For all of my fellow golden milk lovers out there — it’s time to try making a golden milk smoothie! ♡

This healthy smoothie recipe is easy to make in just a few minutes with frozen fruit (I love pineapple or mango), fresh banana (bring on the potassium), your favorite kind of milk (dairy or plant-based), a big chunk of fresh ginger (or powdered, if that’s what you have on hand), and those warming golden milk spices we all love (hello turmeric, cinnamon and black pepper).

Just toss everything in the blender and combine, and this bright ray of sunshine will be yours to enjoy in no time. Let’s make some!

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I’ve long been one of those people who can’t resist sprinkling some chili and cayenne on my fresh mango slices. But it wasn’t until recently that the idea occurred to me to do the same with my mango smoothies!

Now, I’m totally hooked. ♡

I’m telling you, that extra kick of cayenne will instantly liven up any green smoothie. And when paired with lots of fresh ginger (for extra spiciness), sweet mango, creamy almond milk, and lots of feel-good greens, this smoothie is just all kinds of delicious. Plus, it’s naturally vegan and gluten-free, and only takes a few minutes to make. And if you’re not into mango, no worries, this recipe also tastes just as delicious using frozen pineapple or peaches.

So if you’re looking to spice up your smoothie game, quite literally, jump onboard the spicy smoothie train and let’s blend one up together!

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Raise your hand if a trip to the mall back in the 90’s absolutely had to include an Orange Julius.

Meeee too. ♡

Back in the day, you’d better believe that I regularly saved up my precious teenage allowance dollars to splurge on this favorite drink. You know, to go with that slice of Sbarro pizza and bowl of Dipp’n Dots. And casually keep in hand while browsing the racks of dELiA*s, Sam Goody, Contempo Casuals, bDalton, and Spencers. It was the smoothie we all loved before we even knew the word “smoothie” — the famous Orange Julius.

Decades later, I’m still obsessed with this creamy vanilla orange smoothie. But nowadays, I opt for my homemade version instead. It’s made with fresh, healthy, simple ingredients. It only takes a few minutes to make. It’s naturally gluten-free and can easily be made vegan, if you’d like. And, as you can see, I’ve also green-ified it with a few handfuls of baby spinach. (Because when making a smoothie, why not?!)

So for those of you who share this 90’s mall nostalgia, or to anyone looking for some extra Vitamin C this season, grab a bunch of oranges and spinach and let’s have a green smoothie date together! (more…)

Looking for a sunny cocktail to toast to this weekend?

This recipe is your new everything. ☀️??

Seriously. It’s a smoothie + a mimosa + a refreshing glass of OJ….all in one! And, it only takes a few minutes to whip up. And with it’s delicious tropical flavors, your first sip is pretty much guaranteed to have you feeling all of those beachy vibes…wherever life may find you. (You know, like right in the heart of the Midwest…about as far away from a beach as possible. ?)

Let’s raise a glass of this mimosa smoothie together, shall we?

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A few weeks ago, I shared a quick vid on my Instagram story about blending up a bunch of leftover spinach into ice cubes for a week ahead of green smoothies. And all of a sudden –✨ poof ✨ — my phone blew up with questions.

“Whoa, how do you make those?”

“What else goes in there besides spinach?”

“How many do you add to a smoothie?”

“How long do they last?”

I tried to respond to as many of you as a could. But for anyone I may have accidentally missed — and anyone else out there today who might also be interested in some creepy-green-yet-life-changing frozen spinach cubes — I thought I’d pop in today and share how I make these little guys. They only take a few minutes to make, they’re the perfect use for leftover greens, and if you happy to love green smoothies as much as I do, they’re a total lifesaver.

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As of today, we have less than 6 weeks to go until our wedding! ? ? ?

I’m getting so excited!! And — gotta be honest — I’m also suddenly starting to feel extra motivated to look and feel my best in this lovely wedding dress I’m going to be wearing. (In case you missed it, I shared a little peek of it in Friday’s post Friday’s post.) . Don’t worry, I’m totally not into crazy crash bridal diets or anything. But I am feeling motivated to try and eat really well over these next few weeks so that I can feel as strong and healthy and present as possible on our big day. (And be in good shape to dance the night away at our reception!)

So in hopes of getting in more greens before the wedding, I’m committing to try and start my days with a green smoothie every morning leading up to the wedding. I mean, hopefully the habit will stick long after. But it seems like a good little challenge at least for 7 weeks. ?? I already have a handful of green smoothie recipes here on the site, and usually just improvise new ones with whatever ingredients I have on hand each day. But if any of you have any awesome recipes that you recommend, hit me up! I’d love to try ’em!

