All-in-1 Friday!

Good afternoon!

Today's post will be the smoothie and the Daily Chi. There's also a quick collage of my colorful lunch salad as well.

• 1 large handful spinach
• 1 banana
• 1/2 c blueberries
• 1/2 c raspberries
• 2 tbs almond butter
• 8oz almond milk
• 8 oz water
• 2 tbs protein
• 2 tsp Very Green
• 1 tbs chia seeds

This one is another PB&J type smoothie and it was great. I've always loved raspberry jam so this was right up my alley.

Today after I finished my leg workout in the afternoon, I figured I'd get a little quiet meditation in. Tango decided he was going to join me and I couldn't pass up the photo op!

And finally, here's my colorful lunch salad! I've been having salad for lunch about 3-4 days of the week to keep my diet on track. No sense having daily smoothies if you're going to eat junk for the rest of the day! The ingredients are:

• arugula
• butter lettuce mix
• cherry tomatoes
• pickled beets
• herbed goat cheese

I topped this with about 1 tablespoon each of balsamic and olive oil then tossed for a great lunch!

Minty Smoothie

Good afternoon!

Today's smoothie has a secret ingredient. I'm sure you can guess from the title that it's... Mint! I added a handful of mint leaves to today's smoothie and the outcome was great.

• 1 large handful spinach
• 1 small handful mint leaves (about one stem of large mint leaves)
• 1 pear
• 1 mango
• 8 oz coconut water
• 10 oz water
• 2 tbs protein
• 2 tsp Very Green
• 1 tbs chia seeds

I had intended to make a different smoothie entirely today but I couldn't prep the kiwi because of my allergy and my boyfriend had left for work early today. Overall, I'd say my experimental smoothie was a tasty success!

For those who do the social media thing, I have a Twitter! Check me out at @Smooth_Chi.

Green and Vegan alternatives

Good afternoon,

Sorry about the missed day. My brother is in town for the next week or so while he waits on a work Visa and he's a vegan. That means I'm making two different smoothies so we can all work with our own dietary needs!

Here's the basics of what I ended up putting in everyone's smoothies and I'll let you know what I subbed in for my brother:

• 1 large handful spinach
• 1 banana
• 8 oz pineapple
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs honey
• 8 oz coconut water
• 8 oz water
• 2 tsp chia seeds
• 2 tsp Very Green
• 2 tbs protein

To keep his vegan, my brother had hemp protein and no honey. I gave him half the other supplements and I made his in the mug container since it was for one person. I do have to say, the brown color that the chocolate flavored hemp protein produces wigs me out!

Mini Smoothie

Good afternoon,

The Magic Bullet is drying out after getting a thorough washing so I used my little blender today. My Hamilton Beach blender is actually a prize I got from Dave & Buster's and it's a really useful one!

• 1 small handful kale
• 1/2 c papaya
• 1/3 c mango
• 8 oz coconut water
• 4 oz water
• 1tbs protein
• 1 tsp Very Green

This smoothie turned out really smooth since there weren't any seeds in it at all. The recipe above actually only makes one large serving, not enough for two unless you only give each person 8ish oz. Overall, a good smoothie but it could use a little more flavor, probably will add cherries or something next time.

I'm impressed at the ability of my tiny blender to blend so well! The neat thing is that the blender itself is actually a portable smoothie cup but I don't love the idea of carrying around the blade in my cup so I poured the smoothie into one of my usual cups.