Peanut Butter Smoothie

It's that time of year again.

Not just time to put away the Christmas decorations and put up the new 2016 calendar.

It's recovery time.

Now don't get me wrong. I enjoyed every single bite of fudge, Christmas cookies, and my mom's favorite recipe for Christmas candy. I enjoyed every single minute of the meals we shared with family and friends.

But, there comes that time...a couple days after Christmas...when my body says it wants to lay off the sugar for a while.

Actually, the body says I should never eat sugar again, but I know that eventually I'll be craving something sweet. Sigh.

But no worries. I've found a great way to ease off of sugar and please my sweet tooth at the same time: Smoothies!

I've shared smoothie recipes before, and you can check out that post here: Spring Smoothies.

But today I'd like to add a new one. I've been making one of these for breakfast once or twice a week. There's something so satisfying about this recipe.

The original is from a blog called Working at Homeschool. Jen (the owner of the blog) shares tons of gluten-free Trim Healthy Mama recipes. So far I've only tried this one, but it's a keeper.

Here's my version:

Peanut Butter Smoothie

ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop unsweetened vanilla whey protein powder
4 teaspoons Truvia, or other non-calorie sweetener
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
a pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
2-3 cups of ice cubes

A note about the ingredients:
What if you aren't following the Trim Healthy Mama plan? No problem. The main goal is to have a healthy smoothie for breakfast that will satisfy your sweet tooth without adding any sugar to your meal.

Did you notice the fat-laden ingredients in this recipe, though? Those healthy fats, plus the protein, is what makes this smoothie fill you up and keep you satisfied until lunch. Don't worry about the calories - go ahead and eat the peanut butter!

Almond milk: You can substitute your regular milk. It will add carbs to the smoothie, but won't affect the taste.

Whey protein powder: I use the THM brand available on their website (THM Whey Protein Powder), but you can substitute protein powder from your local store. You could also leave it out of the recipe, but it won't supply as much protein for your meal. But here's a thought! You could also substitute yogurt! You'd want to reduce the amount of milk in the recipe, but the yogurt would help supply that all-important protein.

Truvia: I like stevia sweeteners and use them all the time. Some people have problems with stevia, though. So if you've never used it before, buy a small quantity to try. You'll find Truvia near the sugar in your grocery store.

Coconut oil: I use coconut oil often in my recipes because of the health benefits. If you don't have any in your cupboard, go ahead and leave it out of this recipe. But if you aren't convinced that coconut oil is a healthy part of your diet, you can read this: Dr. Oz on Coconut Oil.

Peanut Butter: I like Adam's Natural peanut butter. Other brands have sugar, but not a lot. So if you're fine with a little sugar, use whatever brand you like.


Method:
Using a heavy duty blender (one that can handle crushing ice cubes), blend together all of the ingredients except the ice. Run your blender for 10-20 seconds on high speed to get that coconut oil pulverized and mixed in.

Once those ingredients are thoroughly blended, add the ice cubes, about one cup at a time. Blend until everything is nice and smooth.

Pour into a large cup (I use my one-quart canning jars) and enjoy!

Other than the over-eating of sweets, how was your Christmas?

We had a fabulous time....

There's nothing like getting a future son-in-law for Christmas! We're expecting the wedding to be in June, so stay tuned!

And it's a "destination wedding." You've heard of those, right? When the happy couple and all their guests go to some fabulous romantic destination for the wedding of their dreams? Well, this destination is the Black Hills of South Dakota.

What? You think we'd go somewhere else?