Stay cool this summer: Dietitian shares smoothie recipes

Brooke Gacek, MS, RDN, LD, a clinical dietitian with USA Health, shares a quick smoothie recipe to keep you cool and refreshed this summer. See below for Gacek's tips and recipe variations:

• To make a banana, chocolate, nut butter smoothie, simply omit the berries and add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon of nut butter of choice. If you don't have any nut butter, you can toss 1/4 cup of nuts right in the blender. To add more nutrients, add 1/2 cup pure canned pumpkin.
• Let your bananas get nice and ripe, then peel, break in half, and store in the freezer in a ziploc bag. Frozen ripe bananas that are thawed out are a great replacement for eggs in baked goods, too.
• Frozen vegetables make a creamier smoothie and add vitamins, minerals, and fiber. You really can't taste them in there either! Some of my favorites to use are frozen cauliflower, zucchini, kale and spinach. If there's some spinach or kale in your fridge that might go bad, toss it in the freezer in a ziploc for smoothies later.
• Make a big batch of smoothies ahead of time and put in individual containers in freezer to have as a grab-and-go breakfast.
• Add smoothie mixture to a popsicle mold for a fun and icy snack on those hot Mobile days. Kids love these too!
• As always, have fun with it! Experiment with different fruits and vegetables, soy milk, low-fat milk, and types of yogurt.