Try It Thursday

Or something like that. I wanted to dedicate one day a week to a new recipe or exercise and then let you know all about it. I might do it Tuesdays instead, though. Not that it matters, really. It all works out in the end, right?

Okay, so today, I tried this recipe: http://www.chiquitabananas.com/Banana-Recipes/Banana-Oatmeal-Smoothie-recipe.aspx. Basically, it's a banana oatmeal smoothie. BUT, being me, I couldn't leave well enough alone. And I am kind of glad I didn't. I don't think I would have liked the original version as much as I adore my version.

First, I set my blender up and then I added the oatmeal - dry, not cooked because cooked oatmeal makes me squirmy and jittery, it's just that gross.

Then, I threw in a couple of bananas, not over ripe, and I broke them into a few pieces when I threw them in there. Since my third cup was dirty, I used a quarter cup of Yoplait Plain yogurt. Then, I added a few good splashes of vanilla, a teensy (and I mean teensy, more like a drop or two) splash of almond extract.

Now, because I am lazy, I didn't measure the ice. I took a big ole glass from my cupboard, switch the ice machine on my fridge to crushed, and filled the glass up. Then I dumped it into the blender on top of all my other ingredients.

Then I got an inspiration and added some honey. Probably about a tablespoon. I never measure when I create in the kitchen, so everything is always approximate. If you are a die hard have to measure things or you refuse to cook, my modified recipes will drive you insane. Skip them in the future.

Ok, so once I got all that into the blender, I turned it on the highest power and hit pulse. Nothing happened. So, I hit the "run" button. Still nothing. Oh, the blades were going around, but nothing was moving. It was almost as if I had choked the thing up. Or something. Anyway, my instant solution was to add more liquid. So, I grabbed my skim milk and threw in a few splashes while using a butter knife to move the ice further down into the machine. Ran it again, and then hit pulse. That did the trick. After a few pulses of mixing, it was all done. The whole thing more than fills a 32 ounce cup.

It's not the most delicious thing on the planet. However, for the past three days, I have eaten nothing but pickles, cabbage soup, and water. To me, this thing is a little slice of heaven right now. My youngest guy tried it and thought it was "pwetty yummy".

Next time, I think I will add more honey and yogurt and a little less ice. I may even try it with a scoop or two of peanut butter. Or strawberries. This is one of those recipes you can have a little fun playing with and I look forward to playing with it a lot. It will probably become a staple meal in this weight loss journey of mine.

So, I guess that means it's good, huh?

The down and dirty - it took about ten minutes to make. When I entered all of the ingredients I used into the www.myfitnesspal.com recipe builder, it came out to be 435 calories, 101 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fat, 11 grams of protein, 9 grams of fiber, and 56 grams of sugar. Now, while that might seem like a lot of calories, if you are restricting yourself to a 1200 calorie diet like I am, I can say that the rest of my day will be filled with cabbage soup and pickles. So, like I said before, this is heeeeeaaaaaven to me right now.

Bon appetit.