I'm a Believer Shake

I don't know if you are old enough to remember the Monkee's song "I'm a Believer" but I can't get the jingle out of my head after today's mid-morning shake. 

I'm always interested in shake ideas (Roni at Green Lite Bites shared one with Green Tea as a base, on my list to try) and an ingredient I see occasionally in shakes is raw spinach.  Now don't get me wrong, I love spinach, raw or cooked but my knee jerk response to it as an ingredient in a shake is "BLECH!"


I've shared my shake routine with you before and when I got the blueberries out this morning, I saw the bag of baby spinach that came in my produce box this week.  Feeling open-minded, I threw two handfuls in the blender and, guess what?  I couldn't even tell it was in there!  First thought that entered my head: "I'm a believer!", then that darned song...

Maybe the color was a little darker and since I knew it was in there, I was hunting for a grassy, earthy taste.  Nope, not really.  I tasted the blueberries and the hint of nuts from the almond butter, that was it.

What adding the spinach did do was give me tons of added nutritional benefits.  Vitamins K, C and A, folate, magnesium, iron, fiber...a long list for only 10 additional calories!

So, don't be a stick in the mud like me!  Experiment with various healthy ingredients in your diet and look for easy, creative ways to increase the nutritional punch of some of your favorites.  Oh, and share them with the rest of us in the comment section!

I'm a Believer Shake
Approximately 318 calories, 36 grams of carbs, 11 grams of fat,  20 grams of protein for whole serving

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach, washed and spun in salad spinner
1 TBSP almond butter
1/2 cup 1% milk (I was out of soy milk)
4 oz non-fat plain greek yogurt

Method:
Blend together all ingredients and serve.

I added spinach to a banana, almond butter shake the next day-no discernible taste change, but definitely a change to the color!