Good morning! Why not try a healthy breakfast smoothie today?

I’m going to share my breakfast smoothie with you this morning. I hate to call it a “weight loss” smoothie because I refuse to play into society’s paradoxical obsession with weight loss, however, I have to tell you this smoothie has helped me lose weight. One of my relatives has recently lost a lot of weight. She looks fabulous but, more importantly, she looks healthy.  I asked her the question I’m sure everyone asks her: “how’d you do it?” She simply replied “I cut out bread”. Now its not that simple. She also got a super-active summer job working on a farm which was the driving factor behind her lifestyle change. Once she started seeing results she started eating better; a little motivation goes a long way! Cutting carbs was huge in the late 90s and early 2000’s but we all came to the quick realization that it’s not quite that simple. Fad diets come and go and TBH I’m not a nutritionist so I’m not going to get into it here but her amazing transformation inspired me to stop eating toast for breakfast and start exploring other healthy options! The truth is a well-balanced diet rich in natural, whole foods and low in pre-made, preservative dense products is best. Personally, I love fruits and vegetables and try to eat as much local, seasonal and organic food as possible - but that’s another post.  Whatever your healthy diet is I think this smoothie is a great addition to any breakfast selection!

Hamilton Beach Blender

To get started I bought myself a small Hamilton Beach smoothie blender. I didn't want to invest until I knew whether or not I would follow throughw ith my smoothie routine. If you haven't noticed, smoothies are all the rage right now! Even my bank teller asked me this week if I "blend". The HB blender isn't the strongest blender in the world but it’s the perfect size and it does the trick for now. A Magic Bullet is a comparable option – someday I’d love to get something stronger.

The Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 0% plain organic yogurt
• Fresh or frozen fruit of your choice
• Kale
• 1 banana

This is a simple smoothie because of the limited ingredients. You can get as fancy as you want and add-in whatever “extras” you want (for example, a lot of people put ground flax in their smoothies). If you have a sweet tooth try adding a tiny splash of honey for a little natural sweetness! Not a fan of honey? Try a touch of vanilla! If you're not on the kale bandwagon yet the kale can be substituted for spinach. I sometimes switch it up anyways to keep things interesting! You will have to do a little experimenting to find out how much kale you want to put into the smoothie to get a texture you like (it can bechanging the texture. If you’re not a fan fo kale substitute it with a handful of spinach. 

Directions: 

It’s too easy! I put my yogurt in first, then frozen berries (already missing the fresh, local berries from the summer :( ). I blend until well blended before adding kale and banana. You can also add ice if you want your smoothie to be a little colder and more textured!

About Yogurt:

Yogurt is an excellent source of calcium, several vitamins, protein and "good for you" active bacterial cultures (depending on the brand! do your research) that all help to start your day off right! Without the unneccessary added sugars in flavoured yogurt, plain yogurt is just plain good for you! Yep, that was a terrible pun :)

About Kale:

According to Worlds Healthiest Foods kale has risk-lowering benefits for at least five types of cancer: bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate. According to Mind Body Green kale is rich in antioxidants and has many anti-inflammatory benefits for people with conditions like arthritis and asthma. Kale is low in calories, high in fibre and has zero fat. Kale is high in iron, vitamin K, A & C, calcium and is a great detox food that also lowers cholesterol. Kale supports a healthy immune system, blood clotting and bone health. Kale has more iron per calorie than beef! Note of caution: always buy organic kale because traditionally grown kale is on the “dirty dozen” list of foods grown with the most pesticides and toxins (click here to read more about the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen) 

About Bananas:

According to Worlds Healthiest Foods, bananas are a high energy potassium packed power food! Being the highest food source of potassium bananas have been proven to lower blood pressure. Bananas are awesome for cardivascular health, bone health, protect our bodies from ulcers, protect eyesight, promote kidney health! If you're still not convinced check out Food Matter's 25 Powerful Reasons to Eat Bananas! 

I've heard it's best not to eat the same thing everyday so once you get on to the smoothie trend you can change things up and keep it interesting! Mix up your ingredients and start googling more advanced recipes. I promise you'll be hooked!