1 tbsp of greek yogurt
1 tbsp of almond butter
2 cups of almond or soy milk
1 tsp honey (optional)
1 tbsp flax (ground or whole)
1/2 tbsp Spirulina

Mix all the ingredients and blend. Play around with the ratios of ingredients. Sometimes I add more honey and yogurt and other times I just leave  them out all together. In other words, adjust to your taste.

Background:  Last year, my paddling coach suggested that we add some protein to our diets so that we could recover more quickly from our workouts and become stronger. In an effort to be more healthy and conscious of what I was putting into my body; I was reluctant to use protein powders and looked for a more natural substitute. I wasn’t sure if I really needed the protein, so I called a close friend who is long distance swimmer for advice. Of course, as he always does, he gave me a very detailed scientific reasoning for this post-workout smoothie. One day I’ll have to get him to write it up for Onolish!

More:

• Spirulina is quite pricey but a little goes a very long way. I am a Costco junkie.  I buy all the ingredients for this smoothie from Costco except the apple bananas.
• I always seem to have one or two extra bananas when I buy a bunch so I slice and freeze them for my smoothies or for whole wheat banana bread instead of throwing out over ripen bananas. I like to use frozen apple bananas for this smoothie.