One Monster of a Smoothie

Last week was a beast! I had to put in sixty hours at the office, and to make matters worse I tweaked my back on Friday morning while leaning towards the mirror to put on some mascara. So, Friday's fifteen hour shift was made all the more painful by persistent back spasms. 

I knew that Thursday, Friday and Saturday would be hectic, so I made a concerted effort to load up on as many healthy meals as possible during the first half of the week. I packed big salads to enjoy with lunches the first three days of the week, and incorporated plenty of grilled and steamed vegetables with dinners. On Friday and Saturday, though, there was no time for a sit down meal. I grazed on the leftovers from each event that I was managing: so, my diet consisted of leftover bagels, cold pizza, cheese and crackers, and bar snacks. I guesstimated the points plus values I used up on junk, and the results were pretty grim. I'm not sure I consumed a single power food over a two day period!

Cheese balls

On Sunday morning, I slept late. It felt great. Despite getting plenty of sleep, I still felt sluggish when I rolled out of bed. The week had been challenging mentally, physically and nutritionally. While the extra rest had helped with my mental and physical ailments, I was still in need of a nutritional boon. I decided that it might be the perfect time to try out one of the Green Monster smoothies that I had read about on multiple food blogs.

Everything about these smoothies is amazing! It's amazing that they taste great, despite looking like swamp. It's amazing that they almost instantly elevate your mood. And it's amazing how many vitamins and minerals you can blend up and fit into a glass. Now, despite being heavy on the fruits and vegetables, these smoothies aren't without points plus values. The number of points involved will depend on what you choose to include.

Green Monster Smoothie (recipe below)

Green  Monster Smoothie

Servings: 1 Serving Size: about 2 cups Points Plus*: 7 pts
(adapted from Skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients 

1 cup Fat free milk 
1/2 medium Banana, fresh frozen
1/2 cup Strawberries, fresh frozen
1 cup Chopped spinach, fresh frozen
1 tsp Reduced fat peanut butter
3 oz Fat free Greek yogurt

Directions 

Blend ingredients together until smooth. It's best to put the milk in first, and then layer the rest of your ingredients on top. Since I used frozen fruits and vegetables, I used the ice crush function first and then the milkshake function blended it all together. I served over ice.

Today's version: homemade coconut berry popsicle, milk, spinach, strawberry & cucumber

*PointsPlus values calculated using the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers website