Welcome to Smoothie Saturdays!

Good morning, all. Welcome to my weekend series, Smoothie Saturdays! Just like my Fitness Fridays series I'll be sharing how I make my delicious and healthy smoothies every other week. I am so excited for this series because it revolves around my favorite past time, eating. 😄

As I'm slowly adopting healthier habits, I find that I still crave nourishment that tastes good. I love eating fruits, and where I live, mango is where it's at! Us Virgin Islanders love our mango, and I'm constantly craving anything mango-flavored. But even though mango season isn't for another few months, I recently got the idea to make healthy smoothies to supplement my junk food cravings. Instead of eating processed sweets I decided that eating fruits or blending them into smoothies would be a much better replacement. 

Either I got my fruits from the freezer aisle at the store or from someone who had picked them for my family to eat. Because I'm still experimenting with different smoothie combinations, my base is quite simple: fruit, a bowl of spinach and some honey for sweetness. 

What made starting these smoothies especially awesome was getting to finally use the NutriBullet that my aunt purchased a long time ago but never got around to using. This machine is WAY better than a regular blender because it's so quick and compact, and it pre-portions your smoothies with the different cup sizes that come with it. 

 

What I also love about the NutriBullet is that it comes with handles that can be screwed onto the cup and lids for storage. The set actually didn't come with a spout attachment for drinking, so I ordered two from online for about $6. I didn't take a picture of all of the parts but this is what the entire set looks like. 

To make each "smoothie session" run smoothly, I like to portion out all the fruits that I buy into sandwich bags and store them in the freezer. 

All of the fruits in the picture above that you may not be able to see include pineapple, watermelon, cherries, banana, apple and avocado. Every time I make a smoothie, the very first ingredient that I add is a huge helping of spinach. I never do a smoothie without adding greens or vegetables because it would defeat the purpose of making healthy smoothies. Then I add at least a cup of water because as I add the fruits, I don't want the mixture to become too thick. 

I give the spinach a blend by itself to make room for the fruit. I always love watching the vibrant green come through as it blends! 😍 

After blending the spinach I add my fruit. Pictured here is a mixture of mango, mixed berries and a whole diced apple. Lastly, I drizzle some honey for a little added sweetness and blend that all together. Look at that color now! 

And my smoothie is done! This process takes me less than ten minutes to complete and the cleanup is even better. Another advantage of using my NutriBullet instead of a regular blender is that I don't have to transfer the smoothie into a smaller cup because it's already in a cup. I just screw on the drinking spout and store it in the fridge. I like to either drink my smoothie from the spout or from this cute little mason jar cup my sister gave me. Every smoothie lasts me about three days and I usually drink it with my breakfast or as a snack.

I began experiencing the benefits of these smoothies almost immediately! Let's just say my digestive system really needed the nutrients. They also gave me more energy and kept me fuller longer, which made me feel less hunger between meals. It's a great way to get my daily helping of fruit in a much more convenient way.

As spring approaches and brings other fruits into season, I'll be looking forward to coming up with even more yummy and healthy concoctions. I hope this post gave you some inspiration to create your own healthy smoothies, and feel free to share what ingredients you use to make your own smoothies.

Thanks for reading and I'll be back with another recipe on the next Smoothie Saturdays. Have a great weekend everyone!