Trying new things

Workout:  5.23 miles in 49:48 with Dad, Anda and SB

This was the first day of my summer vacation that I was able to plan an early morning run in town with my Dad, Sis and SIL.  The last two summers I would meet my dad at least once a week to run in town but just haven't had a chance until today.

We met at 6:15 am after I made a quick stop at the grocery store to get the necessary supplies to create the much talked blogged about Green Monster smoothie.  We were shootin for 4 miles but ended up with a great 5.23 run through town, down River Walk and back up through town.  I skipped my stretching on Tuesday after my 6 miler and didn't get in any yoga on wednesday so I was a little tight to get started.  We kept it at a comfortable pace and took some quick breaks as we waited for traffic. 

When we got back to Manda's we had some delicious Dunkin Donut muffins while I whipped up the Green Monsters.  We got pictures but SB has them so I will take some tomorrow when I make up another batch to share with Cowboy.

Here's the recipe we used but you can google Green Monster smoothies and find tons of variations.  We made two separate batches and both were delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon Flax Seed
• 2 Teaspoons of Chia Seeds
• 1/2 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder 
• 4 or 5 ice cubes
• Whole banana
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 2-3 cups spinach (THE GREEN!!!)
• 1 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk 

Combine all the above ingredients in the blender and then blend and liquify.  Some recipes suggested freezing the banana and crushing the banana and ice first. I put my ingredients in the blender as listed above and it took a little bit but blended up nicely and then I set it to liquify for a few seconds.  Dad, Anda, SB and I all really enjoyed it.  It doesn't look the best at first and is a "lovely" green but it is quiet delicious.  The first batch I forgot the protein powder and then second batch I added frozen strawberries.  You really don't taste the spinach - the flavor of the blueberries and banana really come out. You don't need the flax seed and chia seeds but they are an excellent source of Omega-3 and make the smoothie even better for you.

If you haven't tried the famous Green Monster yet - you have to give it a try.  It is a lot better than it sounds and looks.