Shakin'

Jilly, this post is for you :)

A few months back, I was reading Oh She Glows, and came across a link to Angela's Green Monster Movement.  Sounds scary, but Green Monsters are just smoothies made with a mix of fruits and veggies.  I was completely grossed out at first, but decided to give it shot.  I've tried a few different combos, but I like the basic "virgin" version the best.  I made one tonight for dinner, since I had lunch at 3:00 p.m. and wasn't very hungry. 

"The Virgin Green Monster"

• 1 cup of spinach (or more if you're feeling ambitious)
• 1 cup of milk (I use 1% but skim or soy works just as well)
• 1 tablespoon of flax (optional, but I always include it)
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 scoop of chocolate or vanilla whey (alternately, any cocoa power or chocolate sauce works)
• Ice (I used 6-8 cubes)

Directions:

So easy.  You just add everything together (minus the ice), and blend for about 15 seconds.  I like to add the spinach on the bottom of the cup, then the banana slices, followed by the flax and whey powder, and finally, the milk.  This way, the lighter ingredients are weighed down by the heavier items and everything gets mixed together well.

After the first round of blending, just add the ice and blend for another 15 seconds and waaaa-la!  Green Monster goodness :) 

Keeping in mind that it is a healthy shake, I think it tastes phenomenal and definitely fills me up for a few hours.  I'm even going to out on a limb and say that it takes like a chocolate banana milkshake.  You can totally sub stuff in and try other combos -- I've also tried using cherries instead of banana, which was delicious.

If you come up with something particularly good, please share :-)

Happy shakin'!

xoxo,

Olivia