A good morning!

Like many of us, I'm trying to eat better with the new year. Healthy eating is not my forte, but an easy thing for me is shakes or smoothies. Actually, to call that easy is probably the wrong word. I have a number of weird food allergies, mostly of produce, which is the main ingredients in smoothies.

Probably twenty years ago my parents bought a book called "Recipes to Lower Your Fat Thermostat". Our absolute favorite from this book was an orange julius type drink. Evidently this doesn't qualify for low-carb diets but here's the recipe:

Orange Julius at home:
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
4 ice cubes
1/2 tsp vanilla
Blend in blender until smooth!

When I was a kid we'd have this for a summer snack. I like it for a quick breakfast now. The ice never seems to blend up well, but that's okay.
For Christmas, Santa brings me a pomegranate. Its one of my favorite fruits and I'm not allergic to it. But what do you do with a pomegranate? I like to eat it in a salad or even some plain, but last winter I had several and ended up pureeing the fruit (and straining off the seeds) and putting it in my orange shake in place of the vanilla! I probably use 3 tablespoons of pomegranate puree, and it is sooo yummy! The orange and the pomegranate seem to balance each other and there's not even a hint of tartness. Just a perfect start to a day!

Edited 11/9/12:

Pineapple chunks work nicely too!! Today I had a fresh pinapple that I chopped up and put maybe 1/2 a cup of chunks in my regular orange smoothie. YUM! Plus the added benefits of the nutrients and fiber in the pineapple!