Lifeway Kefir Smoothie

I few months ago I joined a website called Influenster, which basically looks at how "internet involved" you are and based on your activity level you can participate in different programs. The programs involve receiving new products and reviewing them. I love freebies and so I thought I would give it a chance. Back in May I received my first box and had a great time trying out the products. I meant to write a blog post about it but time slipped away.

The latest program was for a product called Kefir, which is a cultured milk smoothie containing lots of probiotics. I have tried this drink before, I think it was the strawberry kind, but had not bought it for quite some time. I took my free coupon to Kroger and they had a pretty decent selection to choose from:

I chose the Organic Plain kind because I wanted to add my own flavor to it. (Obviously I should have taken the picture before taking mine off the shelf so there wasn't an awkward hole). The small sign below the one I chose is Kroger's way of indicating a product is gluten free. I'm not sure why the organic one is the only one with this sign because from my understanding they are all gluten free.

I had read some complaints from people on Kefir's facebook page about the amount of sugar in the plain Kefir (12g). I didn't have a problem with this amount, I buy plain yogurt all the time and that is about the same amount of sugar it contains. Keep in mind, this sugar is not added to the product, it is not sweet at all, it is the amount of sugar found in a plain dairy product.

I used my Kefir to make a green smoothie. Green meaning it has some sort of veggies in it, in this case baby spinach.

Green Strawberry Banana Kefir Smoothie
1/2 cup Organic Plain Kefir
1/2 cup unsweetened Almond milk
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
about 1/2 frozen banana
handful of baby spinach
1 tsp of honey (or other sweetener)

The frozen banana is the key to any smoothie, it adds texture and creaminess. Always break up the banana into chunks before freezing it for easy use. I usually add a scoop of protein powder to my smoothies but I left it out this time so it wouldn't mask the flavor of the Kefir.

Add all the ingredients to the blender, blend until smooth

Finished product. Overall the taste was really good, I maybe would add a little less almond milk to have a thicker consistency.

Little tip on green smoothies, if you have trouble with the color try using a cup with a lid and a color tinted straw. The spinach doesn't add much flavor but lots of vitamins!

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

If you are interested in joining Influenster let me know and I can send you an email with an invite :)