Smoothies for the Sickly

So I basically worked myself into a cold this week.  By last night, I was at three 17 hour or longer days since Monday (and that fourth day I had to wake up at 4am, so let's just say that my sleeping schedule has been less than ideal).  With all that, I'm not surprised that I woke up this morning feeling like I was absolutely dying: my nose running, a wicked cough, sore throat, the whole works.  I'll just say that I'm glad it's Friday so I have the weekend to recover.

I ended up taking the day off of work (that's one thing about working in a kitchen - it's not really like you can come to work "a little sick" and "tough it out"…).  I did a lot of sleeping, and even more laying in bed watching Jeeves and Wooster on Hulu.  (It's here, and you don't even need Hulu plus!!)

I also made a few smoothies, and they were all fantastic, but I thought I'd share one of the recipes with you, inspired by my father's love for those Dole juice blends.  I didn't have any strawberries in my freezer, but I did have raspberries, so here's a delectable raspberry orange banana smoothie, more delicious and more nutritious than spending your hard earned dollars on Dole:

Raspberry Orange Banana Smoothie
serves 1

3/4 c. frozen raspberries
1/2 c. frozen banana (about half a med. banana), cut into slices
enough orange juice to cover the fruit in the blender (I think I used about 1/2 c. or so)

(optional)
1/4 c. plain unsweetened yogurt

Put frozen fruit in blender.  Add orange juice.  Blend until smooth.  If it's too thick, add some more juice, too thin, add some more fruit.  If you want some protein in there, add any kind of unsweetened yogurt.  You should get a sweet and tart beautifully pink smoothie that packs a nutritional punch without any added sugars.

(So, here's the deal: I think it's stupid to focus on things like calories in most recipes.  In this recipe, it's pretty clear that it's something good for humans to eat.  It's fruit.  Whole fruit.  And juice.  100% orange juice.  You shouldn't need a calorie count to tell you that it's good for you, and anyone who is counting calories on a fruit smoothie only made with whole fruits needs different diet advice in my opinion.  THAT SAID, I know that some people just want to know this stuff, so here's some nutritional facts on this recipe):

Calories: 171
Fat: 0.8g
Dietary Fiber: 8.5g
Vitamin C: 224% Recommended Daily Value

Forgive how sickly I look.  Ugh.

HAPPY SMOOTHIE-ING!!

-Bethy