Good Morning!

A year ago I was feeling really sluggish and was facing a big semester ahead. Kind of similar to the spot I'm in now. Coffee wasn't the answer since more than a measly cup makes me uber jittery. After searching the web for healthy living ideas I came upon Angela Liddon's blog http://ohsheglows.com. I took a brief trial of the vegan life that spring and my body had never felt better. After a few months we realized I was likely lactose intolerant but gradually I added back in the eggs and meat. I had never given up fish completely, although we also discovered through this trial that I have a gastro-allergy to shellfish.

Although I made the decision not to remain vegan at this point in my life I still find OhSheGlows to be a fantastic source of recipes. The one thing that I did keep are the OhSheGlows "Green Monster Smoothies". Check-out the Green Monster Movement at http://greenmonstermovement.com/. Spinach in a breakfast smoothie? Yeah, it's good! And what's more is that when I regularly drink my 2 cups of spinach, banana, soy milk, and whatever else I throw in, I find that I really do have more energy without the unsettling jitters that coffee gives me. Sometimes I make a large smoothie and split it with Mike, who has commented on the energy boost it gives him at work in the morning.

You'll find that the possible combinations for your smoothie are endless. In the past I've added flax seed, kale, fresh berries, oranges.  Sometimes I add more ice or soymilk depending on the consistency I want that morning. Today I used a bunch of frozen berries so I omitted the ice. I make my smoothies in a plastic container with my KitchenAid immersion blender. But a food processor or blender would work fine too.

Part of my New Year's Resolution was to dial back on the coffee and get back into my Green Monster habit. Here's what I put in my Green Monster with this morning:

1 cup baby spinach (usually I do 2 cups but I ran out)
1 ripe banana
1 cup soymilk
1 cup mixed frozen berries

Served with a home made banana-nut muffin. Yummm!