Banana, Flax and Peanut/Almond Butter Smoothie Recipe

Hello!

Today was my first day of Spring quarter. For some reason, I get super excited for school * it goes back to my elementary school days literally* and can't fall asleep. Last night, I picked Nick up at the airport (he was in SoCal for Spring Break), came straight to Santa Clara, unpacked for two hours straight and made a huge to-do list for the week. I was so exhausted I was panting *I know, it's sad, but it's quite a work out sorting 15+ pairs of shoes and boots and reorganizing one's entire closet. I should have broken it up into chunks but the perfectionist within me told me to just get it done and do it well you know? I'll take a pic later.

Anyways, last quarter I LIVED off of this breakfast smoothie. I had it almost every morning and it left me feeling great! I got the recipe from Allison Fishman's section on Cooking Light. She's fantastic! I bought her cookbook You Can Trust A Skinny Cook a few months ago and her recipes are pretty darn delicious and very easy to follow.

On to the recipe, I pretty much follow it to a T. But since I've made it so much, I practically memorized it. But, I've made a few variations to mix it up and make it interesting:

• I substitute almond milk or soy milk for regular milk (soy gives it a nice creaminess)
• I also go back in forth between store bought peanut butter and homemade almond butter, both are delicious just depends on your preference I suppose
• For days I want need extra protein, I throw in a good 1/4 or 1/3 cup full of silk tofu... you can't even taste it I promise!
• Everytime I make this, I throw in 1/4 cup of oats... I love the "mealy" texture it gives the smoothie and the nuttiness of the oats

Just thought I'd share the recipe with you all! It's delicious and I highly recommend it. I would take a picture but to be perfectly honest, it'd be gone before I even think about taking out my camera...

Enjoy!

Warm welcome and intro

Hello everyone!
My name is Alexis and I am a 20 year old college student in California. I'm studying economics and finance and aspire to be CEO of my own another company someday. I'm not sure in what industry exactly, but I just now that's the end goal. Oh and starting my own non-profit organization that helps low-income families and students with budgeting, investing, and other important financial planning tools so they may have brighter futures.

But asides from that... I love to cook, bake, sew, craft, diy, explore, travel, read, entertain and hang out with friends and family. Not to mention, play with my adorable 5 year old niece, Arianna and 4 year old nephew, Devon. They're pretty adorable, huh? They're the apples of my eye.

left to right: Devon, Alexis, and Arianna...Xmas 2010

Oh and in addition to my adorable niece and nephew, I have a pretty amazing family: mom, dad, grandmas, you know the whole lot!And of course I can't forget to mention my wonderful and patient (practically saint-like) boyfriend of six years, Nicholas. A bit too tall for my taste...but with high heels, all is forgotten! Haha jk! He's perfect just the way he is * ahem most days*, again jk.

L to R: Nicholas, Mom, Dad, Alexis..my birthday 2011

Seems kind of confusing huh? An aspiring business woman studying econ and finance by day and reading cooking/sewing/diy blogs by night? But then again, we're not one dimensional people are we? I like to think people are like stained glass windows: there's so much more to what meets the eye. From afar we may see one "color" or "design" but up close or when the light shines through, we may see some other beautiful feature or detail.

And the feminist part you may say? Well, I don't believe women are better than men or men better than women, but I'm all about girl power. My definition of a feminist is: someone who fully understands and appreciates the capabilities and talents of women and proud to show the world who they are.

I hope that the recipes, instructions, articles, pictures, experiences, etc shared on this blog will not only give you an idea of who I am, but hopefully help you in some way too ;)
Thanks for reading!