Anti-Inflammatory Turmeric Lime Mango Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 2 mangoes
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 TBS fresh lime juice
• 8 medium dried dates
• 2 cups unsweetened plain almond milk
• 2 cups ice cubes

Mix in your blender and you have a delicious smoothie!  Enjoy! 

Orange Greensicle Smoothie

I just made this today because I had coconut milk and greens that I had to use up, but I had forgotten that when I made this a few weeks ago, I said to myself, "This is my new favorite smoothie!"  Then, I didn't make it again.  Well, when I drank this, I immediately remembered that and said, "I have to post this one so I don't forget!"

Make it! Make it! Make it!  This is the best green smoothie I have ever had!!!  Really, I'm not lying.

Okay, so here are the ingredients - I doubled it this morning and it made 4 small cups - enough so I could drink one and then put the other three in the freezable ball jars so that I can put them in my lunch and Atzin's lunch.  This method with the ball jars works really well.  I tried it out a couple weeks ago and I had a smoothie that was just right for my afternoon workout, I had a smoothie for lunch, etc.  By mid day or early afternoon, this is melted and ready to shake and drink! (I digress ... back to the ingredients....)

(This is the doubled version I made this morning which makes the 4 small cups or 2 large ones)

2 medium frozen bananas
1/2 cup coconut milk
4 cups mixed greens or kale (I know, this sounds like a lot, but it really works! And it's okay.)
1/4 cup raw cashews
2 medium oranges
1/4 to 1/2 cup almond milk (Depends on the consistency that you want).

Notice there is no sweetener added to this smoothie - you don't need one.  The bananas and oranges are enough.  The frozen bananas and cashews help to give it a really creamy texture.  You won't be disappointed!  This is so good! And if you don't drink dairy, like I rarely do nowadays, this green smoothie can replace that milk in the morning so you make sure you get your calcium and many other added vitamins and minerals you get from the kale and other fruits.

Directions: Put it all in your blender, except the almond milk.  Blend it up, adding the almond milk as desired.

What are you waiting for?  Go...go make it!

Flu Fighter Smoothie

This is delicious and you can feel it combating that flu/cold virus immediately with the ginger and vitamin C.

2 oranges
1 small lemon (or lime) - either juice or whole - I just put it in whole (peeled of course)
1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled
5-6 ice cubes
1-3 tsp of maple syrup depending on how sweet you like it - I used 1 tsp
a pinch of cayenne pepper

Banana Bread Smoothie

Atzin named this smoothie.  I made it for him yesterday and he said, "Wow mom, this is like liquid banana bread!"  I said yeah, "you're right, this smoothie has all the ingredients I would use to make banana bread - except it uses almond milk instead of almond flour!"  So there you have it, "Banana Bread Smoothie".

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas (the frozen bananas make all the difference in the world! So, yes, make sure you freeze them the night before you are going to make this.)
1 Tablespoon almond butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1 - 1 1/2 cup almond milk (depends if you want it more like a shake versus a smoothie).
3 medjool dates (pitted of course)

Put all the ingredients in your blender and make your smoothie.  This is so delicious.

Serving - 1 large glass (This is so rich, I sometimes split it into two smaller glasses - it is really filling).

Almond Butter Protein Shake

This drink was so filling and made a wonderful breakfast.  I was very ready for the weight room.

Ingredients:
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBS almond butter
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder of you choice
stevia (you can change the sweetener and use a different one.  If you use the stevia, about 6 drops are good, but not more than 8)
1/2 cup to 1 cup of water
1/2 cup almond milk (optional)
About a cup of ice cubes

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in your blender.
2. Blend in your high power blender!
I'm not exact about the liquid  I start off with 1/2 cup of water and about 1 cup of ice cubes, then add almond milk and water until I get the consistency that I want.  I probably end up with about 1 cup of water and about 1/2 cup to a a cup of almond milk.

