Cold treats in January, a SoCal Special

A lot of you will hate me for this, but it's in the mid- to high-70s in SoCal right now so frozen/blended/cold treats are appropriate. I've nailed two good ones in the last 24 hours...

Pumpkin Smoothie
(A Tawnee original)

1/2 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 1/2 tbsp plain greek yogurt
3 extra large strawberries (6 if really small)
dash of cinnamon
dash pumpkin pie spice
dash of salt
stevia (or sweetner of choice; as little or as much as you want)
1 cup ice

Blend and enjoy!

I had this smoothie after a cold lake swim (water temp ~55F); you'd think hot chocolate would be more appropriate but I worked so hard in the water I had taken such a hot shower that I was feeling hot after. Doesn't this lake look inviting? Nevermind the duck poop and bee-fest at the shoreline (wouldn't you know I stepped on a dead bee, but guess I got the stinger out so quickly that I avoided another death-like reaction, just minor foot swelling...hmm, maybe that's why I was so hot)

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Avocado Ice Cream
Click here for the recipe; found on Heather Eats Almond Butter (a great food blog that I highly recommended; I found it thanks to the blogroll of the lovely Lindsay Cotter).

The Vitamix is ideal for making ice cream and fro-yo, with the secret being: xantham gum and guar gum, aka my two new best friends because now I don't have to go out and buy fro-yo 24/7!!

I made this ice cream for the first time last night, and the avocado gives it an amazing creaminess unlike anything I've ever tasted. Sooo good! I topped mine with mixed nuts and seeds.

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That's it for now... got a big weekend coming up. We're 10 weeks out from Oceanside 70.3, so this weekend we're doing a mock half-Ironman! Looks like the perfect weather for it :) Also, got some great news to share for next week, stay tuned.