Magic Morning Smoothie
Unlike many other recipe-providing blogs, I’m actually going to provide the recipe before I go into the backstory! Amazing concept! Here is the recipe to my favorite way to start a morning:
Magic Morning Smoothie
1 cup frozen spinach or kale
1 frozen banana
1/2 scoop of Whey protein
1/2 scoop of Plant-based protein
1 cup almond milk
2 -5 tsp dark cocoa powder (go with your gut)
Coffee ice cubes
The secret to this recipe is definitely the coffee ice cubes. I purchased rubber ice cube trays off Amazon that make a smaller sized ice cube. Whenever we have some extra leftover coffee, I will add the coffee to the trays and stick them in the freezer. These coffee ice cubes give me a great kick in the morning and when combined with the chocolate flavors from the protein powder and the dark cocoa powder, it really tastes like I’m drinking a blended iced mocha drink. Yum!
Now, what about the other ingredients?
For my frozen spinach or kale, I will typically buy the large Power Greens from Costco. If I don’t get to Costco (this is rare) or run out, I will buy a larger container of greens from the grocery store, put it into a freezer-safe container and stick it in the freezer. This makes it easier to blend and I can never taste the greens so I get in a serving of veggies without even noticing.
I also freeze my bananas. I don’t know about you, but my family is so unpredictable when it comes to bananas. Sometimes I will buy a bunch and they will eat them in a few days and be looking for more. Other times my family won’t even look at them. I can never win with bananas, so I always make sure then they start to get darker, I peel them and break them into pieces and put them in the freezer as well.
I always add some sort of protein and I’ve found a good mix of two different kinds of protein. I used to only use plant-based protein powder (found at Costco) but I found a really good isolate protein that tastes good and I can buy it from Costco online. I decided to use a half scoop of each so I can reach my goal of 30g of protein while getting both types. The whey protein powder I use is Dymatize® ISO 100® Whey Protein Isolate in the chocolate peanut butter flavor.
The plant-based protein I use is Orgain’s Simple Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder in the vanilla flavor.
Next, a smoothie needs some liquid and I like to use an unsweetened vanilla almond milk. This gives the smoothie some creaminess. I usually buy either the Silk brand or the Blue Diamond brand. I can’t taste the difference and I will usually just buy whichever one is cheaper that day.
Then, the dark chocolate lover in me just needs to add a smidge more chocolate flavoring so I add some Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder. There’s no sugar so it only have a few calories, but when it combines with the little bit of sugars in the protein powders, it adds that dark flavor I’m looking for.
Finally, the secret ingredient (that is not so secret anymore since I gave it away at the beginning). I love my coffee in the morning and coffee with chocolate is such a great combination. Sometimes in a pinch I will add cold coffee that I’ve saved from a previous brew, but if I have the coffee in ice cube form, I love to add them to my morning mix. I bought two rubber ice cube trays off of Amazon that make small honeycomb shaped cubes. I can easily pop a few (okay five) out and put them in my smoothie to add some caffeine and a boost before my workout.
All of these combined make my perfect morning smoothie. When I first started making a morning smoothie as a pre-workout way of getting some protein and caffeine before starting my workout, I tried different combinations. I would try different fruits (blueberries, strawberries, mixed berries), I would try different protein powder flavors, and was only using water and regular ice cubes. Once I hit on this combination, it stuck. These days, the only change I sometimes purposefully make is to use frozen dark cherries instead of bananas (chocolate covered cherries anyone??). Otherwise it’s this, every day! Try it and let me know what you think.
Do you have a go-to smoothie recipe? What is your favorite breakfast to get yourself going in the morning?
