It's hot, have a shake.

I don't know about you, but during the summer my appetite shifts dramatically. I want a lot of cold foods, and I have considerably less desire to chew things. I feel this way during the very manageable Portland summer, so I can't imagine the energy it takes to chew in the midwest, where they've been rocking the 100+ temps all summer long. So, to eat breakfast or lunch in the laziest possible fashion, I like to make a shake. The great thing about shakes is you can pretty much throw anything into a blender and it will taste good. Perhaps not meats, but fruits and vegetable-wise, I think yes. The breakfast shake I've been loving lately is my peanut butter and jelly with a glass of milk and a spinach salad shake. Yes.

Spinach makes a great and healthy additive to shakes - it's very mild, almost sweet, and it melds with anything else you mix with it. I have a hand blender but a regular blender works just as well. Put a handful of spinach into your blending device, maybe about a cup. I don't measure these things, that would be entirely too much work and defeat the purpose of lazy eating. Drop in five or six frozen strawberries. Add a cup of milk, I like 1%, but whatever you like will work. Squirt in maybe around a tablespoon of honey, or less. Sometimes I use agave syrup if I have it on hand - it's super sweet, so you need less than with honey. Add in a large dollop (non-measuring tablespoonful) of natural peanut butter. You could use non-natural, but it will be a sweeter end product with less texture, which I enjoy most about these shakes. Blend until combined.

Easy. Stick a straw in it. Don't be alarmed that the shake is the color of your grandma's curtains. Just enjoy.

Here's a variation I love too. I called it peanut butter and jelly with chocolate milk. About a cup of berries, any type, or mixed, which is what I generally use, go into the blender. A cup of milk follows. A healthy dollop of peanut butter, and a squirt of chocolate syrup. Slightly less healthy than the above shake, but amazingly delicious! This recipe would take the spinach as well.

Happy lazy eating. ~T