Blueberry Almond Shake

Aloha!  A real challenge for me on the South Beach diet is to get in enough fruit and dairy servings.  To address this I've been whipping up some yummy shakes almost every day using various fruits and dairy products, a common tactic many South Beachers use.

My "go to" shake is with banana, almond butter, yogurt, and soy milk (and a squeeze of sugar-free chocolate syrup on occasion!).  Another favorite is strawberries, cinnamon, soy milk and ice.  A friend on the South Beach message boards uses frozen peaches in her shakes.

Today, I made a shake, chock full of antioxidant powerhouse blueberries,
dairy, and almond butter.  I use the natural, pure almond butter that you grind yourself at the store.  If you can't find that and you want to avoid added sugar, check the label before buying prepackaged nut butters as many of them unfortunately add sugar.

Although calories aren't counted on South Beach, we all know it is all about calories in and calories out.  These shakes can be calorie dense depending on how you put them together.  Today's shake weighs in at over 300 calories.  I needed it to hold me for several hours between meals, but if you wanted to cut the calories down you can reduce or eliminate the almond butter, and/or switch to skim milk, and/or eliminate the yogurt.  I got 1 1/2 servings of dairy and 2 of fruit in the shake though, so I was happy!  Plus it tastes delish!  Thick and creamy.  If you like your shake thinner, add ice and reduce the milk.

Blueberry almond shake; makes one large 18 oz shake or divide into smaller portions and share
Approximately 333 calories, 43 grams of carbs, 11 grams of fat, 17 grams of protein

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 TBSP almond butter

Method:
Add everything to the blender. Blend until all ingredients are well blended. Serve and drink right away-it doesn't keep well!  You can use the basic recipe and sub in your favorite fruits.  Originally I was adding some agave nectar, splenda, or stevia for sweetener but I've slowly reduced that down to none.  The natural sweetness of the fruit is enough for me.

How about you guys-how do you get your fruit and dairy servings in each day?  Got any yummy shake recipes to share?