Lightened Up Blueberry Muffin Smoothie

I can't believe we're already at a new year! I feel like we were just barely making our 2014's family goals, and now here we are already reviewing them. Time flies by so quickly. As an adult, I didn't really feel like time moved as fast until we had our son. Now I see him grow from a sweet little newborn to a crazy little boy in the bat of an eye. It scares me to death, but I love this time in our lives so much, it's just a total blessing and pleasure to witness it all happening around me. 

With all the new years resolutions flying through people's lives at this time of year, a common one might be selected from the following phrases: "be healthier" "eat healthier" "be more active" "eat better" "eat less crap" "eat more green things" "eat less sugar" "lose x amount of pounds" "be a better, healthier, me"... etc, etc, etc. All fine goals, and to kick start any of them, today I'm sharing with you a really awesome, filling, but not heavy by any means, smoothie! 

It's filled with some beautiful basics, and nothing that I wouldn't mind putting in my body. We start with almond milk - I always have half gallon of unsweetened almond milk in my fridge. It's not because I'm anti dairy or anything, but I just love the way it tastes, and how light it feels on my cereal, in my smoothies, or even just straight up in a tall glass. I grew up on skim milk, so the mild taste doesn't bother me one bit. I usually put coconut almond milk in smoothies, but for this one, I saved the coconut flavor for another smoothie :). 

Next is our banana - the fastest way to get your smoothie to taste good, and cream up beautifully. This is my favorite addition to any smoothie. If it doesn't have a banana in it, I can taste that right away! Bananas are a must. If your bananas are going brown before you have time to make your smoothie, peel them, slice them up (you can skip this step and just slice them in half), and freeze them in a freezer bag until you're ready. 

Followed next by the stars of our dish: blueberries & quick oats. This gives the smoothie it's heart, I think. I used frozen blueberries this time, because they haven't hit their season yet here in frozen Utah. I also already had a handful of oats to toss in, too. So in they went! 

Last but not least, the Greek yogurt. This makes the smoothie stick to your bones, I think. I can tell whenever I've had a smoothie with greek yogurt, or without. And let me tell you, with makes it stick, and you get hungry less quickly. It also thickens the smoothie up perfectly, too. 

Top it all off with a little hint of lemon zest for brightness (we all know lemons and blueberries are total best friends), and a handful of ice - BAM. Smoothie time. And this smoothie is light enough it will most likely not bust up your new years resolutions geared towards health, sanity, and eating more blueberries. Always eat more blueberries. Always, always. 

Light Blueberry Muffin Smoothie 

makes 1 serving

ingredients:

1/2 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/2 C frozen blueberries

1 whole banana

1/4 t lemon zest

4oz vanilla Greek yogurt 

1/4 c raw, uncooked oats

1/2 C ice cubes

method:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until completely smoothe. Make sure to pulse enough to break up all the oats. Enjoy right away! 

recipe adapted from: Iowa Girl Eats