There is a wonderful feeling associated with waking earlier than the alarm, accomplishing more than you tough possible in that extra time and starting your day off ahead of schedule. That is me today. I am up and at ’em an hour early and my day is looking less frantic than normal! We all need calm in our hectic schedules and I have found that the little things, like planning out our daily meals and snacks can lead to an easier day for me and my kids. As someone who is trying to maintain her weight, planning also helps with what I want to intake on a daily basis. Like my Orange Creamsicle Smoothie Recipe that fuels me back up after my workout in the mornings. Made with nutritious dairy ingredients, it has a flavor I love and an ease of preparation that makes it a great post-workout treat!
There is a twist in my Orange Creamsicle Smoothie that you may not see coming but I will reveal that in a little while. First I want to share with you why I think dairy is a necessary part of any active lifestyle.
We all know that getting nutrients into your diet isn’t always easy. Fortunately, dairy foods are a simple way to fuel up on protein, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin D. There is a reason that you see race car drivers and athletes downing milk after they work out. As a woman, I know that calcium is important so making the choice to be more active in getting it into my meal plan is a desire of mine.
With recipes like my Orange Creamsicle Smoothie, i get veggies too!
Ready for the secret?
I add frozen mashed butternut squash to the recipe! Yep – talk about a one two punch of powerful nutrition our bodies will appreciate!
When you are in the store and make your selections, from cheese to yogurt to milk, swing by the frozen section and pick this up too! It gives this creamy drink a little sweetness with a lot of benefits.
- 1 cup skim milk
- 6 ounces low-fat vanilla yogurt
- ¼ cup frozen mashed butternut squash
- 1⁄3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
- 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 ice cubes
- optional: oranges
- Combine milk, yogurt, butternut squash, orange juice concentrate and vanilla extract in blender. Blend to combine ingredients. Add ice cubes and blend to crush ice. Add a few slices of orange and blend (optional) Serve immediately.
Now I also added a few pieces of orange slices at the end just to enhance the orange flavor but that is optional.
This is such an easy recipe and really helps to keep me going all day long. I love that I can get my daily dairy needs met and a veggie and fruit serving requirements in as well.
What smoothie recipe do you love that brings dairy back into your nutritious meal plan?
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