But winter is also a great time to start healthy new habits.  With inevitably more weekend days spent stuck indoors I've made a resolution this New Year to spend that time being more proactive about planning healthy meals for the week. Truth be told, I've always enjoyed meal planning.  On Sunday mornings my routine has always been to pull out my favorite cookbooks (of which I have many) with a cup of coffee, pen and notebook to make a menu and shopping list for the week.  But in reality my meal planning rarely extends beyond weeknight dinners.  Everything else is generally a free-for-all.  And in my experience, as the saying goes... failing to plan is like planning to fail.  

So what can a busy girl do?  Well, for one I can do green smoothies.  Seriously, until I discovered how easy it is to make a delicious healthy green smoothie RIGHT IN A MASON JAR... I would never have believed how quick, easy, delicious, and satisfying a green smoothie can be.  Nothing against all you juicing folks out there – but I bought the fancy juicer, cleanse recipe books, and filled my fridge to the gills with carrots, kale, beets, and the like for several weeks... And I gotta tell ya, in the end I've concluded that juicing's not my jam.  I (personally) far prefer the green smoothie.  Here's why.

1. Less expensive to make.  Firstly because you don't need to invest in an expensive juicer.  But also because green smoothies can be made with a far smaller volume (or quantity) of fruits and veggies – so there is less to buy.  Likewise, you can save even more money by stocking up on frozen fruits and vegetables which have the added benefit of keeping your smoothie cold and delicious.
2. Keeps you fuller.  Green smoothies are far more filling than juice alone. This is at least in part due to the fact that there is considerably more fiber per sip.  The juicing process removes and discards of all of the fiber in fruits and vegetables and the fiber is what keeps you feeling fuller longer.  Fiber also helps regulate blood sugar spikes by slowing sugar absorption.  Still not full?  Try adding nut butters, protein powder, avocado, or gogi berries to pump-up the protein.
3. Saves you time.  As a busy mom with precious little time in the mornings, this might be the most important reason of all for me.  Juicing means I have to lug out the giant juicer and piles of fruits and veggies (usually making a huge mess in the process) and then clean everything up.  Yes, you can make a day or two ahead but with every passing hour that juice is oxidizing and losing valuable nutrients.  No bueno.  Not with green smoothies!  I can purchase frozen organic pre-cut fruits (like mango, pineapple, papaya, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries... you name it) and pair with a cup of fresh greens and have a deliciously satisfying green smoothie ready in minutes.  To save even more time I have begun assembling individual bags of smoothie ingredients in ziplock bags on Sundays to pop in the freezer for the week ahead.  Then, in the morning I dump the contents into a 24oz mason jar, fill with water (or coconut water) and blitz with the immersion blender.  Done!  A healthy, delicious, freshly made meal on the go in minutes!

So while I haven't yet managed to magically find another hour in my busy weekdays  to cram in a daily workout, today I can do this.  And while it's a very good thing bikini season is still several months off, this tropical green smoothie is a deliciously healthy pick-me-up that will have you shaking your grass skirt all day. Pair with a jar jacket and straw top lid and take a little bit of paradise with you wherever your journey takes you today.