Rando Richard

For the past year I have concluded nearly workout (both cardio and strength-training) with a protein fruit smoothie. I got the original recipe from Boys Life, the BSA magazine for youth. It was a simple recipe, which I have since modified slightly. Here it is:

• 1 to 1.5 fresh bananas
• 3/4s of a fresh orange (I just eat the other quarter on the spot!)
• 1 handful of frozen spinach (I smash them fresh into a Tuperware container and put in the freezer. I then break off portions as needed — yeah, no more spoiled spinach in the fridge. Spinach is one of those super foods, yet adds little to spoil the sweet fruit flavor. Thanks Jason Quinn for this great idea!)
• 1 handful of frozen blueberries (I personally like the flavor better of straight blueberries compared to the Tri-berries blend I previously eat.)
• 1/2 cup of soy milk (I used to use plain yoghurt but have switched due to my vegan tendencies of late)
  Put all of the above in a blender and mix. *Then add…
• 4-5 frozen Costco/Kirkland jumbo-sized strawberries
• 3-5 ice cubes
• 1 scoop of protein powder (soy isolate preferred or sometimes I use whey, usually about 20-25 grams of protein)
• 1 tablespoon each of cold rolled ground flax seed and wheat germ (I combine them in equal quantities ahead of time and keep them in a airtight container)

*I don’t put in the strawberries or ice initially as they tend to rattle around in the blender, making racket and straining blender  (my “unbreakable” polycarbonate  blender pitcher has a crack in it from placing frozen strawberries in as the first ingredient). I also don’t add the powder ingredients til the end, otherwise they end up at the bottom of the blender and are not consumed.