Ahh, Smoothies

I'm a big fan of Ellie Krieger. Ellie has a show on The Food Network, and her focus is on healthy eating with a very realistic approach. She apparently is a former model-turned nutritionist, so when you first tune in you might expect something different. But I find her very down-to-earth, and most of her recipes that I've tried are quite good. Her ideas are usually simple and just basic common sense, but for some reason when it comes to eating right many people have trouble applying common-sense.

So after reading her book Small Changes, Big Results: A 12-Week Action Plan to a Better Life one of the changes I made was to always eat breakfast. When I was younger, breakfast was totally optional. Even as a kid, the only times I can remember sitting down and eating breakfast at home were weekends. In college it was definitely only a weekend activity. I guess I just got into the bad habit of not eating breakfast and convinced myself I wasn't hungry that early.

Even though I now always eat breakfast, I'm not a big morning person. I'd rather sleep for 15 more minutes than have the time to prepare a meal before I leave for work. So that's why I am completely hooked on the breakfast smoothie. It has become a morning ritual for me that I am so addicted to it even carries over to weekends, when I actually would have the time to cook.

My basic recipe consists of: plain, non-fat yogurt; some juice (pomegranate is my current favorite, although OJ is fine too); 1/2 of a frozen banana; frozen blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries; some flax meal; and some honey (Weil Bee-ings is yummy). I just toss it all into the blender, no measuring, and puree for a couple of minutes. Just long enough to get my shoes and coat on. Pour it into an insulated mug, insert straw, and I'm out the door.

I've been drinking a smoothie every day for just over a month, and I swear it really has made a difference in how I feel. It might be partially in my head, but if it works who cares?