Green = Go!
An energizing green smoothie to start the day!
Into the blender went:
- 1 frozen banana
- Frozen mango
- 1 cup strawberry Greek yogurt
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 2 handfuls fresh spinach
- Enough almond milk to get everything moving
Plus some fresh raspberries straight out of the container and a handful of nuts on the side.
The Secret Keeper Update
Last night I finally started to get into The Secret Keeper.
I’ve been slowly plugging away at the novel, reading about 20 pages at a time, but the story finally hooked me in last night and I read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.
Truth be told, I was hoping The Fault in Our Stars would win as this month’s book club selection. (The book I’ve wanted to win for our PBF book club has actually only one two or three times so far.) The Secret Keeper got off to a slow start for me, but now that I’m 200 pages in, I am completely immersed in the story.
Now I’m planning to spend the morning reviewing a whole bunch of notecards for my NASM exam before heading out for yet another BodyPump class around lunchtime. It has been so nice to have the class back in my life again, even if it is short lived!
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I know, I know, I know how healthy it is to make a smoothie full of spinach. I just can’t do green drinks. I tried juicing some veggies and could barely chug the glass down. Not sure why, but green freaks me out. Maybe if that smoothie had some cocoa powder blended in I’d be more likely to drink it. 🙂
That smoothie reminds me of Slime from Nickelodeon! I am sure it tasted good though! Happy Friday!
I’ve got a morning of studying ahead of me, too. Except I’m studying for my group fitness exam. Go figure the new gym I’m training at doesn’t require a group fitness cert to teach their classes….but, it’ll still be nice to have the creds 🙂
Have fun at pump, Julie!
oh god, haha it took 200 pages to get immersed? We’ll see how this one goes… And I agree, I wanted The Fault In Our Stars too! Added it to my “to read” list!
lol! i really like it now though, for whatever that is worth! 😀
I think I need to get on the smoothie train. They always look so good but I never think about making one at home.
Despite the sub-zero temps up here, I’ve been craving smoothies like no other! Possibly because I finally tried PB2 in mine, and now I may be hooked.
YUMMMM! I want that smoothie and I also want to go to Body Pump! I moved last year and there are no gyms and definitely no Body Pump. That used to be my favorite class! I told my fiance that wherever we move next has to have a nice gym! 🙂
I have been loving smoothies lately even though its freezing in Illinois! I really enjoyed The Secret Keeper – I emailed you my review yesterday.
Have fun at BodyPump – that’s where I’m headed this morning too!
I’ve been bummed I haven’t been able to join the book club yet, my library has been out of the book every time and I just don’t have the cash to buy the book, especially if there’s a chance I won’t like it… But seeing as I have 7 books (!!) on my night stand I’m trying to read, I shouldn’t try to give myself 1 more book to read… 😉
I love spinach filled smoothies too! It sounds silly, but I just get joy out of seeing the smoothie be green, but have no spinach taste! 😉
I always see smoothie recipes and decide they’re too much work but they’re really not! I should definitely get on the smoothie making bandwagon. I’m thinking a chocolate one would taste good…
Yum I love green smoothies! It’s currently hovering around “feels like 1 degree” in NYC so smoothies haven’t been something I’ve made, and sadly my blender is terrible. But when I was visiting my family over the holidays I used their high powered blender to make all kinds of deliciousness!
That book is on my list, but I haven’t been reading (books) much. There is hockey on at night and elliptical time is when I read my magazines. I need to get back to my books. I have a goal of 20 books this year.
The Kidless Kronicles
Yeah! for more bodypump!!! I suppose it is a good and bad thing that the book you want doesn’t win. 1. you get to read books that you might not have read otherwise and 2. you probably still read the book you wanted to win anyway – so more fun reading!
I love green smoothies! They always make me feel so energized and invigorated!
It’s been too long since I had a good green monster smoothie, definitely on the agenda for this afternoon!
It’s a little chilly here for smoothies today, but there’s always tomorrow! 🙂
It took me awhile to get into that book too but once I did, I was also hooked – It’s a great story!!!
I’m still in the “slowly plugging away at the novel, reading about 20 pages at a time” stage, so I’m glad to hear it does hook you in eventually!
Hi Julie!
I am a long time reader, first time commenter. I am just starting a healthy diet and exercise routine. I would really like to use some of your recipes (mostly smoothies) but I don’t have protein powder or any knowledge about it. I live in a VERY small town, so I would have to order it online, but I was wondering if you could suggest a few so that I could start with them. Thanks so much!!
I’m not Julie but I know of some awesome protein powder! BSN makes a delicious protein powder, their chocolate milkshake is one of my faves! I order it off Amazon.
hi sarah! so far my favorites are gnc 100% whey vanilla cream protein powder and designer whey extreme milk chocolate. i never drink them alone, so i cannot talk about how they taste by themselves, but i LOVE them both in smoothies!
I have not started The Secret Keeper yet so I think I will wait for your review to see if it’s worth reading! I hope that The Fault in Our Stars is up for a choice again next month!!
i’ve been really into green smoothies lately, too! i’ve been dumping everything from my fridge in them: bananas, celery, oranges, spinach, kale, carrots, plus cinnamon! surprisingly good! and sometimes i add raw cacao powder because there are a ton of nutrients in it… it turns the smoothie a really ugly brown color but tastes great! 🙂
celery!? can you taste it!?
haha i think banana negates the taste of a lot of vegetables. when my hubs tasted it, he said “all i can taste is celery!” i didn’t think it was THAT noticeable 🙂
Did my first Body Pump class this morning at 5:30; thanks for the motivation. Shoulders and bootay are screaming.
yahoo! hope you continue to enjoy the class!
