hey! smoothie time

Lately I have been obsessed with pinning fresh fruit smoothie recipes on pinterest...

and while I never stick to recipes when it comes to this type of thing, 

I thought I'd share a concoction I made over the weekend that was deeeelightful.

when it comes to making smoothies, I am a huge fan of the nutribullet! 

I always feel this mad rush this time of year, as if I am losing precious time when it comes to using fresh in-season fruit. (ugh)

So, to simplify things, I've broken down my little "recipe" to only 7 ingredients.

This smoothie, although it is green, was honest-to-goodness delicious.

Don't let the color scare you.

Step 1: Gather your ingredients. The bulk of your smoothie should be fresh fruit and veggies. I like to do this all in one shot, rather than scurrying around the kitchen to find everything as I go. It makes cleanup easier and to be honest, it's fun to watch the nutribullet just eviscerate your kale. The fruit that I used in this smoothie are orange, frozen banana, blueberries, frozen strawberries, and of course, some kale. You want to use the greenest, darkest, fluffiest, most frilly beautiful kale you can find.

Step 2: Choose a power up (optional).  I like to throw in flax seed, coconut oil or protein to get a boost from my smoothie. In the smoothie I made, I used both coconut oil and flax seed (ground). It adds zero taste. The coconut oil (which I picked up at Costco) has really great health benefits and can even be used on your skin and hair. Flax seed, for some reason, makes me feel fuller and simulates what protein does in that regard. On days when you're not in the mood for these boosts, you can always throw in sugar free Hershey's chocolate powder too :) the smoothie predominantly has a banana flavor, so with the added chocolate, it tastes like a chocolate covered banana. Um, yes.

Step 3: Add a little milk. Milk is my 7th ingredient! Be sure to add in a little milk before your initial blend so that the blades can really crush the ingredients - somehow the moisture seems to help. In the photo above, you might be able to tell that I used some frozen banana and strawberries - this is a great way to preserve fruit that you buy. The nutribullet slices the frozen fruit pretty well, and its adds an icy texture. One thing I've heard is that you don't want to put whole ice cubes in your nutribullet.

Step 4: Pour, garnish, and enjoy.  The finished product is definitely green - I didn't add or take away any kale that I originally pictured in step 1. I garnished my smoothie with blueberries and some sliced almonds for the visual, but if you're like me on any other day you just stick a straw in it and slurp away. The banana flavor was definitely most dominant, so it didn't taste "green" or have an odd clashing of flavors. I think it's really hard to mess this one up. This is my favorite to enjoy as a supplement to a light lunch, or a post-run energizer. The natural ingredients make me feel healthier and better, and I was pretty full for a good 1-2 hours after this. 

let me know if you decide to try!

ciao, xo