Mango, Banana and Coconut Milk Smoothie

Mangoes are cheap this time of year, and our family loves them, so whenever I want to switch up my smoothie routine, I reach for a lovely mango to complement my banana staple.

If you don't know how to cut a mango, check out Martha Stewart's easy-peasy one-minute tutorial.  You will not believe how easy it is, and you will no longer pass by these lovely delicious treats because they intimidate you.  You will best the mango!

http://www.marthastewart.com/967631/how-cut-mango

 Super simple, right?  Place all your mango in your Bullet, or whatever mangler you've got on your kitchen counter, add your coconut milk, and whir!

 Your end result will be good for you, delicious and eye-appealing, too.  Mango makes things rich and thick, so you will have to adjust your liquid to your liking.

Enjoy, and as always, moving your body and sweating your butt off should be a priority and goal every single day of your life.

As my grandfather used to say, "Use it or lose it!"

Just Because It Looks Gross, Doesn't Mean it Can't be Delicious

My smoothie today is so delicious, that I had to write about it before I exercise.

But it doesn't look delicious.

I told you about spirulina last time, but I didn't tell you expressly that it changes the color of everything into this shade of lovely green.

While it doesn't bother me, I'm 45 - I've taught myself not to be influenced by the unappealing look of some foods, but most people and kids don't.  In the case of spirulina, this would be a huge loss.

Three dates, a couple of tablespoons of hemp seeds, teaspoon of spirulina, two bananas and vanilla coconut milk?

You'll think you're drinking a coconutmilkshake, I swear to God.  It is so good, it's like a dessert.

I'm going to finish mine and hit my home gym for a cardio sculpt session with the gals at The Firm.

Join me today, and leave your comments below how you did!

Tighten up!

Today's Smoothie

I have a smoothie most every day of my life.  It's usually the first food I put in my body, so I like to make it as simply powerful as possible.  I like to keep things simple.

My experience has been that bananas make anything palatable in a smoothie and let's face it, spirulina is not palatable on its own.  I mean, I can choke down anything that's good for me, but if you can mask a nasty taste with something that's amazing for you anyway, I'm all for it.

So, into the bullet two bananas go, along with the remnants of a golden apple that my baby took two teeny bites from and left for me to rub with lemon and add to the bag of partially-eaten kid apples.  I cut off the eaten part, and chopped the rest into chunks, adding seeds and all.

Currently I buy my spirulina in bulk from our truly local health food store, Earth's Natural Treasures, so I recycled an old cayenne pepper jar and carefully puff-poured the spirulina in.  Just a little, perhaps half a teaspoon - the stuff is powerful and the taste can overpower everything.  Today, I knew I was going to be exercising, so I added two scoops of the superfood protein and used Coconut Water instead of plain water.

As always, spin that sucker for 30 seconds or less, and there you are!  A lovely smoothie that is sweet, delicious and secretly super-spirulina good for you!

Super Healthy Grapefruit Pops in a Snap!

I can't take credit for the idea of making these super-delicious, easy treats.  My sweet little Tristan came around the corner with the almost-empty container of pink grapefruit slices that they conned me into getting while we were at the grocery store, and said, "Mom, can we make popsicles with this?" 

I say "conned" because I think they're on the pricey side (almost $7 for the jar shown), and they're packed in light syrup.  I try to stay away from things packed in syrup on the whole, but this particular trip to the grocery store not only did they wear me down, but upon closer inspection, I found that it was extra light syrup, and they are kosher!  Win-win, in the cart they went.

The boys like grapefruit, so I knew they would go fast, but I didn't have any idea the jar wouldn't last 24 hours. So when Tristan came around the corner with a fantastic idea of what to do with the leftovers, I was more than happy to oblige.

As he watched, I filled up the popsicle trays with the juice, getting a brilliant idea of my own.  I smiled a sneaky little smile as he went back around the corner, making sure he was gone before I went in for the piece de resistance.

I took the last little bits of grapefruit floating around in the juice and popped one piece into each of the popsicle holders.  I giggled and did a little dance, anticipating with joy the looks on their little faces when they saw their surprise within a surprise.

Because it has been so infernally hot, it took hours for these babies to freeze.  It probably didn't help that I had three anxious little people taking turns "checking" on them.  I stuck the pops far back in the freezer, that way they couldn't see their surprises when they "checked".

I took them out of the refrigerator and ran them under some cold water to help pop them out without taking out the stick.  Worked like a charm, so I took one out and called Tristan.

"Tristan!  I have a surprise for you!"

He came flying out of his room, stopping short in front of my outstretched hand.  I will never forget the way his already huge, long-lashed eyes absolutely lit up and his mouth made a little "O" when he realized what was inside his popsicle treat!

"Whoa!  Mom!  That was a great idea!"

And it was.