Post Workout Shake

At the gym, I'm called "the smoothie lady", "slushy girl", and whatever combo you can put together involving a female who makes protein shakes. Most of the time, it's the people who already know my name who call me this. It's just an endearing way of referring to me. At least that is what I like to think ;)

So since I'm the smoothie queen, I thought I would share with you my SUPER POWER HEALTHY POST WORKOUT SMOOTHIE recipe.  This is my own creation. I've got nutrition facts and everything for you. You're welcome.

1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen berries
1-2 cups frozen kale
1 cup unsweetened coconut almond milk
1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 scoop Green Superfood chocolate flavored greens powder (you can get this at Swanson's)
1/2 scoop Muscletech chocolate protein powder
1 tsp glutamine
1 tsp Coconut Oil

Blend it all together for about 5 minutes. I've read that you should blend smoothies for at least 2-5 minutes otherwise the fibrous cell walls won't adequately open and be available for absorption. Also it will keep you fuller longer. But I've also read you shouldn't use frozen fruit because ice makes it harder for you to digest food. Whatever. I think we don't really need to get too technical here.

I buy giant bags of kale from Costco and I freeze them so that they last. Otherwise I find that kale will go bad too quickly before I can eat it all. I also find that by peeling, halving and freezing bananas is a great way to keep them fresh for use in smoothies. I don't know how many times I have had bananas get too ripe because we didn't eat them fast enough. So those are a couple of my little "tricks" I've learned. It's a nice way to get your money's worth from super nutritious food. And if you have it around, and it's convenient, you'll use it.

And now for the best part: I add cayenne pepper, cinnamon and a few drops of liquid stevia to it and BAM! Really, really great flavor. Plus, we've all read about the benefits of cayenne pepper and cinnamon with regards to our appetite.

This gives me almost two large glasses full. So it's perfect to share with a workout buddy.

Here is the nutritional information - as per MyPlate:

Calories: 437
Fat: 13.1
Carbs: 49.2
Fiber: 9.1
Protein: 33.8
Sugar: 17.9

Macronutrient ratios:

Carbs: 43%
Protein: 29%
Fat: 28%