Happy Tuesday! Anyone else watch The Bachelor last night? Is it just me, or does some of this season seem very staged?! I feel like Ali is “pulling an Ed” like last season, and Vienna still being there has to be for ratings! That being said, I’m hooked. 
It’s chilly and rainy here this morning, so all I wanted for breakfast was piping hot oatmeal! But, then I realized there’s no oatmeal in my house. 
So I talked myself into making a green monster instead. Even though it was kinda chilly to be drinking an icy-cold drink, I knew I’d feel better after filling my body with so many nutrients!
I started with a blender-full of spinach:
I add about a cup of almond milk, then blend until the greens are completely broken down:
Then I add the rest of my smoothie ingredients! Today was 1 banana, 1 T. almond butter, a dash of cinnamon, a splash of fresh lemon juice and 2 drops of liquid stevia.
KAL is the first brand of liquid stevia I’ve tried:
I think it tastes great! Much better than the powder I’ve tried in the past, since this doesn’t have a funny after-taste. I’ve heard NuNaturals makes some nice varieties of stevia, too, but I haven’t tried them yet.
I like to add a couple ice cubes to my smoothie before I blend, too, just to keep everything nice and cool. I have a really old, abused blender, so it takes a lot of shaking and scraping to get my smoothie blended!
But it turned out nicely in the end:
It tasted perfect! I love the bright green color, but I can’t taste the spinach at all! Just almond butter, cinnamon and bananas. Mmmm! 
Of course, I didn’t love the mess that my crappy blender left behind…
That’s what it looked like when I lifted my pitcher off of the base! Looks like I have a leaky pitcher… ugh. I know my blender is on it’s last leg, but I don’t see a Vita-mix or a Blendtec in my budget future anytime soon. I hope it holds out a little longer!
I’m sipping on some green tea now, trying to warm up, and am trying to get some work done! I’ve got a busy day ahead of me– I have some serious shopping to do after work! Thank goodness it’s my day-off from marathon training, because I’ve got a BIG party to go to tonight, and I have nothing cute to wear! My husband and I were invited to a very “Hollywood” party tonight– I don’t want to say anything else or I might jinx it! I’ll just have to fill you all in tomorrow.
Hope you all have a great day!
So exciting about the party!! I just stumbled upon your blog, but I will definitely be checking it out for more details on the soiree tomorrow. I’ve never tried spinach in my smoothie, but I feel like I need to jump on the bandwagon if it really doesn’t take over all the other flavors.
I have Kal stevia drops at my desk at work right now, but definitely suggest NuNaturals as the way to go. Much better taste although sweeter so you don’t have to use as much for the same result.
That’s how I make my green monsters too… my poor blender needs a ciggy after I make one! … maybe it’s those ciggies that are making it perform so badly! ah !
I’m dying for a vita mix. I dream of it. I have put it on my registry and have my toes and fingers, eyes and arms, totally crossed.
Can’t wait to hear about the party! I love getting dressed up for parties