Friday, November 12, 2010

Smoothies Smoothies and more Smoothies

Hello!

So as you know from my previous post I have been dealing with strep throat/a sore throat for about a week.... well let me tell you, smoothies are a girls best friend! Which is why I am going to focus this blog on smoothie recipes and talk a bit about why the store bought smoothies are in fact bad for you (to a certain extent!)

I have started making smoothies jam packed with greens and yummy healthy hemp protein powder and flax seeds. Here is one of my favourite recipes. It cures my sweet craving and is really filling so its great in the am! I also add salad greens or spinach to the smoothie.... please trust me on this one, you really can't taste the spinach (green mixes can have a bitter taste, but look for simple spinach or lettuce mixes, they are better). The greens are essentially like eating a salad but in a smoothie. You get all the benefits from green leafy veggies, but in a tasty smoothie. This particular blend is also full of soluble fibre and hemp protein!

Green Monster smoothie (the greens make it look monster-like in my opinion!)

- large handful of spinach leaves
- 1 tbsp of peanut butter or almond butter
- 1 banana
- 1 tsp to 1 tbsp of honey (pure unpasteurized honey is the best)
- 1 cup of Milk of your choice (almond, hemp, or normal milk... you can also substitute with chilled green tea to reduce calories or a juice of your choice)
- 2 scoops of hemp protein powder (can be found at any health food or drug store)

Blend well!!! and enjoy :)

** You can also substitute the peanut butter for berries instead and make a banana berry smoothie, and add flax seed**

The trick with smoothies is to mix the ingredients that you like to make a wonderful, healthy treat. You can even add some finely chopped dark chocolate, or cocoa powder to a smoothie to make it that much more divine!

Why store bought smoothies can be bad for you:

I was shopping the other day and had a sugar crash... decided I needed a boost and figured a smoothie was a healthier option than the GF cookies at the store. Turns out, upon reading the label, that the smoothie in question had loads of sugar in it, and some even had gluten!! Now I'm talking about these "fresh fruit" smoothies that you buy in convenient little plastic containers. I love these when I travel because I can add protein powder, and voila a meal replacement but word to the wise: ALWAYS read the labels to make sure they are GF, never assume that a smoothie should be gluten free. And always read the label for sugar content.... even if it is natural sugars, its important to be aware that a sugar spike is not good for your body... it will only make you crash even harder. Lastly, always look at the serving size, many of these smoothies list the nutritional information based on a serving which is usually half of what is actually in the bottle (which means if you drink it all at once you are getting twice as much as whats on the label!)

Anyway, I am off to enjoy the sunny day! The winter season is so close I can taste it and I will be purchasing a slow cooker in the next few weeks so stay tuned for yummy soup, stews and other winter recipes coming soon!

Until next time!


Your celiac friend :)

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