Brigitte's Antioxidant Berry Smoothie!!

I eat pretty bad foods almost on a daily basis.. Even though I might eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I'll almost always crave something sweet to satisfy my sugar tooth.. teeth actually.. plural.. Even if it's just a piece of chocolate or one of my absolute favorites, cookies.. I've been realizing more and more lately that McDonald's should not have it's own food group in my pyramid of health.. I often succomb to late night drive thru binges of McDoubles (no cheese) with fries on nights I don't eat enough dinner or have been up for way too long and I get super hungry all over again.. In a turn to eat a little healthier and get the nutrients my body actually needs, I've been craving smoothies.. But I've noticed that the smoothies I get are so packed with sugar and other "additives" I'm just not sure of, seem to defeat the purpose of my health kick.. SO to rebel against the typical Jamba Juice-type place, I've decided to make my own!! The good thing is I know exactly what's inside my concoction and can flavor as I see fit.. First up, I only use the best freshest ingredients.. I tried using frozen fruits and it just didn't have the same taste and texture.. You'll need the following:

--Makes one 20 ounce cup (about the size of a venti Starbucks cup.. which is what I used to put my smoothie in.. those plastic reuseable cups.. Very convenient)..

5 decent sized fresh strawberries
1.5 cups of fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 handful of fresh spinach leaves
1 handful of raw almonds
1.5-2 tablespoons of honey
1 pinch of sugar
12 ice cubes
1 blender


In the blender, start with about 5 ice cubes to "liquify".. when those start to get grinded up, add a few more until little by little, all ice cubes are in shaved ice form (believe me, based on experience, doing it a few ice cubes at a time actually is better and saves time than throwing them all in there which takes FOREVER because the blender can't catch them all).. Add the strawberries (after removing the green leafy tops) and blend. Follow it with fresh blueberries until all fruits are blended well together and a rich purple color shows through...


Next up add the spinach.. blend. Then a handful of those raw almonds. I prefer raw because I don't like a lot of salt in my diet.. Sodium is super bad for you anyways!! I also like the texture spinach and almonds give the smoothie.. kinda makes you chew a little but not really (you'll see once you make it).. Once all grinded together, add the sugar and honey to your taste as well as vanilla extract.



Once all combined the end result is 20 ounces of pure amazing fresh yummy-ness!! You can enjoy your refreshing beverage knowing all the ingredients put in it and no gross additives you can't pronounce. It has less sugar than your typical Jamba Juice too!

I've made these a few times and this is the best way so far.. Next time I'm thinking of making it into an almost acai bowl and adding bananas and coconut shavings on top.. maybe that'll be another post! Enjoy!! Be sure to leave a comment and let me know how yours turned out!


....the fruit of eternal youth... the best kind of skincare..