What's For Lunch: Choco-Berry Smoothie

Since things are crazy-busy around these parts, my lunch break has now turned into a quick gym break. Following a workout, all I really want is something quick to make and easy to eat, since I'm heading straight back to my computer. Enter the smoothie! The great thing about a smoothie is that your options are endless. I even have a big bag of spinach in the fridge so that later this week I can give a green monster a whirl. Until then, I'm sticking with my favorite flavors -- chocolate and berries. This time I mixed the two together. I know -- wild and crazy, right?

Choco-Berry Smoothie (printer-friendly version)
makes two servings

3/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup coconut-pineapple water [optional]
1/2 cup frozen whole strawberries (unsweetened)
1 cup frozen mixed berries (unsweetened)
1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
handful of ice cubes

To make your smoothie:
Add all of the ingredients into your blender and mix well. (If you don't have a Vitamix, you may want to blend all the ingredients together except for the ice, and then add cubes individually until your smoothie reaches the consistency you prefer. Then, pour into a glass and drink up! (Straw optional.)

What's In My Kitchen: Vitamix

Our newest kitchen gadget was the unexpected and extremely generous gift of a Vitamix from my parents for Christmas. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) I had heard about the wonders of the Vitamix and seen the demo at our local Costco, but owning one was not on our radar. The Vitamix takes blending to a whole new level. (It is a "high-performance blender," after all!) Thus far we've made several smoothies, protein shakes, and even a batch of vanilla ice cream (that recipe still needs a little tweakage). I'm looking forward to trying many of the recipes from the cookbook that came with the Vitamix, and I've already got my eye on several hearty soup recipes that look absolutely delicious. 

Good Mornin' Vitamix Smoothie

makes two 16-ounce servings

1 orange, peeled and quartered

1 apple, cored and halved

1 cup frozen mango chunks

1 banana, peeled (frozen or fresh)

1 cup ice cubes

1. Add all the ingredients to the Vitamix pitcher.

2. Start blending at variable one. Increase the speed to variable ten, then flip to high.

3. Blend for 45 seconds, or until the smoothie reaches the desired consistency.

4. Serve it up and start your day!

What I'm Drinking: Post-Workout Smoothie

In less than a month I'm meeting up with a group of girlfriends for a little beach vacay in Florida -- which means I've been amping up the workouts a little bit to get into "bikini-ready" shape. As luck would have it, back in January and February I became a bit of a GroupOn/LivingSocial junkie and bought several exercise-related deals. All of which seem to now be nearing their expiration dates -- so what better time to use them up? Thus far I've taken in a few yoga classes at Philly Power Yoga, an intro mat class at UrbanFront Pilates, and I've started a 30-day membership to Sweat Fitness. I still have to start my five-class pass at Body Cycle Studio (a spinning studio) and my ten-class pass at VersaFit Studio. Long story short, I don't think I'll get bored with my workout routine any time soon. And if going to all these different classes helps to tighten everything up, well, that's quite the bonus, too.

Meanwhile, in my book, nothing beats following up a hard workout with an ice-cold protein-rich smoothie. The inspiration for the following smoothie recipe is a "protein buster" smoothie I had on several occasions at Fuel -- but seeing as a smoothie is $4 a pop, I figured it'd probably be more economical to make my own version at home.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie (printer-friendly version)

makes one serving

3/4 C organic skim milk

1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder

1 banana, cut into slices

1/2 T organic peanut butter

8-10 ice cubes

1. Add the milk, protein powder, sliced banana, and peanut butter to a blender. Blend!

2. Drop in the ice cubes a couple at a time and blend after each addition. Continue adding ice cubes until the smoothie as at the desired thickness.

3. Pour into a cup and enjoy!

What's To Drink: Mango Coconut Smoothie

Since we had some leftover coconut milk from the stir fry recipe, I decided it'd make a good addition to a smoothie. I bought some frozen mango the other day to have another go at a mango lassi, but opted to use it in this new recipe as well. I think it came out rather well. Now I just need to get up the courage to make one of those smoothie recipes that include generous handfuls of spinach!

Mango Coconut Smoothie

makes 2+ servings

1 cup organic light coconut milk

1/2 cup frozen mango chunks

1/4 cup mango nectar

1 cup organic vanilla yogurt

raw sugar or honey [optional]

1. Blend together all of the ingredients. Add sugar or honey if necessary to sweeten.

What's To Drink: Mango Smoothie

The other day, D brought back Indian food from Taj Mahal, our favorite Indian restaurant in Fort Collins. The last time we hit up the local Indian restaurant here in Laramie, D and I both got a mango smoothie (mango lassi) with our meal. It was quite refreshing and tasty. So, I decided to see if I could re-create the smoothie concoction here at home. It appears that to make an authentic lassi, you need mango pulp -- I had to make due with mango nectar, which I happened to have on hand. I think the resulting smoothie was pretty spot on with what we had tasted before, though of course fresh fruit would always trump bottled juice.

Mango lassi

makes 2+ servings

1 cup organic vanilla yogurt

2 cups mango nectar

1/2 cup organic skim milk

1. Blend together all three ingredients. Pour into glasses (I was feeling fancy so poured myself one in a martini glass; D got his in a pint glass) and serve immediately.