Bounce Back After the Holidays With Driscoll's Berries...Featuring an Antioxidant Bounce-Back Smoothie

It's a wrap, folks! Just like that, Christmas is the books for another year. We had a great time celebrating the holidays with our families and friends back home in Houston this week! Nothing beats great company and lots of tasty treats. As usual, Santa was quite generous. While I absolutely adore the holiday season – time spent with loved ones, colorful lights, beautiful music and décor – it’s also a very hectic and tiring time. Nearly every year, I end up with a post-holiday cold or virus. That’s not fun…so this year, I’m determined to do my best to stay healthy during cold and flu season. I'm starting by eating more healthy fruits and veggies. I was feeling tired and run down after returning home yesterday, so I decided to whip up a tasty and healthy Antioxidant Bounce-Back Smoothie featuring vitamin-packed berries from my friends at Driscoll’s.

This smoothie is just what I needed to bounce back after a hectic week of indulging in holiday foods! I selected berries that are naturally high in Vitamin C and healthy antioxidants for my smoothie: blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. To up the antioxidant factor even more, I also added tangy pomegranate juice. For a smooth, creamy texture, I added some ripe banana and a bit of low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt. Depending on how sweet you want your smoothie, feel free to add a bit of honey or agave. This recipe makes enough for two smoothies. They're a fabulous on-the-go breakfast or healthy snack. 

Antioxidant Bounce-Back Smoothie

a Weekend Gourmet Original

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Driscoll’s blueberries, frozen
• 1/2 cup Driscoll's raspberries, frozen
• 1/2 cup diced Driscoll’s strawberries, frozen
• 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
• ½ very ripe banana, sliced
• ½ cup lowfat vanilla frozen yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbs. honey or agave (optional)

Directions:

Step 1: Add the ingredients to the container of a blender in the following order: juice, frozen berries, sliced banana and frozen yogurt. Top with the honey/agave (if using) and vanilla extract.

Step 2: Blend on high speed until the frozen berries are completely blended with the juice and yogurt. You may need to stop once or twice and tap the blender container if your mixture is very thick. Pour into two glasses. For a pretty garnish, place a strawberry on the rim of your glass...and a brightly colored straw is a nice touch as well!

This smoothie will have your flagging energy bouncing back in no time!! It's also a gorgeous shade of purple-pink. This smoothie tastes great and is totally guilt free…I could’ve used plain Greek yogurt, but the frozen yogurt provides an almost shake-like consistency. The brand I used has only 1.5 grams of fat per serving, and it provides just enough sweetness so that no added cane sugar is needed. I plan to incorporate lots of healthy smoothies into my meals in the coming weeks. They’re a tasty and fast way to incorporate more fruit into my daily eating.

Disclosure: Driscoll’s provided me with coupons for free berries to facilitate this article. I received no further compensation, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Share this post