Chocolate Hemp Seed Smoothie

Ingredients:
2 cups almond milk
3 Medjool dates (pitted)
3 TBS unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa
3 TBS hemp seeds
2 bananas
1/4 tsp cinnamon
About 6 ice cubes

Instructions:
Place all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend it up!
Enjoy!
This makes two very generous servings

Source: Adapted from the "Oh She Glows" website

Grapefruit Strawberry Smoothie

I love this smoothie.  The combination of the grapefruit and strawberry flavor is delicious. The strawberry softens the taste of the grapefruit so that you get a really good sweet and tart flavor.  I don't make it often because Atzin does not like the taste of grapefruit.  But if you like grapefruit, this smoothie will just make your tastebuds very happy.

2 small grapefruits
2 cups strawberries
1/4 cup cashews
2 medium oranges
2 cups of ice cubes

I made 1/2 this recipe this morning and it made a very generous portion.  The full recipe can make enough for two very generous large cups or three smaller ones.

Strawberry Lime Shake

We started out this road trip after some serious planning together with Atzin.  He looked up the schools, planned the route, and set the appointments for the visits.  I assisted and planned the food and hotels.

I thought this was the perfect smoothie to start our road trip.  It was very simple to make; quick when you want to get out the door quickly in the morning and used the left over coconut milk from one of the recipes that I prepared for the road trip.

Here it is:

1 1/2 cups canned coconut milk
3 tsp of fresh lime juice
1 10oz bag of frozen strawberries
1 TBS coconut oil (optional)

Blend the ingredients in your high speed blender.  That's it!

Kiwi Asparagus Smoothie

Well, I have a series of green smoothies that I make.  Usually made with kale or spinach.  Last week, I bought a big bag of Asparagus at Costco.  When, I do this, then I figure out all the ways I can incorporate that vegetable into my meals.  So, here was one way to use the asparagus.

4 medium kiwis
4 asparagus spears (remove tough end)
1 cup honeydew melon
1 TBS flax seed (this is optional, but I like to add a source of fat to all my smoothies to aid in absorption of all the wonderful vitamins and minerals you are getting from your raw fruits and veggies).
1 cup almond milk unsweetened
5-6 ice cubes

As it is above, it makes 2 tall glasses of smoothie.

6 WW points per serving

(Variations: you can add water instead of almond milk, but I had this as my morning smoothie, so I wanted the extra nutrition and texture of the almond milk).

Spicy Pumpkin Chai Delight

This smoothie is adapted from 31 Perfect Fitness Smoothies.  This is intended to be an energy booster, so a good morning or pre-workout smoothie.

I made this one for Atzin this morning and the ABC Smoothie for me and Rolando.  This turned out delicious and I think I will make it for him several times this week.  I was a bit skeptical about how the combination of spices would taste and whether it would be "too much."  But it was delicious and he gave it a thumbs up!

1 scoop of Vanilla protein powder
1 cup brewed chai tea
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 TBS of agave or honey depending on desired sweetness
5-7 ice cubes.

This made a very generous serving.  His protein shake container was filled to rim.

ABC Smoothie

This smoothie is from a book called "Crazy About Kale."  I love to prepare this for Atzin in the morning.  The first time I made it though, I worried he wouldn't like it because it is not sweet and I added a sweetener - Don't do that!! The sweetener ruins the flavor.  This is a green smoothie and is delicious and NOT intended to be sweet.  I suppose if you do want it a bit more sweet, you might consider adding a banana.  I added Stevia that time and the flavor doesn't work.  Actually, I have doubled the amount of banana and it does turn out really good.  I think that makes just sweet enough for those who want a sweeter taste.  Atzin though told me he doesn't need his smoothies to be sweet, so that was good news to me.

1 cup fresh spinach
1/2 cup kale (I use the big bag of frozen Kale from Costco that I keep in the fridge for kale smoothies.  I also do use fresh kale).
1/4 of an avocado
1/2 large banana
1/2 cup water (A variation I use here is adding more almond milk instead of water.  That's up to you).
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 - 1 cup of ice cubes or more depending on how you like it.