I voted for Fault in our Stars too and went ahead and read it anyway. It’s very good! I’m eager to hear what everyone thinks of Secret Keeper. 🙂
I LOVE having a protein smoothie for my lunch. I have heard from many sources that adding spinach makes a smoothie uber healthy. Does it affect the taste? I use berries & protein powder & a touch of agave & love the flavor. I’m afraid the spinach will alter the taste. Do you use fresh spinach leaves or frozen spinach?
I use what ever green is in my refrigerator. I used kale this morning. It does alter the taste slightly, but I make up for any flavor changes with fruit. I’ve never used frozen greens, though. Bananas are usually a great way to overcome any flavor change. Have fun experimenting with your smoothies!
i definitely don’t taste the spinach! like sammy said, the bananas do a great job of covering up the spinach flavor. protein powder is great for that, too! definitely try it out! start small w/ a small handful – i bet you’ll like it!! 🙂
A bright green smoothie sounds delicious right now! I’m so happy I tried them awhile back, I was skeptical at first but with the right combination of ingredients, you truly can’t taste the spinach at all. Now it’s my favorite way to eat veggies!
I’ve been stuck on having yogurt messes for breakfast lately, but smoothies have been a pretty regular thing around lunch time. Love them!
PS – so jealous that you have such lovely sunshine there!
Isn’t it awful when it takes a book that long to get interesting? I always wonder why I’m wasting my time when there are so many wonderful books to read!
I read Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden. It started off the same way, a little slow, but it finally picked up and I couldn’t put it down! I would highly recommend.
I was hoping for The Fault in our Stars, too 😉 I think you should put it in the poll again next time!
I agree with you, the book is a little slow at first. I’m not completely hooked yet, but I am enjoying it. That’s funny that the book you’ve wanted to win has only won a couple of times! The book that I’ve wanted to win has only not won once, since I’ve been participating and strangely enough the one I didn’t really want to read {The Happiness Project} has been my favorite so far!
i really liked the happiness project – and i didn’t want that one to win! 🙂
Yum! I always add strawberry yogurt to my smoothies too! I don’t know what it is about bananas, strawberry yogurt and spinach but they definitely go together really well!
The Fault in Our Stars is a great, quick read. I just finished it last night & loved the writing/sarcastic humor. 😉
I started reading the Secret Keeper for your book club but I couldn’t get into it either so I gave up. I might give it another try now though knowing it gets better!
it took me a little while to get into, but it definitely picks up! i can’t wait to read it again tonight!
How fair you are to actually pick the book others choose instead of picking the one you want. I guess that is a good way to force yourself to read books that you normally wouldn’t. Do you usually get around to reading the one you wanted?
i have a whole list of books i want to read that were never selected like unbroken, the fault in our stars and more! i hope to get around to reading them soon! i may also bring some of the “losing” books back for us to vote on again since i know some other people were hoping to read some of them as well.
Do you have any tips for freezing fruit? I’ve been freezing fresh pumpkin purée in ice cube trays then bagging it, and once in awhile the same for mashed bananas, but wondered if there is an easier or different way?
I think with most fruit, there’s no real trick. I like your pumpkin idea, though! The only fruit that I know if the requires a little effort to freeze is pears. They need to be soaked in an ice bath with lemon juice before being frozen.
i usually buy frozen strawberries & other fruits in bulk b/c they’re cheaper, but i freeze my own bananas. i just peel them and slice them and freeze them in a big ziploc bag. like sammy said, they can usually just be frozen as-is!
Since buying a juicer a month ago, my husband, kids and I are all about the healthy juices but they just do NOT fill me up so I started adding protein powder and chia seeds. I credit you for getting me started on the protein shakes and adding spinach! My husband just did 3 days on just juice and I made him guest blog about it http://www.colorushealthy.com 😉
The Fault in Our Stars is s great book! I just finished it up and loved it…it got me to laugh out loud, and cry, and it was lovely. You should definitely read it!
i have my name on the wait list at my library!
I hate when books have a slow pull! I like to get pulled in right from the start, or else it’s tough to keep at it!
The picture of the green smoothie looks awesome, but what really caught my eye is the sunny beach in the background! I’ll have some of that for breakfast please. It’s 20 degrees and about to snow in Richmond, VA. Ugh.
Julie, I hope you give Fault in Our Stars a read even though it didn’t win this month’s choice. I am a voracious reader and I can honestly say that book is one of the best I’ve read in a while. It is unbelievably touching and impossible to put down. I can’t recommend it enough!
Those are some of the best looking raspberries that I have seen in awhile. Seriously, where in the world did you get those?? 😉 I love raspberries, but they are so expensive right now so I have not been splurging on them as often as I would like. It makes me sad :(.
costco!
What kind of protein powder do you use?
it varies but lately i’ve been using GNC 100% whey vanilla cream protein powder.
I’m loving protein smoothies lately but I just haven’t been able to bite the bullet and throw greens in just yet- I’m such a chicken!
It’s been freezing here in Virginia, but I still have smoothies every morning! They just taste so good to me!
We don’t have BodyPump at my gym but we do have a Strength class that’s a lot like it–I love it!
I’ve been loving green smoothies! So refreshing and satisfying…And one question for ya Julie–what does bodypump look like? Like, are the reps super high and forever going for example?
I love green monsters! They satisfy every single time!
I love green smoothies! I have a mango Ive been wanting to use this week!
Are you doing the newest release of Body Pump? I have done it a few times and the second instructor had us do the squats that are in the lunge track (love the new lunge track, btw) with the plates folded back over our shoulders in front of our body instead of holding a bar. It was the first time I’ve seen it done that way and wasn’t sure if it was just her idea or what. Anyway, I really liked it. I felt it in my legs so much more. Is that how they are doing it there?