What’s in your morning routine? I make my bed, splash my face with cold water, drink a giant glass of lemon water, and try to forget about the giant bag of dark chocolate chips I’ve been meaning (and failing) to hide from myself. I try my best to start things off well, with some clarity and conscious eating… that’s because it’s easy to reason with my relaxed morning brain. By the time dinner rolls around it’s nearly impossible to talk my brain out of popcorn, wine, and handfuls of chocolate chips. Morning is my power hour. Dinner looks like a breakup rom-com where a heartbroken girl eats her weight in everything ever.
It’s a new Monday. It’s a new week. Let’s start things off feeling great! The morning is on our side in three major ways.
I love that three completely different smoothies can come from this display of ingredients.
It’s all about color! We’re talking about the deep green of kale, bright yellow of pineapple, pretty purple blackberries, and beets that are just dying to stain your fingertips magenta.
Our constants, our rocks, our anchors in the storm will be frozen banana chunks and cold Almond Breeze Almond Milk.
I’ve coaxed you into putting greens in your smoothie before, haven’t I? This Kale, Spinach, and Pear Smoothie started this whole green smoothie kick in my kitchen.
Pairing pineapple with kale really brightens the flavors and makes the smoothie feel like a tropical kale vacation. Wait. That doesn’t tempt you? Don’t worry. This smoothie doesn’t taste like a salad in a blender. The kale flavor really mellows when pulverized in the company of pineapple and vanilla almond milk.
Kale, Pineapple and Almond Milk Smoothie
makes 1 large or 2 small smoothies
1 banana, sliced into chunks, frozen is ideal
1 heaping cup fresh pineapple chunks
1 giant handful of coarsely chopped kale leaves, center rib removed from the kale
1 cup cold Almond Breeze Almond Milk
1 tablespoon honey (optional, but nice for added sweetness)
Remove kale leaves from their rough center stalk and coarsely chop. In a blender, combine banana, pineapple, chopped kale leaves, almond milk, and honey (if using). Blend until smooth and no big kale bits remain. Add more almond milk if the smoothie is too thick for your taste. Enjoy immediately.
We’ve gone down the green road, now let’s talk purple.
Blackberries are both tart and sweet. They’re moody, and I respect that. I paired blackberries with a vanilla goat’s milk yogurt, and oat flour. Oat flour is made by placing old-fashioned oats in a small spice grinder until pulverized into a powder. It helps make me feel full and totally eases any belly unrest. An extra kick of vanilla from the almond milk, and pure vanilla extract really bring home the vanilla and berry theme.
Vanilla, Blackberry, Oat and Almond Milk Smoothie
makes 1 large or 2 small smoothies
1 banana, sliced into chunks, frozen is ideal
1 heaping cup frozen blackberries
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (I used goat’s milk yogurt)
1 cup Almond Breeze Almond Milk
2 tablespoons oat flour (old-fashioned oats ground in a spice grinder)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
In a blender, combine banana, blackberries, yogurt, almond milk, oat flour, and vanilla extract. It’s easy. Blend until smooth. Add more almond milk if the smoothie is too thick for your taste. Enjoy immediately.
Did you think for a minute that I’d leave you a smoothie with strawberries and bananas and call it a day? Noooo way. Not around these parts. I’ve added roasted, cooled, and peeled beets to this smoothie. It’s added fiber, folate, and major magenta coloring. I’ve also thrown in freshly ground flax seeds for some good omega action.
This smoothie is packed with good, but doesn’t taste like drinking a beet salad. It’s sweet, pink, and filling. It’s totally my new favorite.
Strawberry Beet Smoothie
makes 1 large or 2 small smoothies
1 banana, sliced into chunks, frozen is ideal
1 heaping cup sliced strawberries, frozen is awesome
about 1/3 cup steamed beets (I used two about half a large beet)
1 heaping tablespoon flax seed meal
1 cup Almond Breeze Almond Milk
In a blender, combine banana, strawberries, steamed and cooled beets, flax seed meal, and almond milk. Blend until smooth. Add more almond milk if the smoothie is too thick for your taste. Enjoy immediately.
