Tropical Protein Smoothie

Is there anything in this world more refreshing than sweet, juicy tropical fruit?

One taste of that goodness takes me to a place with white sand beaches, turquoise water and life less hurried.

The sound of the crashing waves. The smell of the salty air. Frozen drinks with rum little paper umbrellas. Ahhhh, paradise.

Ooorrrr you could be stuck in Ohio and be trying to train for a half marathon in bazillion percent humidity weather, finding yourself in serious need of some tasty, revitalizing post-run recovery.

Sorry guys, that was the actual inspiration for this smoothie. No beaches.

This year I’m running the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Half Marathon again, courtesy of my little sister who twisted my arm to do it. And I’m dragging Derek along with us too. I’m glad to have some running partners this time instead of going it alone!

But the farther we get into training, the more I remember how the long runs make me ABSOLUTELY RAVENOUS. So in an effort to keep myself from shoving my face with everything in sight for the remainder of the day, this smoothie was born.

Let me introduce you to the lovely ingredients:

Welllll, kinda sorta.

Because this girl does not even have time to chop all that stuff – especially just to throw it in a blender.

So actually we’re gonna use frozen mango (from a bag), baby carrots (also from a bag), pineapple juice (yup, from a can) and the last remaining (and only legit) ingredient in the above photo, a banana. But that wouldn’t have made for a pretty picture.☺

And I know I said this was gonna be a protein smoothie, so….

We’re adding some cottage cheese. Strange but true. Because I’m kinda on the fence about protein powder. Seems kinda unnatural, ya know? How did 17 grams of protein get into that powdery stuff anyway? I know, the cottage cheese seems weird. You’re gonna have to trust me on this one. Cottage cheese + smoothie = practically a milkshake. Healthy. Tropical. Milkshake.

Make it. Add a little paper umbrella. Join me in paradise.