I have also added a bit of protein powder in the past.  This morning, I just made it like this.

This makes one large glass of smoothie.  You can make it and split it with someone for a smaller glass or have the whole thing to your self!

About 5 WW points for the full glass.

Pink Grapefruit and Cashew Smoothie

This is an alkalizing smoothie.  I love this smoothie.  However, this is more like a grown up smoothie.  Atzin doesn't like it, so I don't make it often.  He doesn't like it because of the grapefruit.  I, on the other hand, love it exactly because of the combination of the grapefruit and strawberry flavor.  It is wonderful.  To me, it's subtle and perfect.  This recipe makes a very generous tall glass.  It is a hearty and refreshing combination.  You try variations of this - such as eliminating the grapefruit and adding another orange or more berries.  I really like this one.  This one is from the book Paleo Smoothies: 120 Delicious Paleo Smoothies for Alkalizing, Detoxing, Weight Loss, and Optimal Health.

1 pink grapefruit
1 cup fresh strawberries
1/8 cup cashews
1 orange
1 cup of ice

(This is 7 WW points).

Peanut Butter Monkey Smoothie

I absolutely love this smoothie, but hadn't made it for awhile.  This is a good workout smoothie.  I would make it before Atzin and I would go lift weights.  I also occasionally make it as a "breakfast" smoothie.

This smoothie is supposed to be a metabolic accelerator.  Being in weight watchers, this does take a leap of faith because if you had the entire serving it would be a whopping 15 points in the weight watchers world.  However, it was always amazing to me how when I ate Paleo, I would eat so much and think, I must have gained so much weight this week; but in fact, I would end up losing more weight.  So, although this is calorie dense because of the "good fats" in this, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  You can see that I am a mestiza even in my "diet" philosophy; pulling from various diet traditions and tools.  I think one of the reasons I was able to lose so much weight on weight watchers was because it was only one tool among many others - including switching to what Rolando, my husband, calls a Paleo inspired diet because I don't stick to it all the time.  As you will see in this blog, I am always gluten free - but not always grain free completely.

Given that last week, I got out all my desires for gluten free grains (the gluten free buttermilk pancakes, the gluten free biscuits, etc.), I'm feeling the desire for a completely Paleo day today (no grains at all and no dairy).   I am evening thinking it might be a smoothie day for breakfast and lunch with enjoying my fill of Paleo tamales this evening.

Okay, so here it is:  (Adapted from  the book 31 Perfect Fitness Smoothies)

1 Scoop of Chocolate Protein Powder
1 TBSP unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 TBSP coconut oil
1 TBSP almond butter
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla stevia
5 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in you blender until smooth and enjoy!

This makes a VERY generous 1 serving.  Usually, I make this and it makes enough for Atzin to have one whole protein shake mixer of it and I am able to have a small glass (so only 5 pts).  This morning I doubled the recipe and it was enough for all three of us to have a protein shake mixer of it - about 3/4 full.

Kiwi Pineapple Smoothie

This is one of my absolutely favorite smoothies.  I made it this morning as Atzin was getting ready for a game and I was getting ready for a run.  This smoothie turns out with a really creamy texture.  It's delicious!

1 kiwi (you can put the whole kiwi in without peeling)
1 large banana
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 TBS canned coconut milk
1 1/2 TBS flax seeds
1 3/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
1/2 serving vanilla protein powder

Mix in your blender or Vitamix!

This will make 3 small servings.  However, I doubled this recipe.  By doubling it, it filled 3 of those protein shaker containers almost to the top.  This way I had enough for three of us (my husband too).

I normally make this recipe and it makes enough for Atzin, my son to fill his protein shaker container and I have about a small glass full.

Highly recommended - this is one of our regular favorites.

4 Weight Watcher points per serving