With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, let’s shake things up and celebrate in style without the typical green beer. I never understand why anyone would add food coloring to beer but hey, to each their own.
Here is a way to have a green drink or to make one for the kiddos without adding toxic crap to your fun day.
You can easily modify this by adding or removing things but I like to just make sure it’s balanced. Meaning you get protein, carbs, healthy fat and fiber.
Personally, I like doing as many of the vegetables and fruit frozen as possible because I think it makes it more creamy, frozen and delicious but if you have fresh items you can throw them in and just add ice instead. It will just feel a little more icy/watered down.
🍃 Spinach- I like doing one to two handfuls of spinach just because it makes me feel so good and really gives your smoothie a little bit more bulk. I am Italian, so I’m always measuring with my heart so just listen to your body but trust me, adding extra greens is never gonna hurt you.
🫐 Blueberries- I like to call blueberries, brain berries, because they provide so many antioxidants are literally a superfood! I buy the wild, frozen blueberries, because they are just the absolute best for us. I do anywhere between 1/4 of a cup to a 1/2 of a cup, depending on the time of the day that I’m drinking the smoothie and what my day is like. If it’s just a typical day and I’m having it in the morning for breakfast, I do 1/4 or 1/3 of a cup because I don’t like to start my day with a lot of extra sugar from fruit. But if I’m drinking it after I just came home from the gym or for lunch, I might add more like a half a cup. Again just think about your goals and what you’re trying to achieve and listen to your gut. Lately I have been doing eggs in the morning so If I do a smoothie it is for another meal, not breakfast.
🥥- Coconut milk- Personally I like to use light coconut milk for smoothies it’s a little less thick, less calories and fat but gives it some creaminess. But you could use any milk here that works best for you. You could also use almond or any kind of nut milk or even raw dairy milk if your body does well with it. I do a half a cup.
🥑- Avocado- I remember when somebody told me to add avocado to a smoothie I thought how could that possibly be good but trust me adding the tiniest bit of avocado makes your smoothie sooooo creamy it’s delicious. And it gives it a little extra boost of healthy fat, which we totally need to keep satiated, and help our brains function optimally. I just do like a fourth of an avocado. You do not need that much. Just about 2 tablespoons gives your smoothie some brain boosting power.
You could also sub a tbsp of nut butter here if you can’t do avocado but it wont add the same level of creaminess.
💩 Fiber- sorry there’s no emoji for Chia seeds! LOL! Personally, I go in phases where I like Chia seeds sometimes and sometimes I don’t. You just wanna always make sure that your smoothie has fiber. You will get some from the spinach and from the blueberries, but some people like to throw in extra seeds like flax, or chia. There are also so many health benefits to seed cycling for women. So if you are at an age where you are still trying to regulate your cycle and hormones, you might want to Google seed cycling and do the accompanying seeds in your smoothie each morning.It can be a real game changer.
🥩 Protein- Don’t worry I have not lost it and I am not going to tell you to put steak in your smoothie. Lol! But I do personally use a grass- fed beef protein. I find that I feel the best when I use a Paleo protein. But you could use whatever protein you feel best with. I also do a scoop of collagen in there as well. However, I always make sure that I have the grass fed beef protein, not just collagen because collagen protein is not a complete protein source.
My favorite proteins are –
Be Well With Kelly – unflavored (they have chocolate and vanilla but they are too sweet for my taste)
Paleo Valley- I am new to this one but so far loving the chocolate one at night so I may try the unflavored or vanilla soon. It is a little on the sweeter side in my opinion. I wish it was a bit less sweet, but I am pretty sensitive to this.
If I could tolerate dairy I would use the brand Just ingredients- I loved this one because it was so tasty but my body didn’t love it back. And it also has pea protein in the blend which can be harder to digest and not as gut friendly.
💧Water- Now this my friends you’re gonna have to just measure with your heart. I kind of eyeball how much water it’s gonna take to make this smoothie blend up because I don’t use a ton of milk. Usually about another half a cup to a cup, is where I’ll start and then I just, add until the consistency is perf. 🍫 If your protein powder is unflavored you could add 1 to 2 tablespoons of raw cocoa powder if you wanted to and make it more chocolatey, if that’s your jam. Personally, I don’t really need that for a breakfast smoothie but if I was making it as a snack or another time of day, I may add some. Or you can also use a bit of vanilla powder too. This is also where you could add any herbs or supplements to it. I know a lot of women like to take maca for hormonal reasons or whatever- you can throw that in here as well.
Hope you make this St. Patrick’s Day and every day one to remember filled with laughter, love, and plenty of healthy fun instead of food coloring.
