Red, White, and Blue Smoothie

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. I spent mine going with my girlfriends to a local lake and tanning at the beach, then I went to a friends backyard party at his new house. I found that I was able to eat fairly well while enjoying the activities of Fourth of July. This included having a smoothie for breakfast, a veggie burger from Red Robin, and some veggies at the backyard party. The veggie burger from Red Robin was surprisingly delicious. I had the burning love burger with a veggie patty, guacamole added and a lettuce wrap instead of a bun.  Just delicious, and fairly nutritarian.

Overall this week has been very busy for me. I started my new job on Monday and have been getting the hang of it. I think they're pleasantly surprised by my effort and eagerness. Hopefully a raise will be coming after my 90 day review. Because I am working so much I haven't had much time to cook, let alone blog about it. And I realize that my Fourth of July post is a few days late, but I am doing my best.

In other news about my life, in Spokane the largest three-on-three basketball tournament in world happened last weekend, and Kevin was visiting for that. It was so nice to see him again after being away for over a month. He and his team won the championship for his bracket. Here are a few pictures.

Team Beans N Rice Hernandez
(Danny, Nathan, Kevin, and Scottie)

Kevin's bad first day burn.  I called it the V-burn,

Danny has some major hops!

The winning team gets to take the tape off the streets!

Unfortunately, when the tournament was over, Kevin and his his team had to head back to the West side of Washington. Then, on Monday I had my first day of work at Tradesmen International. I am enjoying it so far, but like best that I am finally making money better than spending it. Kevin and I also started our own cell phone plan. I had had some graduation present money left over from my parents that I had been saving, so I decided to get iPhone. It is literally one of the coolest things I've ever owned. For the last four years I had a first generation iPod touch, which has, quite frankly, been on it's last leg. In comparison, the iPhone is so fast and operates so flawlessly, I am just amazed. For example, I am writing my blog post today on my phone and using the audio to talk to it and tell it what to write. Pretty amazing, right? I'm not sure how well this will post, so bare with me.

Back to Fourth of July: As with most holidays, I wanted to try to eat something festive. On Pinterest so many Fourth of July foods and drinks were showing up, I thought I would give it a try too. Like I said above, the Fourth of July post a little late, but the recipe is still delicious for any day.

Red, White, and Blue Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh strawberries, greens removed and roughly chopped
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 large frozen banana
• 1 cup alternative milk
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed (optional)
• Extra strawberries and blueberries to decorate the glass

Directions:
Please all ingredients except for the extra garnish fruit in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more alternative milk to achieve the desired consistency. Serve immediately cold with the strawberries and blueberries garnishing the top of the glass for a festive look.

See!  Red strawberries,
white almond milk and bananas,
and Blue blueberries!

Amy's notes:
This can be a wonderful smoothie to be served as breakfast, or as dessert at the end of the day.  I used almond milk, but feel free to use any alternative milk you choose, preferably unsweetened.









How was everyone's Fourth of July holiday?  Did you have problems sticking to your health goals from being around traditional Fourth BBQ foods?