I admit it.  I’ve become the type of person who drinks smoothies almost every day.   Oh, you know the kind, they drink their smoothies and carry nuts and seeds around in their bag.  I swear I haven’t bought a pair of Birkenstocks yet, but living here in Oregon I think that it’s just a matter of time.  Those shoes do look awfully comfortable…..

In all honesty I think the smoothie kick is out of necessity.  I needed a snack that would fill me up and be satisfying while curbing the craving for a sweet snack in the afternoons.  I found that coconut milk was pretty low in carbs (although not as low as Almond Milk) and was VERY low in sodium(much lower than almond milk).   Add a few slices of frozen peaches and a palm full of frozen berries and voila!  A snack that I could savor and not worry it would put me over my allotted sodium at the end of the night.  I’m pretty skilled at keeping my carbs where they need to be with each meal (and therefore my totals at the end of the day) but I struggle with keeping my sodium under control.  Every.  Single.  Day.

Until this started I had never realized how much sodium is in our food naturally. Instead of not ADDING salt to my food, it has become about finding foods that don’t add a lot of sodium naturally.    One of the very best things about the Willamette Valley is the produce.  Our growing season is long and the soil here is very rich so the fruits and vegetables go crazy.  Local asparagus is already available and the first early varieties of strawberries made their debut at last weekend’s farmer’s markets.  We’re starting to get stone fruits from California and the rest of the berries will be in full force here very soon.    I am pretty excited about the berries in general.  They are little powerhouses of nutrients and antioxidants and will give me an extra snack with almost ZERO sodium.

This weekend I hit an early jackpot @ the farmer 's market.  All organic and all local.  It made it obvious that I need to take the majority of my grocery money with me and come into work late on Wednesday's so I can utilize the market more often.  I don't want to get stuck eating grocery store produce that's imported from Mexico or South America when I have this amazing bounty available.  My loot this week consisted of butter lettuce, fresh strawberries, raw honey, asparagus, parsnips, green onions, and a cucumber.  The market also had vendors with grass feed local beef, free range chicken/eggs, and pork.   Don't forget the local cheese.....oh God, the cheese is so good.


The 'recipe' for my smoothie is pretty simple and I use a basic formula (thanks Troy!).

1 C Coconut or almond milk
1/2 C Mixed frozen fruit of choice.
Pulse blender until thick and combined.

For work I purchased the Hamilton Beach personal blender.  It works perfectly for blending smoothies and you can drink right out of the blender jar.