Breakfast of a Challenger

A couple of my friends have been asking me about my diet, and in particular the ingredients for the breakfast smoothie I make myself each morning. It's packed with goodness and tastes great. I started making this "super green" smoothie when I was eating raw over the summer. Right after July 4th rolled around I was partying a bit too much and making poor health decisions. I started feeling sluggish and it was affecting my yoga. Turns out the likely culprit was the Lyme's Disease, however the change in diet helped.

I've kept my morning and weekday lunch routine the same throughout, but now for dinner I venture outside the raw boundaries, as you may now know from my previous post about eating out.

I love this smoothie, I have been drinking it every morning. I started with many other ingredients but tweaked it quite a few times because certain foods are just easier to store and for taste.

I use my trusty, Hamilton Beach 14oz Blender and really just eyeball the ingredients to make sure I fill the blender to the top.

Here are the ingredients and steps, feel free to tweak as you like.


Ingredients:

1. Baby spinach leaves, Arugula or Kale. ( I have been using baby spinach the most. I find the Kale is the hardest to blend. I've read that Arugula aids in skin related problems, so that may be the choice for you.)
2. Frozen Bananas. (Slice and bag them in your freezer beforehand. I learned this the hard way. Adding frozen bananas was a tip from my friend Rebecca, who is AMAZING in the kitchen, she and her fiance were raw foodies for a long time and she was able to get creative with her recipes. I aspire to be like her in the kitchen someday.) 
3. Almond Milk. I use the original/unsweetened Almond Breeze brand. If you are new to clean eating you may want to use the sweetened version. It's not that much more sugar but is much tastier. 
4. Water
5. Blueberries 
6. Organic Whey Protein Powder. If I am not using blueberries in the shake I will use a chocolate flavored powder, and if I do use the berries I go with vanilla. I haven't put much research into the protein powders, I tend to just buy from our local, organic market, 4 seasons, and hope that the labels are true.

Steps:

1. Blend about 2 oz. of water and baby spinach until smooth. I use about 2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves.
2. Add 2oz. of Almond Milk and 1/2 frozen banana, slices. Blend until smooth.
3. Add Blueberries, blend till smooth. (The skin of the berries will not blend as easily but add texture to the smoothie.
4. Add 1-2 scoops of protein powder. Blend and enjoy! 

Let me know what you think! I will post Rebecca's infamous Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie soon. Sounds indulgent but the ingredients are just as nutritious as this one!

Sweet 16 TONIGHT!!!!