Smoothie

Hi all, how was your weekend?

Mine was so tasty! I usually do most of my splurging on the weekends, as Ben and I like to order take out or go to dinner on Friday and Saturday, but try and keep things relatively healthy during the day. That said, Saturday morning I woke up and blended a Banana-Berry Breakfast Smoothie to sip on while enjoying the season premier of The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network. Love her AND her adorable family!

(Still kicking myself for standing there like a psychopath with my eyes bulging and mouth wide open instead of saying, uh, HI!, after running into her a few years ago!)

Banana-Berry Breakfast Smoothie

Description

Banana-Berry Breakfast Smoothie is a total superfood smoothie, and the perfect treat for starting your day out right!

Ingredients

Serves 1

  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1 cup frozen berries
  • 2-3 cups baby spinach
  • 1 teaspoon chia seeds
  • 3/4 - 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze (or milk)

Directions

  1.  Add all ingredients to bender then blend until smooth.

This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.

The slightly-sweet and filling smoothie was perfect to ensure I wouldn’t turn into the cupcake monster when Ben and I made our way to the new cupcake joint in town later that morning, Scratch Cupcakery!

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I started cracking up the minute we stepped inside the cute, bright shop. Women. Everywhere. Bahaha! Ben and another customer in front of us in line were the only two males in the entire place. What can I say, we women know what we want, and that’s CUPCAKES!

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I am so thrilled to welcome Scratch Cupcakery to town. The company started in my college town of Cedar Falls, IA, and their new location here has already generated tons of positive buzz in the short time they’ve been open.

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I knew at first sight of the creamy, fluffy icing dolloped on top of each cupcake that I was in for a treat. I walked away with Wedding Cake (almond flavored cake and icing) and Sully (aka monster cookie!) cupcakes and couldn’t wait to dig in later that afternoon.

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I split the two in half, and devoured!

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The icing was just as fluffy, soft and smooth as I was hoping, while the cake was dense and moist. Scratch totally knocked it out of the park with both of these flavors. YUMMM!!

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The Sully cupcake was so unique with its monster cookie flavored frosting, and I couldn’t lick up the almond flavored frosting on the wedding cake cupcake fast enough. I am not a frosting girl, at all, but it was actually my favorite part! I can’t wait to try some more flavors!

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After our cupcake adventure, Ben and I headed off for a day full of errands, including grocery shopping + lunch at Whole Foods. Ben had tried their Vegan Pizza with a friend a couple weeks ago and has been talking about it ever since (file that under things I never thought I’d say!)

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While he enjoyed a couple slices of ‘za, I gobbled a big ol’ cup of Broccoli Cheddar Soup and iced tea. I really liked this soup! It was a bit overly-pureed for me (I like big hunks of broccoli in my BC soup,) but the flavor was stellar. I’d get it again.

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Not wanting to go home after errands, we cruised around for a bit, looking at dream homes until the sun went down. We’re a year or two from moving out of our current place, but it’s so much fun to look and imagine. :) (Anyone else singing Wide Open Spaces a la the Dixie Chicks, btw?)  

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This morning, I whirred up another sipper to supplement breakfast – this time using my juicer – a Crimson Citrus Cleanser. This recipe comes courtesy of my sister-in-law. She and my brother make it most mornings, and I am telling you – their skin is gasp-worthy. So jealous! I made the recipe as written, except I added a knob of fresh ginger (obsessed with ginger in my fresh juice) and I think next time I’ll leave the celery out. For some reason I’m super sensitive to the taste of celery, and it’s just odd to drink the taste…

Other than that, I bought enough ingredients to make one every day this week. Looking forward to tomorrow’s juice already. It’s crazy just how GOOD it makes you feel!

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It’s been a really crummy day out today, so Ben and I thought we’d beat Sunday boredom by taking a trip about 30 minutes north for a lunch feast at one of our favorite BBQ joints in Ames, IA – Hickory Park. Five minutes into the trip we realized the roads were too icy though, so we high-tailed to our favorite Mexican place instead – Monterrey.

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Monterrey, and their salsa, complete me. Like, truly complete my soul. My salsa recipe is close, but nothing compares to the real thing. I can hardly control myself around it!

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I always end up eating more chips & salsa than I should, so I attempt to reign it in by ordering a side of rice and a cheese enchilada for my meal. Too bad they’re big enough for two…

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Good thing leftovers are just as good!

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Back to gym tomorrow! ;)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone, and have a great week!

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What was the highlight of your weekend?