This one above happens to be one of my recent favorites. It’s made with organic matcha green tea powder, which I love because it provides an extra energy boost in the morning (plus all of those good-for-you green tea nutrients). Then it’s loaded up with fresh orange and ginger (two of my favorite classic tea flavors), fresh spinach (greens!), chia seeds (or whatever other add-ins you love), and lots of coconut water (which includes lots of natural electrolytes). Super delicious, and super easy to make. I think you’re going to love it!

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Big week behind the scenes here at Gimme Some Oven HQ — I bought myself a new camera!!!

And oh my goodness, I absolutely love it.

For any of you fellow photography nerds out there, I’ve been shooting with a Canon 6D for the past five years, which has been great. But I’ve been hearing rave reviews over the past few months from some friends who’ve been using the Canon 5D Mark IV — specifically about its awesomeness with shooting video (hello, new YouTube channel), shooting in low light (hello, depressingly-gray and cloudy Kansas City winter), and ease of use (hello, slick new touchscreen). So after saving up for awhile, I finally decided to take the plunge. And now, I totally feel like that kid at Christmas who doesn’t want to do anything else except play with her new toy. ;)

It’s made photography so much more fun!!! Which is great, since I usually spend a serious amount of quality time with my camera each week.

Anyway, in transitioning things over to the new camera this week, I took the opportunity to go back through the thousands of files still sitting on my old camera memory card. And sure enough, found a few gems that I apparently missed sharing with you over the past few months. So before we move onto new camera photos, I wanted to share with you this oldie but goodie:

This yummy raspberry smoothie. (more…)

This body of mine has never done well with long winters.

I wish it did — that I could be that girl who looks forward pulling out her cozy winter clothes each year, who loves bundling up in layers upon layers to go out, who feels a thrill when that sharp blast of cold winter air takes your breath away, who thinks there’s nothing more magical than snow on the ground, who can’t wait to come inside when the sun goes under at 5pm and make a warm meal and take a piping hot bath, who tells everyone that this is her most wonderful time of the year. I have good friends like this.

But man, the older I get, the more I’m convinced that — as The Weepies say — I was made for sunny days.

Nice, warm, bright, long, grassy, flip-floppy, sundress-y, picnic-y, swimming-pool-y, iced-beverage-y, grill-All-The-Things-y, sunny summer days.

Man, I love ’em. And at this time of year, I find comfort in at least knowing that we’re now on the upswing again, and the days are getting longer and brighter and moving us closer and closer to summertime. And I do, at least, enjoy me a good warm bowl of soup and piping hot bath, and some of my other favorite ways to push through those winter blues. But, let’s be real, a good cup of coffee (or three) also helps. And for an extra boost this winter, I’ve been blending mine into a smoothie with lots of extra protein and electrolytes to give some extra energy to my days. And — you know — maybe pretend for a hot second while holding my icy smoothie in January that it’s nearly summertime again?! ?

Ha, whatever works, right?

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You would think that after 7 years of food blogging, I’d have this naming-my-recipes-thing down. But once again, you loyal Facebook friends out there reminded me that asking for input is always a good thing. ;)

I was an inch away from calling this an Anti-Inflammatory Pineapple Smoothie, since some of the ingredients are linked to anti-inflammatory benefits, and I thought sounded awesome. And then I thought about just calling it a Pineapple Turmeric Smoothie, since those are the two ingredients that seem to stand out the most to me in this one. But then I couldn’t decide, so I popped onto Facebook and asked people to vote on those two options, and then randomly threw in a third (because who doesn’t love a good three-option multiple-choice?!). And lo and behold, guess which option everyone voted for by a landslide?

Feel-Good Pineapple Smoothie it is!

Haha, totally works for me, because this is definitely a recipe you can feel good about. It’s a riff on my favorite pineapple ginger smoothie recipe that I make regularly. Although this version is kicked up a notch with the addition of some turmeric, which happen to be topping the food trends charts this year. And it also just so happens to pair well with all of the sweet flavors in this recipe.

So let’s make a smoothie you we can feel good about! ;)

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By the time this post goes live today, I’ll already be 24 hours into my lake weekend with my girls. ♥

It’s one-hundred-eleventy-jillion degrees around here lately, so it seemed like the perfect time to pack up the coozies and the coolers and the six of the coolest chicks I know and spend the weekend splashing around. And I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that quality time is definitely my love language. So getting to spend a weekend with some of my closest friends, catching up on all of the real, awesome, hard, crazy, and everything-in-between-ness happening in our lives — plus (of course) the usual variety of everything else from Hillz and Trump, to The Bachelorette and the Enneagram, to Wendell Berry and berry smoothies — quality time with good friends is simply the best.

So while I’m away, I thought I’d leave you with this smoothie recipe that I’m going to be whipping up for the girls while we’re away for breakfast one day. It’s chocked full of kale and blueberries, but unlike many kale smoothies I’ve tried and pretended to like, this one is actually sweet and delicious and good for you, yet not-overly-kale-y. Win-win-win-WIN.

Here it is!

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