Morning smoothies
For years, I’ve eaten a Nature Valley granola bar for breakfast, often in the car on the way to work. Also for years, I’ve listened to people expound on their love for their morning smoothie with only polite interest. “You get in an early serving of veggies!” they’d say. “You stay full so long!” they’d say. “Mmmhmm,” I’d say.
And then my younger sister visited in early August, and we got to talking about her daily eating routines. She’s a minor health nut and starts her day with – you guessed it! – a smoothie. For some reason, her enthusiasm shifted something for me and I’ve had a smoothie for breakfast almost every day since. A few other factors helped:
— I realized I wasn’t eating as many fruit and veggie servings as I wanted to throughout the day. I can’t taste the big handful of spinach in my smoothie, but knowing it’s there makes me feel like I’m a gosh darn health food superhero, ha!
— Breastfeeding = I’ll always take a chance for more liquids.
— The protein powder really does help me stay fuller, longer.
— John’s been on the smoothie train for awhile, and for his birthday, I got him a new blender*. It’s AMAZING and is way better at its job than our old hand-me-down one. Smoothie making is now a pleasure :)
My current favorite smoothie recipe:
— A ripe banana
— A big handful of spinach
— A spoonful of chunky peanut butter
— Half a scoop of chocolate protein powder (Kim recommended this one, which apparently includes two different kinds of proteins and keeps you full longer)
— A spoonful of chia seeds (I get mine from Publix)
— About 1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries (also from Publix, I eyeball the amount)
— About 1.5 cups of whole milk
Once blended, I pour it into one of these cups**, pop it into the cup holder in Annie’s stroller, and set off with June for the walk to school. And friends, as cooler fall weather sets in, I truly feel I am living my best life.
I’d love to hear: are you a smoothie person? I find they tend to be a bit evangelistic, ha! What do you eat for breakfast?
*Father of the Bride vibes, anyone?
**On my first smoothie walk, I poured it into one of our regular glass cups and nearly dropped and shattered it on the pavement multiple times. Learned my lesson :)
Yum! We’ve been on the smoothie kick for almost 4 years (except while I was pregnant this past year haha) and it’s our favorite!
If you ever get sick of blueberry smoothies – I love frozen mango and vanilla protein (keeping everything else the same).
Love your morning routine – our little one is only 4months but I’m sure we will be doing something similar sooner than we know!
Ooh, that sounds yummy, Ashley! I’m curious what the vanilla protein powder would taste like!
Need to get back into doing a daily smoothie. I’ve loved using Naptime Kitchen’s Daily Green recipe for smoothies. Love the idea of adding protein powder to make them more filling!
Green smoothies still scare me a bit, ha! Everything Kate does is gold, though, so I’m sure it’s worth a try!
I am deep into green smoothies! BUT, I cannot use non yellow fruit in my smoothie…I need it to be GREEN. (So high maintenance ;)
2 C spinnach, 1/2 C frozen pineapple, 1/4 frozen avocado, a splash of orange juice, 1 T chia seeds, 2 scoops vital proteins, water to consistency I like – and away I go! Health in a glass!
Impressive, my friend! And a green smoothie does look much more appetizing than a yellowy-brown one :)
Ooooh, you have to try this pumpkin smoothie!! I am a Kelly LeVeque Fab Four breakfast smoothie person and make this one every day for about two months straight in the fall. It’s a perfect break from my usual go-to chocolate/banana/spinach/almond butteer combination :)
I second Kelly LeVeque’s smoothies! They are so delicious! I especially love the Strawberry Basil Be Well smoothie.
I third Kelly LeVeque smoothies! This is where I learned the formula/structure I follow :)
I am saving this recipe! I love the idea of a pumpkin smoothie. I’ve never thought of that for some reason!
I cannot get into smoothies as a meal. And that’s even with all the veggies and fruit. I think part of the problem is that I just don’t love really cold beverages. I also know that for me personally, I am no use without some carbs in the morning. My quick go-to is a Kodiak Cake protein waffle. But my true forever favorite will always be an over-easy egg on top of a piece of toast.
Interesting…I may try this! I eat nothing for breakfast sadly but I used to be a breakfast person! I think just being out of the habit and having so much going on in the mornings, I started just having coffee and nothing else. But by about 10 or so I usually eat a Nature Valley bar. This sounds much healthier.
For some weird reason I don’t like the taste of the spinach leaves in a smoothie BUT have found that if I blend the leaves with a teeny bit of water (or coconut water) then a) I can just freeze them into cubes and b) somehow I can’t taste the spinach so can add like 3 cubes instead of only a handful of leaves :) Also, fresh beetroot chopped up is great and you don’t taste it at all!
This is very similar to the smoothie I make most days! I usually do 1/4-1/2 cup of frozen strawberries, a scoop of peanut butter, 20g of protein (I use the chocolate collagen peptides from Thrive Market), a spoonful of chia seeds, and a cup of unsweetened almond milk. I try to add greens too, but haven’t been doing that as much lately. When I don’t have a smoothie, I often do eggs or oatmeal :)
I am not a breakfast person and usually just have my coffee while I read to the kids while they eat. Most days I end up having warm oatmeal with fresh fruit. I am considering putting that blender on my birthday wish list though! And who knows, maybe I’ll jump on the smoothie after all, ha! Might be good way to get my son to eat more veggies, too!
I love smoothies too! I’m a teacher and when I get home from work I am starving, but dinner is on the horizon. I always make a smoothie right when I get home to hold me over. My go to is almond butter, banana, chocolate protein powder, splash of almond milk, and chia seeds.
Happy to be the resident “mild health nut” :) And so glad you’re still liking them!
Huge fan of smoothies but, more importantly, just commenting to say how cute your outfit is!