Perhaps you’re a regular smoothie drinker, or perhaps you’re on a smoothie hiatus for the winter.  Either way, I was recently amazed at the way the right combo of spices can turn an otherwise ordinary banana and milk smoothie into a Chai masterpiece.

If you like chai and you like smoothies, this is your drink.

Vanilla Chia Breakfast Smoothie

Actually, this was my drink.  You are going to have to make your own.

I recently happened upon this chai latte coconut almond smoothie through my Internet (err, Pinterest) travels.  My version is definitely “inspired by” that recipe, but the beauty of this chai smoothie concept is that you can take cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and black pepper to chai-ify (new word!) any smoothie you might already make.

This is the container of spinach I typically buy from Wegmans.

Spinach Container

For $3.99 you get 3.5 (2 cup) servings.  $3.99 divided by 7 cups of spinach works out to be $0.53 cents per cup.  This is in line with the spinach price listed in the 44 Healthy Food Items Under $1.

Spinach and kale are among the dirty dozen – I rarely make an exception when it comes to buying leafy greens, I feel strongly about sticking with organic when it comes to spinach, lettuce, kale and the like.  Conventional greens are said to be highly sprayed, spinach alone is covered with 48 different pesticides and chemicals.  (ACK!)

This smoothie looked really good and chocolate-y, until I added two handfuls of spinach to it. Then it looked a bit closer in color to a pair of combat fatigues than a delicious chocolate drink.

Chocolate Spinach Smoothie

Oh well.  Drink up, soldier!

I gave the juicer a break today and made a green (brown) smoothie instead. Today’s combo was frozen banana, cocoa powder, cottage cheese, milk and spinach. It might not be pretty, but it tasted fine and went down the hatch without hesitation.  I only felt hesitation when I got the camera out.

A Few Juicy Details

March 25th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (8 Comments)

I am definitely on a green juice kick right now.  Let’s chat a little bit about juicing today.

We’ll start with a quick primer on the differences between fresh juice and smoothies because this is a question that many people have.

Fresh Juice

(This was Carrot Apple Ginger Juice – it’s one of my favorite non-green juice combos!)

Carrot Juice

Juicing extracts the liquid from fruits and vegetables, bringing much of the plant’s nutrients, vitamins and minerals along with it, while leaving the pulp behind.

Don’t Sweat It

March 24th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (2 Comments)

A few days ago I started to notice that I was getting a cold. Fortunately, it never turned into a full fledged cold (special thanks to my bag of tricks for when I feel a cold coming on!) but I was definitely not feeling like my usual self on on Thursday night, Friday and into Saturday.

A few days ago my dad (who is also a runner) asked if I was going to run the “Johnny’s Runnin’ of the Green” on Saturday, the annual St. Patrick’s Day race here in Rochester.

I said no, I was too busy with half marathon training – and besides, I’d rather be Eatin’ of the Green.

(I didn’t really say that last part.)

Fast forward to this morning, in the car and less than 2 minutes away from my yoga class, I discovered the road I was about to turn onto was closed – blockaded by cop cars with flashing lights and caution tape. It was then that I noticed all the runners dressed in green costumes, green shirts, hats and sparkly shamrock antennae.

Oh, Kale.

March 14th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (Comments Off on Oh, Kale.)

Day 14 of The Greener March Challenge has been a particularly green day – mostly thanks to this almost-past-its-prime kale that I’m trying to work through before I have to surrender it to the compost bucket.

NO, this glass is NOT my compost bucket, thankyouverymuch.

Late Green Breakfast

(I think those tulips are going to take a trip to the compost bucket sooner than my Best By March 12th baby kale is…)

50 Shades of Green

March 13th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (1 Comments)

Today’s green smoothie was sponsored by a bunch of baby kale that’s been hanging out in my fridge and was “Best By” – uhhh, yesterday.

Kale Best By March 12

Time to get a move on here with this thrice washed kale! I found some frozen peaches in the freezer and grabbed the container of peach kefir from the fridge – a peachy green smoothie was coming together in my mind.

Peach Kefir Kale and Peaches in Blender

And then it was coming together in my blender.

Some frozen sliced peaches, a banana, maybe a 1/2 c of peach kefir and plus a little milk too – and oh yeah, that better-yesterday baby kale.

Green Today, Green Tomorrow

March 11th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (4 Comments)

Greens To Go. Thank you Daylight Savings Time for NOT SAVING ME ANY TIME AT ALL.

Green Smoothie to Go

OK, that’s not true. I had plenty of time for breakfast this morning, I just ran out of time. This is why God invented Travel Mugs. For people like me who continue to underestimate how long it will take to get all of the children out the door on time.

Today’s green goodness was a blend of orange juice, spinach, cottage cheese, broccoli and frozen strawberries.  Much like this smoothie, except without the banana – only because I forgot it, not because I’m holding a grudge against bananas or anything.

A Greener Birthday

March 8th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (10 Comments)

My biggest gal turned 9 years old today. NINE! I guess that means I must have been 16 when she was born because I can’t possibly be a day over 25 myself.

(What?)

Ava’s birthday breakfast request was bagels, and so bagels it was.  After Deep Nutrition, bagels became more of a treat around here – this is why it was a birthday request. Bagels have been missed!

Some greens still managed to elbow their way into the birthday breakfast line up – a spinach and mushroom omelet with half a French Toast bagel (awesome!) and cream cheese.

Spinach and Mushroom Omelet