Mandarin Straw-Naner Smoothie

• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/3 frozen banana
• 6 oz. mandarin oranges, drained
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup vanilla whey protein

This recipe was a happy accident. I was suppose to buy mango, instead I purchased mandarin oranges. A couple of tweaks to the portion sizes, and voilà! My new favorite smoothie for right after a run.

The directions are super simple, just combine all the ingredients in a blender until smooth and serve. By my calculations this is approximately 185 calories. Not too shabby. The other stats:

• Sugar, 7.5 gr
• Protein, 11 gr
• Potassium, 362 mg
• Calcium, 102 mg
• Cholesterol, 25 mg
• Total fat, .75 g

I finished out my quick 3.25 mile easy run this evening and felt sluggish (as I usually do with later in the day runs). Not to mention I did not drink enough water today and felt a side stitch coming on. Of course my buddy, humidity, is still hanging around. It was just one of those runs where I had more fun getting all geared up for the run rather than actually hitting the pavement.

But I finished it up and then treated myself to this delicious concoction. What you cannot see in the photo is that I poured that little bugger into my "Blue Moon" glass. It makes the smoothie appear more rebellious. That's right biker dudes, move over. Mandarin Straw-Naner Smoothie is in da' house.