooth.

3.       Add fruits and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

I use my Rocket Blender by Bella Kitchens to make these smoothies, since they are the perfect size and super easy to clean. These smoothies are very kid-friendly, too; not only are they fun and easy to make, but they also sneak in lots of fruits and veggies and taste great! You can even pour them into ice cube trays or popsicle molds and pop them in the freezer for the hot summer months for a healthy summer cool-off.

This smoothie is a good way to fit in some good nutrition into a hectic schedule. It makes an excellent breakfast as well when paired with a glass of milk, bowl of cottage cheese, or other source of protein. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Try it out and let me know what you think! Remember to make it your own by swapping in and out the fruits and veggies you like best - smoothies make playing with your food a breeze. Please share any particularly victorious culinary experiments in the comments section below!

Thanks for reading!

Anna

*Please note: I am not paid in any way for any product endorsement at this time. I just like to share!