Breakfast Idea #1: Tropical Green Smoothies

Smoothies have become incredibly popular lately because they’re easy, healthy and delicious!  This recipe makes beautiful, vibrant green smoothie loaded with tropical flavors that are cool and refreshing.  It’s also packed with vitamins and nutrients our bodies need from foods that many of us don’t get enough, including me. It makes a great snack, but I really like it for a quick and easy breakfast.  It fills me up and I can make it – from start to clean up – in 10 min.

Ingredients:

• 2 large handfuls of spinach or kale
• 1 large handful of frozen pineapple
• 1 large handful of frozen mango
• 1/2 frozen banana
• Filtered water
• 2 tablespoon of coconut oil (use expeller pressed if you don’t like the flavor of coconut)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional, great source of fiber and Omega 3 – a good fat)
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable protein powder (I use Nature’s Sunshine green whole food, super food mix)
• (substitute a teaspoon of vanilla for protein powder to get the vanilla flavor)

Directions: Load all ingredients into your blender and fill with enough water to blend.  Pulse then blend on your smoothie/frozen drink setting for about 1 minute – stirring as needed.  Add water to get desired consistency.  I like it thick, but pourable.

This recipe makes about 4 full cups.  You can half it to make less or try making Popsicles with any leftovers.

Tip: adding the coconut oil (a healthy fat) helps your body absorb more of the vitamins from the foods in your smoothie, especially the kale.  If you don’t have coconut oil or you don’t like it, try adding 1/2 an avocado as your healthy fat.  It will give your smoothie a creamy texture, but the pineapple and mango will cover up the avocado flavor.