On The Menu: Green Smoothie:

 

I made a personal New Year's resolution to eat healthier, and lose some weight. I know, I know, it's one of the most popular resolutions made every year; and it's one of the most failed resolutions as well.

I didn't set specifics seeing as that I thought I would most certainly set myself up for failure when something came up and I was unable to meet those goals. I simply wanted to overall eat healthier and lose weight. I do have a set number for that but that's my secret. I will say that as long as exercise more and eat healthier, then reaching that goal by the end of the year, will in fact be no problem at all.

I am definitely getting in more time at the gym and and a good friend of mine has decided to motivate me more and wake me up at 5 am with a workout wake up call. That is definitely getting me going. I don't want to disappoint her by not going and thinking she's calling for nothing! I owe her a HUGE thank you!

And in an effort to eat better, I have been looking at some healthier meal options. I was browsing around Once A Month Cooking when I found this Green Smoothie recipe. Even though, they mention it's great for toddler's and picky kids, I knew this would be fantastic for me. I love all the ingredients on the list but I seldom get the right amount of fruits and veggies in my diet everyday. I thought this would be great way to get some of those in.

And on top of adding in fruits and veggies, it's pretty healthy. I even substituted the plain yogurt for greek yogurt. And my favorite part, I can prep these ahead of time, so in the morning all I have to do is run each packet under warm water to thaw, throw it in the blender with some ice and done.

Ingredients Needed

3 cups of fresh baby spinach

1 cup of orange, peeled, sectioned and seeded

1 cup apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup papaya, peeled, seeded and chopped

1/2 medium banana

6 oz of plain yogurt

1/2 cup orange juice

6 ice cubes

1. Put all ingredients, except for ice in a blender and blend until combined.

2.  Add ice and pulse until ice is crushed.

3.   Enjoy!

Serves: 4

***If you want to freeze it, it is suggested to pout the smoothie mixture into individual portions and then freeze. I wasn't sure if they meant before the ice or after the ice. I chose to freeze the portions without adding the ice. I felt that when I was thawing them, they may become to watery. So I poured the smoothies (no  ice) into ziploc bags and layed them flat in my freezer to optimize space. When I'm ready for a smoothie, I'll just pop one out and run it under some warm water for a few minutes, pour it in the blender, add a few ices cubes and crush!

I had one of these smoothies this morning and it was delicious! You should try one!

Do you make smoothies at your house? What's your favorite smoothie recipe? Share them with me. You can upload your pics and links (if you have a site) via email, the Flickr group, or on my Facebook page and you could end up on Show Me Saturday!