Sponsored by Blue Diamond Almond Breeze.
Tieghan
These are beautiful and so fun!!! I LOVE the colors. LOVE them! I am so making these next chance I get!
anna @ annamayeveryday
Love this, I too have strong resolve in the morning which slips as the day progresses. These smoothies may be just what I need!
Monica
I’d love to try the strawberry, beet, flax and almond smoothie, but they all sound like divine combinations!
Pam
YUM! That’s all.
Quinn Cooper
So into the second one., blackberry oat almond. I mean who doesn’t love all three of those ingredients. I’m also a sucker for berry smoothies, they are by far my favorite. They are just so delicious.
I would be willing to try out the other two to switch it up a bit, I’m sure they are just as good.
xo Quinn
Quinn Cooper Style
Amy
Huzzah for creative smoothie combinations! The other day I smoothied spinach, watermelon, and yogurt. Thanks for mixing it up!
Ericka
Ha! I have the same problem. Mornings are fantastic – I have a smoothie or fresh fruit and yogurt and I feel stellar…then dinner rolls around and I’m sneaking handfuls of chocolate chips. Ugh. Oh well, we do our best!
I can’t wait to try these smoothies, especially the beet one – they look so bright and delicious!
Good
I have irregular work schedule at the moment, but my morning routine usually is: jump out of bed when the alarm goes off, kiss boyfriend, stoke cat, take a shower, get dressed, make our tisanes for the day, have breakfast, (homemade granola and soymilk for him, fruits, homemade bread and butter for me), prepare my tupperware lunch, brush my teeth, say goodbye to cat and informing him what time I will be back( bf already gone before me) and that’s it. I would love those smoothies, but I have no blender and can’t have cold food/drinks :(
Miss Kim @ behgopa
I start my mornings by waking up and laying in bed for an hour or two. If I don’t go to the gym, I just jump in the shower (on days I go, I shower after gym), wash up…try not to have that cup of coffee, but I do anyway…then eat something (not breakfast but lunch since I don’t wake up until 11am or so). On some days I’ll just go back to bed and lay around some more until it is time to go to work. I’m so not a morning person, so luckily I don’t need to get in until the afternoon. I love my schedule. I’m such a night owl.
Anyhow, I love Almond Milk. This smoothie recipe sounds so refreshing. What a creative recipe to make something so delicious. Once again, great photos! I admire the pretty colors of the smoothies with a black background. The smoothies are just screaming “drink me. I’m delicious”.
Caitlin
The first image of this post is so stunning! I love the vibrant colours of these smoothies, my breakfast looks so dull right now!
Ellen
Woohoo! I’ve been on a smoothie kick recently. I like the adding oats idea. I added some wheat germ and nutritional yeast once and that was tasty.
And I love the colors of these!
Catherine
If you put some protein powder in there, you would have a balanced meal1
Caz
Those smoothie’s look amazing. I love the colours. I have been in a smoothie rut of kale and blueberry lately so it is great to get some new inspiration. :)
Averie @ Averie Cooks
I have a carton of that almond millk in my fridge at all times (well vanilla unsweetened) and always have smoothies ready to go. I pre-make them, freeze them, and then nuke for 30 secs when needed. Such an a.m. timesaver when things are going crazy. I love your flavors. Love beets. Yes, I do. Nature’s candy!
Sherry Thornsberry
What do you store them in when you freeze them? I work full time as a nurse and my days are usually 10-12 hrs long.
thanks,
Sherry
jenny
i love smoothies for breakfast and will try aaaall of those!
wanderingsofalittlesoul.blogspot.de
ElisabethSpace
Beets in a smoothy?! How very exciting and ding dang colorful!. :)
Ever since I bought a stick blender thingamajig, I’ve been much more apt to make smoothies, since cleaning out the blender pitcher seemed like something of a chore. Thanks for the ideas.