If a smoothie doesn't have any fruit, is it still a smoothie?

With age often come pounds!  Well, in my case, the pounds came onto my skinny high schooler frame in college, and I've been battling them ever sense.  I'm not much of a proponent of specific dieting plans.  Having said that, several years ago, before I knew much about nutrition, I lost about 20 pounds following the South Beach Diet.  Knowing what I know now, it wasn't such a bad "plan!"  The idea was basically to avoid highly processed starches, which is sound nutritional advice.  The weight creeped back on, and I lost most of it about a year ago by simply cutting out sugar and white carbs other than potatoes, which are a whole food and should not be villainized.

But like many dieters (ugh I hate that word!), I've stalled.  So I'm re-embarking on South Beach, dreaded almost-carb-free Phase 1 and all.  I have to say, with my generally lower-sugar eating habits these days, it is so much easier!  When I cut out fruit and starch in 2004, I was light headed, woozy, cranky, and lots of other bad things.  This time, I feel great!

So what to eat?  My "normal" breakfast is oatmeal, but that's temporarily out.  I'm also fairly lazy in the breakfast arena, at least on work days, so I need something quick and simple.  Enter the smoothie.

But don't smoothies have fruit??  Not this one!  I've been hearing a lot about "Green Monster"-type smoothies, but those usually involve a banana or some other fruit.  So I endeavored to create one that doesn't have fruit but still has enough sweetness to be palatable.

My version is kefir based (probiotics!), with a touch of vanilla extract and kombucha for the idea of sweetness (and more probiotics!).  I also add some cinnamon, cocoa powder, and peanut butter for good fats.  Then comes the greens!  I include a serving of Deep Green superfood, and a couple handfuls of spinach or whatever other leafy green I have on hand.  Flip on the blender to break the spinach down, then add ice to create some bulk and texture, and voila!  A totally palatable, fruit-free green smoothie!

I'm going to spare you a photo--it's not pretty!  Between the greens and the peanut butter...yeah.  But it works and is quite filling!

My next plan: same idea, but with Berry Radical (once it's not sold out anymore...), and switching the peanut butter for coconut oil.  Stay tuned to how that works--I've yet to be able to add coconut oil to anything cold without it clumping!

Edited to add nutritional info:

• Servings Per Recipe: 1
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 281.4

• Total Fat: 12.7 g
• Cholesterol: 10.0 mg
• Sodium: 314.4 mg
• Total Carbs: 23.5 g
• Dietary Fiber: 6.9 g
• Protein: 24.0 g