All about that green

I’ll confess when everyone got into the green smoothie trend I was skeptical; I mean why would I willingly ingest something that color? After a long humid run in the middle of the summer I was relaxing on my sister deck and she whipped one up and I begrudgingly tried it. I think my life was forever changes that day, it was amazing and though I’m not sure exactly what she put in it, I went out and bought a blender that very day.

I may be wrong but I feel when I ran the Chicago Marathon last fall I felt so good through the end of my training and the race because of all the good nutrients I was now taking in on a daily basis. Over the winter I feel off the green smoothie wagon a bit because when its 3degrees out oatmeal seems like a much better idea!

My go to green smoothie is always some combination of Spinach, Almond Milk, bananas and Strawberries. I sometime by fresh fruit cut it up and freeze it for my smoothies but recently I have found the Wegmans just picked quickly frozen mixed fruit.... It is a combination of peach, mango, strawberry and pineapple and sooo yummy in my smoothies. I’ve also started to branch out and include Kale and my day just seems right after I ingest this green goodness

Since My New Year’s Resolution to become more fit I’ve been weight training 2-3 times a week. My goal is to tone up and increase my muscle mass I’ve been including more protein in my diet. I’ve never been a big protein person but I haven’t met a sugary carb I would pass up ( I’m looking at you Marshmallow peeps) So once I detoxed from my sugar rush I started trying protein powders for shakes.

In the past I’ve bought store brand protein powders because they are cheaper, or tried free samples given out at race expos and have always thought protein power had to taste gross. I’m not a fan of watery, chalky powder and that’s seems like all I found and all I believe there was. Into my life comes Quest Protein Powder, now I have been a huge fan of quest bars and usually have one in my purse for an emergency snack so I was curious about the powder. This stuff is life changing

I first tried the vanilla milkshake flavor and I really thought I was drinking one, it is on the think side (just like a milkshake) even when made with just water but that’s what I loved about it. Good bye watery shakes (Quest is a Protein Blend of Whey Protein Isolate, Casein. The Casein is responsible for the thicker texture and has a slower release then the Whey which gives a constant flow of amino acids that could last for a few hours). 

Then I got the idea to add the Vanilla to my Green smoothie and these two complement each other so well they should just up and get married. I now have a delish smoothie that really taste so much like a treat I think I am cheating on my clean eating!

Quest also makes unflavored protein for baking; I will definitely have to try that next

How do you feel about Green Smoothies?

Thick or thin protein shakes better?