(disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a medical professional, but you probably already knew that)
Have you read any studies about the affect of eating dates in late pregnancy? (here's one, here's another) I'm all for a lower chance of induction and a potentially shorter labor, but I hate dates. So they've gotta be disguised. Here's my solution.
Note: we have a Blendtec blender with the "Wildside" container (capacity = about 50 oz). Smaller blenders might require you to half the ingredients.
My (almost) Daily Smoothie Recipe
Blend well:
Blend well:
-1-2 Bananas
-6-8 Medjool Dates (remove pits first!)
-BIG handful of Baby Spinach
-8-10 oz Milk
Add:
-Protein powder of your choice (I do 1.5 scoops of chocolate flavored Optimum Nutrition Performance Whey Isolate because that's what my husband has in the house, from Costco -- this is about 45g of protein)
-One conservative squeeze of Hershey's syrup
-Ice to fill up the blender to capacity
Blend on "ice crush" or "milkshake" setting.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
I sip on this all morning and Penny (my 2-year-old) also drinks a glass.
It's nice and thick if you use plenty of ice, so these reusable smoothie straws are helpful.
It's nice and thick if you use plenty of ice, so these reusable smoothie straws are helpful.
-I have a noticed a decrease in my night-time leg cramps from all the potassium in the dates and bananas.
-I feel better about my protein and iron intake for the day from the whey protein and the spinach.
-I am hydrated from all the ice (makes about 50 ounces total)
-If the dates thing is true, I'm getting mine in! And I can't even taste them!
-I don't have to overthink what I'm going to make for breakfast.
-I don't have to overthink what I'm going to make for breakfast.