To be honest, I'm not generally a huge fan of drinking my food. It's not always as satisfying, and it's often not a very balanced meal option. However, sometimes you just need something you can easily take on the go, and these smoothies work really well for that! Besides being an excellent mix of protein, healthy fats and fiber, this is a micronutrient powerhouse! It's loaded with calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium thanks to the mix of fruit and veggies.
I made this up when I was trying to work more probiotics in after I'd taken a round of antibiotics. Kefir is an excellent source of probiotics, and because of the fermentation process, it lasts a long time refrigerated and doesn't bother many who are generally lactose intolerant. It's also referred to as the "champagne of dairy" because of its bubbly appearance. It may not quite be the mimosa some of us would prefer, but any type of "champagne" is better than nothing - especially on a weekday morning!
I've tweaked the ingredients to make it work for my personal goals. However, if you need more carbs/calories, you can always increase the ingredient amounts to make it work better for you.
BANANA BERRY BELLY SMOOTHIE | 1 serving
Ingredients:
For each freezer bag:
1/2 banana, sliced
1 cup (big handful) baby spinach
1/4 avocado, cut into a few chunks
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
To make good use of groceries - I usually take 2 bananas, 1 avocado and a 5 oz. bag of baby spinach and just split them up between 4 quart-size freezer bags.
Additional ingredients:
1 cup water
1 scoop unflavored protein powder (I like Tera's Whey and Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides)
1/3 cup kefir, low fat, unsweetened (can sub whatever milk-type product you prefer)
1 tbsp chia seeds
Directions:
For freezer bags - add ingredients to freezer bags and freeze for later. You could always throw them into the blender fresh and add a few ice cubes if you are ready to make it before freezing.
If planning to have a few smoothies over the course of the week, I like to go ahead and add the rest of the ingredients into a few mason jars, give them a few good shakes and refrigerate. I will warn you that this concoction doesn't look particularly appetizing without the other stuff, but it does make for a very quick and easy morning.
When you are ready to blend, you just dump the contents of the freezer bag and jar (or those individual ingredients) into a blender and whiz it up!
Nutrition: 339 Calories | 11g fat | 28g protein | 36g carbs | 11g fiber | 161mg sodium
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