I loooooove a good smoothie.  I make one every morning for breakfast, and the boys are starting to love them too.  Inspired by this weeks summer-like temperatures, I figured it was a good time to make some popsicles. We have a pretty relentless ice cream truck driver, so I try to keep healthy alternatives on hand for when she drives by.  I use the same five ingredients as a base, and then add some extras depending on what flavor I want.  Here’s what I did today…
Base:
~1 cup almond milk
~a handful of spinach (This week we happen to have a bag of “power greens” in the fridge instead. It includes spinach, kale, and a couple other kinds of green leaves)
~a handful of baby carrots
~a heaping spoonful of greek yogurt
~a little squirt of honey (approx. a teaspoon)
Extras:
~half a scoop of vanilla protein powder
~two small bananas
~four Halos (or Cuties, or whatever you want to call those easy-peel oranges)
Dump all ingredients in your blender, and mix until smooth.
Pour into your favorite popsicle molds and leave them in the freezer till they’re solid and ready to enjoy.
My favorite tip for amazing smoothies is to use frozen bananas. Â They thicken your smoothie without the need for ice, and you can avoid throwing away too-ripe bananas by just sticking them in the freezer and using them in a smoothie instead. Â I didn’t use frozen ones this morning because I was making popsicles, but if you’re going to drink your concoction, I highly recommend freezing your bananas ahead of time. Â And in case you’re wondering, you can’t taste the spinach or carrots… not even a little bit.
Need some other mix-in ideas?
My breakfast smoothie is the Base above plus a Starbucks Via packet (Mama needs some coffee, ya know!), a scoop of chocolate protein powder, a spoonful of natural peanut butter and a frozen banana.
The boys really love the Base plus a frozen banana, a handful of frozen mixed berries, and either half a scoop of vanilla or one scoop of chocolate protein powder. Â (I find that the vanilla powder can be pretty overwhelming, so less is more with that one.)
Recipes like these are quick and easy to make, and serve as a delicious treat that’s healthy too!
Do you have any fun smoothie recipes to share?
We do frozen berries with almond milk. Sometimes I add greek yogurt. I used to use frozen bananas but the girls started disliking it with those so I leave them out now. I give them these smoothies as an afternoon snack. =)
Oooh, I live the idea of adding the Via packet!!! My smoothie is very similar to your base…but I will have to try this. Like, tomorrow.