Hooray for healthy fixes!

Do you imagine me as a gargantuan-sized woman who never leaves the house but only bakes, eats and blogs, bakes, eats and blogs? Despite appearances, you mustn't believe that it's all dessert all the time for me. I do have a concept of healthy eating and I confess only to you that I'm more than slightly obsessed with spinach.

image by paramount pictures courtesy getty images

Dear readers, this is a bit of a break in tradition, but I am here today to tell you about health food. What's more, it's health food that still gives you that Fox Fix we've all come to love. Food that feeds your body with essential nutrients but can still satisfy your cravings for SUGAR. And even CHOCOLATE. Because lets be honest, we're all addicted to sugar and chocolate here.

And I'm not talking about pure health food fluff- food that is only a substitute for the junk food. This "fluff" might not be as bad for you as the real thing, but it's not helping you out much either...I'm thinking of my brief foray into the "eating raw" realm, when I'd mix almond butter with agave nectar and cocoa powder and eat it every night with strawberries and pretend I was being healthy. Maybe it was better for me that Nutella, but it shouldn't have replaced real meals.

No, these dishes make great breakfasts or snacks and are even worthy of every-day-eating.

And while we're talking, I'd like to address all you lurkers out there. I know I'm not talking to myself here at The Fox Fix; the blog stats reassure me that I'm not. Some of you are even lurking from far away places like Canada and the Netherlands. Therefore, I'd like to encourage all of you to introduce yourselves- say hi in the comments and we can all have a dialogue; a real repartee if you will. I'd love to know my readers.

And those of you that I already know, please feel free (or even obligated) to comment away :) Thank you.

Because they are full of nutrients and easy to use, I find myself eating bananas and spinach most days. I also eat a lot of oatmeal, and I would like to eat pudding every day, though I do my best to quash that desire. Pudding every day is ridiculous.

And so, inspired by these food items, I bring you three delicious snacks in the next three posts:

First up,

GREEN CHAI MILKSHAKE

I drink a lot of smoothies because they're easy to mix up with different frozen fruit and juices. I always, always, always throw a large handful of spinach in the blender, too, because you can't taste the addition and spinach is one of the most nutrient dense foods in existence. One (packed) cup contains only 14 calories, and loads of vitamins A and K, as well as magnesium, iron, fiber, calcium, etc. It protects against cancer, heart disease, cataracts and more. With stats like that, why wouldn't you throw it into everything you eat?

Recently, Eric and I have been going ape for Banana Milkshakes, a drink his mom made a lot when he was growing up. It's simply frozen banana blended with milk, and I swear it tastes exactly like a creamy vanilla milkshake. It's truly equal to milkshakes made with ice cream. I crave banana milkshakes, and you will to once you join the club. Bananas are fat free and contain lots of vitamins c and a, potassium and fiber. It is also one of few fruits that contains the entire range of B vitamins. Freeze the bananas in chunks in ziplock freezer bags when they're very ripe for best flavor.

All this to say, I combined the green smoothie and banana milkshake concepts, added a dash of my love for chai lattes, and came up with the GREEN CHAI MILKSHAKE.

Blend until smooth:

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup liquid chai latte mix

1/2 cup skim milk or almond milk

large handful spinach

You may have to adjust the amount of liquid based on how big your banana is. Feel free to skip the chai and double the milk or add other flavorings, even cocoa powder.

According to my calculations, this milkshake has about 200 calories, zero fat and 46 grams sugar (plus loads of nutrients.) If you compare this to a chik-fil-a vanilla milkshake (640 calories, 26 grams fat, 88 grams sugar) you're doing great to stick to the green chai milkshake.