Don’t judge a book by it’s cover and please don’t judge the taste of this smoothie based on it’s color.

For the record, most of my green smoothies ending up looking like this. I guess because I mix in so many other ingredients to make it taste really good, they tend to take on a muddy color. It’s no different from when my four year old paints with water colors. He likes to “layer” and pretty soon all the pretty colors mixed together look like a big wet blob of brown. He digs it though. And who am I to judge? Art is the eye of the beholder. I can totally get behind the brown smoothie. As long as it tastes good than I’m good.

I was thinking the other day why I love smoothies so much. 1- They’re perfect for people like me who cook way to much and sometimes need something quick to eat that’s totally effortless- hello 3 minute meal with no clean up. 2- It’s the perfect snack for on the go. Smoothies are the real foods version of fast food and I can’t think of a more perfect food to take along in the car. Unless of course your four year old insists on sharing and then proceeds to pour it all over his car seat. Yeah…. 3- Lastly, don’t we all need to be eating more greens? (Not a trick question, the answer is most definitely yes.) So there you have it, smoothies are a darn near perfect food.

Smoothies are my go to breakfast in the summer but when it’s this freaking cold outside, I don’t want anything to do with a smoothie first thing in the morning. I’ll take my coffee and toast, thank you very much. This time of year, I tend to save smoothies for a post workout snack or for an afternoon pick me up when I go to pick the kiddos up from school. The sun must be shining at least a little bit for me to dig into a frosty, cold beverage; call me crazy.

This is definitely on the sweeter side thanks to a ripe banana and half an apple. But it’s balanced nicely with freshly ground almond butter, organic cacao powder and fresh spinach. You could use whatever milk you like but I’m partial to Califia Farms Vanilla Almond milk.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!