Green Monster Smoothie

I read a lot of healthy/health-oriented blogs and they always post recipes that frankly don't sound like they'd taste good. Awhile ago, kale chips were making a splash on the food blog scene. I was skeptical, but after months of reading rave reviews, I finally caved and made kale chips. Turns out all those people were right! Kale chips rock.

Recipes for green monster smoothies have been making the rounds for awhile now, probably pre-kale chips. I'm sure I'm not alone when I question how good a smoothie can be with spinach in it. I mean, spinach? In my smoothie? I'm all for eating spinach salads but the thought of drinking it just doesn't seem right. But if all these bloggers were right about the kale chips, maybe they're right about these green monster smoothies.

Every Sunday morning, I go to yoga. That one hour of yoga helps me realign/recenter myself each week. It'd been two weeks since the last yoga class so I was really looking forward to this morning. Post-yoga, I was feeling great (it's hard not to!) and decided today was the day to get my monster on. 

Ingredients (serves 2, makes ~20 oz)

1 c skim milk

1/2 c fage 0% (greek yogurt)

2 tbsp ground flax seed

1 tbsp almond butter (optional)

1 frozen banana, sliced*

4 handfuls of spinach

*Tip: Your life will be easier if you slice the banana first and then freeze.

In a blender, add milk, greek yogurt, flax seed, almond butter, banana and spinach.
Blend until smooth. 

Gasp. It's actually good and chock-full of nutrients. The almond butter and ground flax seeds give the smoothie a nice nutty flavor. My recipe made about 20 ounces, so I split it in half and am saving the rest for later. There are a million variations of this to try. Check out my blueberry smoothie recipe - I mixed it up a little. 

Recipe inspired by Iowa Girl Eats.