Sunday, August 1, 2010

Smoothies: Post-Workout Treat


Smoothie, originally uploaded by The Cooking Activist.
On Saturday mornings I train with a group of people for the upcoming fundraising race, The Be Her Freedom Run. This run benefits the A21Campaign organization that fights human trafficking on the ground. They rescue girls and children from the sex slave trade in Europe. The BHFR is hosted by Celebration Church and last year was the first year for the run.

This group of people, who are fellow members of Celebration Church, call themselves The Malinka Project. My friend Laura is the reason this project exists, it's her heart and her project. Basically, she wanted to get a group of people together that were passionate about the A21 Campaign's cause and train together and motivate each other to run the 4.7 miles of the BHFR. I joined the Malinka Project because I want to run the race and I want to train with people that are just as passionate about ending human trafficking as I. Becoming a part of this group has been an incredible blessing and I am thankful to have met Laura and experienced her passion and fire for this project.

Now that I am officially "in training", I need to make sure that I am eating properly to support my body so that it can operate at it's best. It is hard to run if you don't give your body the right fuel. Smoothies are an excellent way to recover after a tough workout. Whether you want to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your weight, a smoothie is a really good option. I am reminded of the movie Rocky every time I have a smoothie. Just once, I want to add a raw egg to the blender and to see how it tastes! I think it would be pretty gross:-) Be mindful if you buy a smoothie from a store because they add sugar, sometimes a lot of sugar . The new McDonald's smoothies have 44 - 70 grams of sugar! That is about the same as soda!

So here are 2 recipes, one is my favorite and the other is for my husband. He is training for a 150 mile bike race and he burns tons of calories while riding. Today he burned 1800 calories during a 40 mile bike ride! He doesn't need to lose weight so I made him a Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie to replenish those calories. The easiest way to add or subtract calories is with nut and seed butters, peanut, almond, cashew, sunflower, etc.
I buy my organic frozen fruit at Whole Foods Market.

If you want to lose weight:
Strawberry Banana Smoothie(my favorite)
Makes 32 ounces, approx 500 calories - 2 servings
½ frozen banana
5 frozen organic strawberries
10 pieces of frozen organic fruit - pick 2: strawberries, peaches, pineapples, mangos, handful(½ cup equals 5 pieces of fruit) of berries(blueberries, raspberries, etc)
1 tablespoon cashew butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of whole milk
1 cup of 100% cranberry raspberry juice, no added sweeteners or replacement sweeteners
5 pieces of ice

Put all of the ingredients into the blender. Blend until smooth. Add more juice if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency. Pour into a cup and enjoy. You can place half in the freezer for about 30 minutes so it stays frozen while you drink the rest. My kids love this smoothie.


If you want to maintain or gain weight:
Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
Makes 48 ounces, approx. 1230 calories
2 frozen bananas
2 cups of frozen fruit: peaches and strawberries or any combo you want
3 heaping spoonfuls (6 standard tablespoons) of peanut butter or your favorite nut butter adjust the peanut butter to taste.
1 cup of whole milk or alternate form of dairy: almond, coconut, hemp milk
2 cups of 100% juice, no added sweeteners…
Ice if you want
Add 1 tsp of vanilla for flavor if you want

Add everything to blender except 1 cup of the juice. Blend and add juice as necessary until smoothie is at the desired consistency. Pour in a cup and drink after a long run, bike ride, or when large amounts of calories are burned. This has a lot of peanut butter because of the protein and calories.

Be careful when buying fruits. You should know which to buy organic and which don't have to be organic. Here is a link to a slide-show for more information.

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