Banana Berry Surprise Smoothie: Recipe 9 of 12

Welcome to Busy Women Mealtime Makeover! Whether you are one of the lovely busy ladies participating in the makeover or just interested in taking your meals up a notch – girl, do I have some rockin’ recipes for you! From now until June 1st, I’ll be featuring twelve new delicious makeover-friendly recipes. This week, we are focusing on eating more spring foods. (And if you want to join in and get the entire makeover PDF complete with meal plans, shopping lists and recipes, videos and photos of me cooking, weekly emails with additional recipes and kitchen tips and tricks and access to our online forum, you can totally start a few days late – click here and sign up!)
Nikol, you are busy, right? How do you get a decent, healthy meal on the table? 
Busy is an understatement in our house right now. Between after school activities, full time work, building a nature outing focused health coach business, training for my first triathlon and oh yeah loving myself – things are a little hectic. My tried and true way to get healthy homemade meals on the table is to plan and organize meals in advance and let go of the pressure of trying to reinvent the wheel of menu choices each week. My newest way of doing that is to keep track of my families’ favorites on a list in the kitchen.  When I think about what to prepare for the following week I can just look at my list and head to the grocery store. Every so often I print up the recipe for the menu item and stick in a binder. Soon I’ll have a “family” cookbook of our favorites.
Why do you make healthy, real food a priority in your life?
Healthy, real food is critical to nourish my family’s body and soul. I believe when we make a conscious effort to plan and prepare healthy meals, with love, for our family we solidify the foundation of wellness and self-care for ourselves.
What is your favorite thing to make during the spring months?
The arrival of spring and colorful veggies is an exciting time for me.  Fresh asparagus sautéed in good quality butter and a little sea salt is one of my favorite and super quick spring time things to make but until my kids are totally sold on the yummy asparagus idea – I stick with a great green smoothie for them.
What is that one thing that busy people can do this spring to eat a little healthier?
This spring, I think the best thing that folks can do is to… DRINK WATER!!! It energizes, and helps flush out all the winter build up in the body.
What is your favorite gadget in the kitchen?
With the great spring and summer fruits and vegetables on the way, my favorite gadget in the kitchen is my Vitamix; smoothies become a daily menu item. It took us nearly 10 years to finally decide to purchase one and now we can’t imagine what we’d do without it.
Banana Berry Surprise Smoothie
This recipe is a wonderful way to get yummy greens in the kids’ tummies. My kids and husband love it every time!
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen (or fresh) blueberries
1 ripe frozen (or fresh) banana
2 cups liquid (water, rice, almond or coconut milk, or kefir)
2 handfuls of kale
2 TBSP natural sweetener (honey, agave syrup or brown rice syrup)
Directions:

1. Remove kale from stalk, leaving the greens in bite size pieces.
2. Place frozen items in blender first, then add liquid , kale and sweetener.
3. Blend to your heart’s content.

Notes:

• You can’t really go wrong with the ingredients for a green smoothie.
• Try different kinds of greens, fruit or liquids.
• For even more hidden nutrition you can add bee pollen, ground flax or chia seeds, nuts (raw walnuts, almonds or cashews) or raw cacao (a little goes a long way)

Thanks Nikol!