Orange Julius Smoothie (Pink Style)

Oh, Orange Julius and their famous Orange Smoothies. They take me back to being a teenager and hanging out at the mall, getting and Orange Julius drink was a must while I was there with my friends. As I was out walking the dog after my workout, I was thinking about making my shake and  had a brilliant idea. Why don't I sub out the strawberries in PINK Drink #1 for and orange? I wasn't sure it would be approved but after looking in the book at the approved list of slow fruits and seeing that the Pina Colada with a Side of Green Smoothie in the back of the book had a half of an orange in it, I was pretty sure it would be okay. I wondered how the calorie count would change and discovered that a cup of strawberries has 53 calories while a small orange has 63, ten more calories was no big deal to me so I decided I had to try it and it was good!

Orange Julius Smoothie Pink Style
1 cup almond or coconut milk
1 scoop protein powder (I use the 365 whey protein powder from Whole Foods, 80 calories a scoop)
1 orange peeled and wedges seperated
1/2 cup ice

Put it all in your blender and blend until smooth. If you want a thicker smoothie, add more ice.

As you can see there are little black seeds in my smoothie, those are chia seeds. I add them mostly as a way to add in some Omega 3's and to help with my fiber intake, the absorb 8-10 times their weight in water and help me to feel fuller longer. I also used them to make this strawberry chia seed jam awhile ago. 

Strawberry Chia Jam (sugar free)

I woke up this morning and decided to have have scrambled egg whites with assorted vegetables, (onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, zuchini, and bell peppers) with a slice of sprouted grain bread. I toasted the bread and when it came out of the toaster I thought, what am I going to put on my toast, butter, peanut butter and jam were all out, they are no no's in the primary phase of P.I.N.K So I set out to make a quick strawberry jam. I ended up just smashing a couple strawberries with a bit of stevia and spreading it on my toast. It tasted good but that "jam" was a little watery.

As I ate my toast, I kept thinking about ways in which I could thicken the strawberries to make it more jam like. I remembered reading about chia seeds a while back and how they were a natural thickener that were considered a super food, 1 tbsp contains 1/4 of your daily fiber, and they are jam packed with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. What is odd about them is that they absorb 7 to 8 times their weight in water and the seeds turn sort of gelatinous when they soak in water for about 30 minutes. I thought it might be the perfect thickening agent for my "jam" and while doing my grocery shopping today I picked some up and was pleased with the outcome of my jam. By the way, one of the main ways people used this seed is added to smoothies or mixed into oatmeal, I may try adding some to my PINK drink tomorrow because they are so packed with fiber, it should help me feel fuller longer. We will see and I will let you know what I think.

Strawberry Chia Jam
1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup water
stevia (optional, to taste)
1 to 2 tbsps. of chia seeds

Preparation

Put the strawberries, water, and stevia into a blender and puree but leave some chunks, this is a jam after all, not a jelly. I pureed mine a little to much.

Sprinkle the chia seeds onto the strawberry puree and stir to combine.

Let the strawberry and chia seed mixture sit for about 30 minutes so that they seeds absorb some of the liquid and thicken.

Store the "jam" in a container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Enjoy!!