Fruit & Vegetable Smoothie

Let's just get something out there right now--I'm not a big smoothie fan. That probably stems from the fact that I'm not a big fruit fan (shame, I know). I think I can count the fruits I enjoy on one hand. That being said, smoothies aren't my bff. They're usually too fruity & far too sweet for my taste (now if they are made with chocolate, that's another story, but I think they call those malts). So, I kind of feel like a poser sharing this smoothie recipe, but I have to!

Recently, we had a friend stay with us from Duluth & she shared this smoothie recipe with me. She's been on this amazing health journey (my words, not hers) & she's lost some weight & has been making all kinds of healthy life choices, so when she shared this recipe, I listened. I adapted it a little bit to fit our "no sugar" thing, but it's still incredible. It's not too sweet & it's a bit earthy. And best of all, I get 4 servings of fruits, 1 serving of leafy greens, & 2 servings of protein (1 pro-biotic). I wish I would have had this recipe when I was pregnant & trying to cram all that food in (I had a serious log that included daily: 2 eggs, 4 servings of dairy/calcium, 6 servings of protein, 2 servings of leafy greens, 5 servings of grains, veggies or fruits, 2 servings of vitamin c foods, 3 servings of fats or oils, 1 serving of a vitamin a food & they couldn't overlap i.e. milk couldn't count for a protein & dairy!)

If you can't buy the fruits in season, you can play it safe & purchase them frozen. They are picked & frozen in their peak, so they aren't as much of a gamble (one reason why fruits frustrate me!)

What you need (you can obviously swap any fruit/veg, but I like this combo)

1/2 banana

1/4 avocado

5-6 strawberries

1/2 cup peaches

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (we like Fage, but you could also make your own to save $$$)

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons ground flax seed (ground flax has higher nutritional value)

2 cups spinach or other leafy green (I've tried kale & swiss chard, too)