Yummy Blended Drinks!

Hey guys! I know this is celebrate your uniqueness weak, but I got a little side-tracked! Being reminded that my waist size is now significantly over 32" (which is what it should be for my height), I am now more motivated to eat healthier and exercise--also my New Year's Resolution. But it's been so hard to get going. I've been so exhausted! Ok enough excuses.

Anyway, I'll get to the point. For those of us women who work, there is nothing worse then coming home to then continue standing on our feet and cooking! Try looking for more one-pot meals and simply your life. Better yet, make your own raw veggie/fruit drinks in the morning and skip the veggie side for the evening. If you are like me and hate chopping up vegetables, preparing them and then cooking them (which makes meal prep longer, makes more dishes to wash, and reduces the amount of benefit from the veggies); then consider blended drinks. I have been doing that lately. On the days when I do it, I have instant energy. And oh man, for someone that gets quite overwhelmed with cooking and making sure I get enough water or fruits and veggies throughout the day, blended drinks free me of so much mind space! This is one of those major time and mind-space savers that I've ever come across. I make smoothies and a drink my family likes to call "fiber drink." Many friends of the family have tried this drink including several picky eaters. At first it was weird to most people, but almost all of them have slowly come around to enjoying it. My husband and entire family loves it. Fruit and veggie drinks are the quickest, easiest, hassle free way to get large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables into my body. So I want to share the recipes with you:

Smoothies: Whatever fruit you have available (I use frozen)
                   Yogurt
                   Whey Protein (if you are allergic to milk, try soy protein) optional
                   A little water (to get your blender going)

                   Crushed Ice (unless you are using frozen fruit which will make your drink cold and icy anyway)

Fiber Drink: 1 banana
                     Handful of Pineapple
                     Handful of baby carrots or 1 carrot
                     1 Stalk Celery (we omit)
                     A little water
                     Crushed Ice (The secret to a great fiber drink is lots of ice!)

*We got this recipe from a holistic doctor our family frequented. He specially formulated this concoction, claiming that they all work together to remove the body of toxins. Actually he says 1/2 an apple but we use 1. Anyway, the pineapple breaks up our muscles to allow toxins to move through and that's all I remember of what each fruit/veggie does :)

I am going to try Dr. Oz's Green Drink as well or I may just play around with adding spinach or parsley to the fiber drink. Once you get going on these drinks, you can save less time with dinner by skipping on veggie prep and baking. You can then proceed to enjoy your evening! The girl in the link below has already tried Dr. Oz's drink and made a few modifications based on what she had. This is what she has to say about it:

Trying Dr. Oz's Green Drink 

Here's Dr. Oz talking about his blended drink and what to eat before and after exercising. It was an informative clip for me.


Dr. Oz's Green Drink

If you end up trying any of these, do let me know how utterly fabulous it is to save time and worry with these simple healthy drinks! Also, other yummy blended drink recipes appreciated!

Picture 1:  http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1366&bih=646&tbm=isch&tbnid=MxF5nNWYbQDzFM:&imgrefurl=http://momsgoinggreenblog.com/%3Fp%3D1118&docid=K4M-zGGi_2uKhM&imgurl=http://momsgoinggreenblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Dr-Oz-Green-Drink-Recipe.jpg&w=301&h=274&ei=VawHT-T4JcPi0QG35cGxAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=767&vpy=149&dur=413&hovh=138&hovw=159&tx=98&ty=115&sig=106167271823105827035&page=1&tbnh=138&tbnw=159&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0

Picture 2: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5262203493301676232