The great smoothie/salad experiment

My husband has always been an active guy, and because of that, he has not had to worry too much about what he eats and can stay at a healthy weight.  Well when I was pregnant with the little lady, I was put on modified bedrest and told to up my calories.  Because one of my 2 vices is ice cream, he made me sundaes and milkshakes nightly.  We both gained weight this way but I had a baby and lost mine, but he didn't have the luxury having a baby.  Right after that, he graduated with a PhD and got a new job.  He now works very long hours and doesn't have much time for exercise anymore (he doesn't like the idea of getting up early to workout either).  He also doesn't really like healthy foods.  He will eat a salad but would always prefer chips or fries. 

So he is a little frustrated to have these few extra pounds on him, and not being able to get them off is even more frustrating.  I was doing a little blog reading this weekend when I came across No Meat Athlete's post on "My 7 links."  The post he chose for "Most Helpful was one on smoothies. 

He starts off by describing that if you eat 2 healthy meals a day, you won't get fat.  Basically, he is saying that if you eat a healthy smoothie in the morning, then you will be more likely to have a healthy lunch, and if you have a healthy salad in the afternoons, you will set yourself up for a healthy dinner, because of how good you feel.  I agree with what he says, because I feel that when I have a healthy breakfast I will make healthier decisions later on. But I also like the idea of getting all your fruit and veggie requirements out of the way with 2 simple meals. Then the rest of my meals can be more of what I am feeling and not how can I include a fruit or veggie into your sandwich. And then any fruits or veggies I have during another meal is just a bonus.

So the Smoothie Formula . . .
Basically it's 1/2 frozen banana,
small handful of other fruit,
3/4 cup liquids,
1 T binder (pb, ground flaxseed, rolled oats, etc.), and
3/4 T oil (flaxseed, coconut oil, etc.).
Then you can add in other healthy super foods like spinach or cocoa nibs.

Then the idea is to have a nice big salad in the afternoon with tons of veggies, nuts, and some healthy oil.

So we are going to experiment with this over the next couple of weeks. But I need your help. I tend to get into a rut when it comes to food.

What are your favorite smoothie recipes?

What do you put in your salads right now?

How can we keep this experiment going?

So we are goi