clear-skin protein smoothie

I was playing hooky the other day, lolling in a chair and having my toes done. The plan was to read trash mags and catch up on celebrity divorces. It didn’t work. I ended up flipping by a recipe for a protein smoothie in a women’s health magazine and I couldn’t wait for the pedicure to be over so I could race home and make it. I was starving and I’ve always found protein to be the best way to sustain energy in the morning. It worked and I’ve been making my variation on this a couple of times a week since.

And here’s the unexpected side-effect: this smoothie has made my skin really soft and clear. That wasn’t mentioned in the article, but I have always heard that raw oatmeal is good for your skin, usually in the form of a topical wash or a homemade scrub. Maybe it’s scrubbing away impurities from the inside, too (oatmeal is famous for sweeping away bad cholesterol after all). I figured if it’s working for me, it might for you.

ingredients

1 medium ripe banana
1/4 cup raw rolled oats
1/2 cup kefir (see note) or plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons maple syrup or 2 dates, pitted
1 tablespoon chia seeds, optional (see note)
1/2 cup ice

directions

In the container of a blender, combine peeled banana, oats, kefir or yogurt, peanut butter and maple syrup or dates, then whirl until smooth. Add chia seeds (if using) and ice and whirl again until smooth and frothy. Drink up.

note: kefir is cultured milk with probiotics that’s low in fat and high in protein and tastes like liquid yogurt. Chia seeds add omega 3s and bulk to your smoothie — they puff up and thicken when added to liquid.