I love to eat.
I love to cook.
I love to bake.
I love the whole idea of food.

One major thing I have learned over the past few months is that food doesn’t always have to be about the “art and production” of eating something amazing! Food can just be fuel.

We are inundated with food images- commercials, cooking shows, Top Chef, cookbooks, magazines, movies- food is really “in” right now. Eating an amazing meal- but first Instagram a picture of it, or upload a picture of your dish to Yelp or Urbanspoon- has become the new Calvin Klein jeans or Coach purse. Food is cool. But does every meal have to be AH-MAZING? Does every meal have to be THE BEST THING YOU EVER ATE?

What’s for dinner? What’s for lunch? What’s for breakfast? I sometimes put too much pressure on myself to cook great meals. I often forget the point of a meal- fuel my body- fuel my kids’ bodies. I’m trying to focus on the true purpose of food- to give our bodies energy. I love making great and interesting food; I love eating great and interesting food, but I’m trying to pull back a bit and not put a huge emphasis on the act of making and eating the food. Food doesn’t always have to be a huge production.

One of my “go to” recipes when I’m just looking to fill the hunger gap with great nutrition is the infamous “Green Smoothie“. A green smoothie is easy and quick to make, it’s packed with power and keeps me full for hours. It makes a great snack, it is perfect after a workout, and sometimes when I’m in a huge rush I will have one for lunch! My recipe varies according to what fruit I have on hand but generally this is what I do:

Green Smoothie

1 cup almond or coconut milk (I’ve been on a huge coconut milk kick lately and my kids really like smoothies made with coconut milk)
1 handful of greens (I usually use spinach but I’ve also used kale)
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1 banana
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Progressive)
1 tbsp chia seeds (you can find these at Bulk Barn or Costco)
**sometimes I also add 1/2 cup of the frozen organic blueberries from Costco BUT it makes the smoothie a really terrible brownish colour instead of a pretty bright green. It tastes amazing though and blueberries are super healthy 🙂

Put all ingredients in a really great blender (I have a Ninja that is amazing!) and blend until smooth.

It isn’t gourmet but it is pretty and yummy!

Choose happy 🙂