Becky: ICBC Ugli Fruit

This is not my main recipe of the week, but this is just a little concoction that I made which I think is worth sharing. I've recently been on this new diet because I'm sick and tired of the extra weight I've gained around my tummy since I had my daughter. One of the requirements of this diet is to make a protein shake for breakfast every morning with the following ingredients:

Protein powder (I got the uflavored kind, which was not a smart move. It tastes really bad unless I add some vanilla extract or cocoa powder to my smoothie to sweeten it up.)
Liquid (either water, unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened soy milk. I use the soy milk.)
1 handful of fruit of your choice (I obviously used Ugli fruit)
1 Tbsp. or tsp. of ground flax seeds or whole chia seeds (I use the chia)
Veggies of your choice, as much as you want (I always use spinach leaves because you can't even taste them at all when they're all blended up)

Additions:
A sprinkle of kelp powder, which is recommended but not mandatory. It smells awful but you can't taste it when it's blended up, and it's really good for you too.
1 tsp. of cocoa powder. Ugli fruit taste a lot like an orange, and I love the combination of chocolate and oranges.

Blend it all up! This Ugli smoothie I made was actually pretty good. It did sorta taste like a chocolate orange candy, only less sweet. One thing that I would change though: I dug out sections of the Ugli fruit and tossed them into my blender, but as a result I got pieces of the "skin" around the sections floating around in my smoothie, which was kind of annoying. Next time I think I'll just squeeze out some juice instead, which should be easy because Ugli fruit is really juicy. Other than that, it was good.
I actually add the chia seeds after I blend everything else and pour it into a glass. Otherwise they stick to the sides of the blender and more of them end up getting washed down the drain than in my body. I know the color of the smoothie is pretty un-appealing, and obviously it's not as sweet and sugary as the smoothies you would find at, say Jamba Juice, but I've actually grown to really love these smoothies. They're filling, too! I wouldn't think that just a smoothie for breakfast would fill me up, but they do, and I also feel as though I have more energy in the mornings as well. I still have my sugar-free lattes in the morning too though, can't give those up lol. Anyways, some of these ingredients are pretty pricey, but I definitely recommend these smoothies to anyone who either wants to lose weight, feel healthier or gain some more energy. Actually, I recommend my whole diet that I'm on right now. Feel free to email me if you want to learn more about it! :)