I overdid it a bit with the food last night, so I woke up not very hungry. I knew I needed a light breakfast to get me started and a smoothie was just the thing. Plus I could get 5 servings of fruit and vegetables at one time, with little effort.
I have a strategy for making smoothies. It’s not necessary to follow it to the T, but I think it’s the most efficient way to make a smoothie. There’s no way I could get all of these ingredients in my blender if I combined them all at one time, so it helps to be a little strategic with what you blend and when.
The first ingredient for my smoothie this morning was the rest of a mango I had chopped and froze a few weeks ago.
For me, the success of your smoothie really depends on the amount of frozen fruit you use. I try to make sure at least half of my fruit is frozen to give the smoothie the right consistency. Plus, you can buy frozen fruit for pretty cheap when that particular fruit is not in season.
Next, I added half a banana, also a consistent ingredient in almost all my smoothie recipes.
And the last fruit ingredient, half of an orange.
Put all fruit in a blender with 1 cup of almond milk.
Add three ice cubes and put your blender on the ice crush setting, or a low setting if you don’t have the ice crush setting.
Walk away and find something else to do for a few minutes. I always put my teapot on first thing in the morning, so by the time this stage of smoothie-making rolls around, my tea pot is screaming at me that the water is ready for coffee.
When you return, your mixture will be ready for the next step.
Stop the blender and add one serving of vanilla protein powder. I used hemp protein. One serving of hemp protein is four Tbsp., which is the equivalent of 1 scoop in most protein powders.
Next is the part that makes some people squeamish, but I am willing to stake my life on the fact that spinach does not change the flavor of smoothies. Add as much spinach as your blender can hold. Or, do what I do and put two huge handfuls, regardless of whether it fits in the blender or not.
Use the jaws of life (your hand) to force the spinach into the blender so that the lid can be put on. Blend on high and walk away from the blender.
Find something else to do like watch your significant other sleep. That’s not creepy at all.
Yes, there are three glasses on our nightstand. I wonder how that could have happened.
Next, check to make sure your dog is still breathing by lifting the covers back at the bottom of the bed. Still breathing? Good. We’re ready to move on.
When you return, your smoothie should look like this. If it doesn’t because the spinach isn’t mixed with the liquid, use a spatula to push the spinach down, then blend again until it is completely amalgamated with the mixture.
Lastly, I sometimes add a bit of sweetner. I taste it first to see if it needs it, depending on the ripeness of the fruit I used. In this case, I did need a bit so I added one serving of Stevia. I use the Trader Joe’s Organic Stevia that has the little tiny scooper (about 1/16 tsp. ?). It’s concentrated so you don’t need as much…probably equal to one packet of Stevia. Blend your sweetner in if you choose to add some.
Pour into a glass with a straw for maximum enjoyment. Yes, a straw is necessary. I think so anyway.
Enjoy with your French pressed coffee or coffee of your choice.
Drain and repeat.
Note: You’ll have to repeat unless you have monstrous sized glasses. This smoothie is really about a glass and a half and I always drink the whole thing.
1/3 frozen mango
1/2 banana
1/2 orange
1 cup almond milk
3 ice cubs
2 huge handfuls of spinach
1 scoop or 4 Tbsp. vanilla protein powder (I used hemp protein)
sweetner if needed
Blend and enjoy!