"Don't Be Blue(berry)" Smoothie

We're all thinking about our New Years Resolutions and trying to get back to healthy habits that we forgot during the holidays. If you're like me, you've already cheated on one of your resolutions and to be honest I feel a little disappointed about it. But I realize that I'm not going to be perfect every single day, so I need to hop back on the Resolution-Wagon and start fresh each day!

During the holidays I found myself skipping breakfast, which totally through me for a loop!!Without breakfast you make it really difficult for your body to catch up throughout the day, and you really slow down your metabolism. If you need a few more reminders of why breakfast is so important, check out what my Nana (my grandma) always told me!

I'm big on healthy smoothies for breakfast- generally if you organize yourself ahead of time, you can blend up a smoothie super quickly before you head out the door. We have to be careful what we put IN our smoothies though- just because you tossed in a handful fruit and some juice DOES NOT automatically mean it's a healthy for you.

I saw a clip from the Dr. Oz show on Monday and he provided some great suggestions for making a healthy and fulfilling smoothie. He calls it the Magical Breakfast Blaster. I took his ideas + my ideas and created the "Don't be Blue(berry)" smoothie to help keep us feeling positive, healthful and nourished!

Just like Dr. Oz, I started using a teaspoon of Flax Oil in my smoothie. Flax seeds and Flax oil are filled with tons and tons of Omega-Fatty Acids, which aid every single system in our body! Flax is very fiber-licious, which we all know I love, and even more important to me right now is the anti-inflammatory response Flax has on our joints. I get my Flax Oil in the "body" section of Whole Foods- there are several to choose from so feel free to ask the helpful clerks, they'll tell you which ones are the freshest (flax oil should stay refrigerated).

Ingredients & Recipe:

Printable Recipe

• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed fruit (I use a strawberries, pineapple, mango blend)
• 1-2 tsp. flax seed oil
• 1 scoop protein powder (I like the vanilla powder from Curves)
• 1 heaping Tbls. plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (check the juice you're using to be sure it doesn't have a ridiculous amount of sugar in it, too much sugar defeats the purpose of the healthy smoothie, plus you are getting natural sugars from the fruit!)
• 1/4 cup water, used as needed to get desired consistency

Combine everything into your blender, and blend until smooth. Add in a few tablespoons of water (as needed) to get your desired consistency.

You Could Also Try...

• I find the smoothie blends together a little better if you bring out the frozen fruit from the freezer and set it on the counter for about 15 minutes before blending.
• I have also used Cran-Apple juice and I've even used a Low-Cal Gatorade, be creative- just don't get your whole days worth of sugar in the juice you pick
• Try this smoothie with 2 scoops of protein powder after your workout
• It might sound weird, but try adding in 1/4 cup of Silken (soft) tofu instead of protein powder. I PROMISE it won't taste like anything and you'll be getting some healthy soy protein!