My Breakfast Smoothie

In the world of health blogs, gurus, fanatics, and devotees, breakfast is always a very serious topic of conversation. Whether it be smoothies, bowls, chia puddings, steel cut oats, fruit, your choice of menu is typically one you’ll brag about to your fellow health nuts. I’m not going to lie, the first thing I am thinking when I wake up is coffee. I’m essentially a zombie until I get that first steaming sip. My fellow holistic nutritionists would tell you that this is not exactly healthy. Not the coffee itself, but my reliance on it. I do agree, but we also all have to pick our poison. And coffee will be mine ten times over again. But that’s a whole other topic.



I feel like it’s a health blogger’s obligation, right of passage, really, to blog about their morning smoothie. Because of the diversity in recipes that each individual perfects each morning, I’ve come to believe that each smoothie says something about each person, or at the very least, helps me to see what they need to feel energized and satiated when they head off to work, school or play.

Anytime I ever talk to people about what to eat for breakfast, my number one suggestion is a smoothie. Unbeknownst to most, smoothies are so effortless. As long as you have the ingredients, the actual compilation of them all is easy breezy. I take the most of seven minutes in the morning and the best part is, even if I’m running late, I can take it with me, no mess, no napkins, no crumbs all over my face.

Just a small tip, I’ve had my best luck when experimenting. I used to feel like I needed to use the perfect measurements so that I would enjoy it enough to actually drink. I would carefully measure out a tablespoon where as now I'll eyeball it. Now, I know the ingredients I want, need, and love, which I'll tell you all about below the recipe! I don’t feel as though I need to follow certain recipes to enjoy a tasty breakfast that also has unlimited health benefits. This is why I’m going to simply give you my ingredients and approximately how much I use of each! Feel free to play and get wild with your smoothies. You know..as much as you can with breakfast foods.

Recipe:
(approx) 3/4 cup of Almond Milk
1-2 handfuls of organic spinach
1/2 cup of organic blueberries
1/2 cup of organic raspberries
1-2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
2 tablespoons of protein powder
Half an organic apple


Almond Milk
Almond milk is my go-to alternative for regular milk for many reasons that would end up making this post far too long. I will tell you though, for smoothie purposes, this Blue Diamond Almond Breeze is my favourite. Regularly, I will drink the Vanilla 40-cal almond milk that has less sugar content, but when my dad accidentally brought home the original, I realized it made my smoothies a little less ew and a little more yummy. It wasn’t that I had to try desperately to throw them back every morning, (if you want to cut the sugar down, I definitely would advise using the vanilla 40-cal) I just consumed them a lot quicker and it was less of a conscious effort. Of course, this was my own sugar-sacrifice that I am currently working on changing, but what are we without striving to always be better?

Spinach
If you’re anything like me, eating spinach in its most honest, raw form is a little easier said than done. Smoothies are the easiest and quickest way to get at least one serving (in my case two) of greens for the day. I don’t have to put anything on it to make it less awful (there’s just something about spinach that is difficult for me, I don’t know why) and by blending my greens, it helps to break down the nutrients and enzymes better than any chewing could do. We all need that dose in the morning for an energy boost, fibre content, and chlorophyll, which helps build the immune system, purify our blood and helps with sugar cravings! If you prefer kale, that is also a fantastic alternative. I usually use about two handfuls of spinach for each smoothie.

Frozen Organic Blueberries/Strawberries/Rasberries
Fruit is pretty standard when it comes to smoothies. You can use anything you want, really. It’s all preference for your taste buds. I personally love using blueberries in all my smoothies because the taste is always a good base. It seems to smooth things out and never leaves it tasting bitter. Today I added raspberries, but strawberries is also my go-to for a yummy mixture. The berries give me a dose of antioxidants to help flush toxins and support free radical damage in our bodies. I often use about a half a cup of each, but I sometimes end up adding more to alter the taste. It’s all up to you!

Coconut Oil
The better question when talking about coconut oil is what doesn’t it benefit? For me, I love it’s properties for, well everything. But namely, it’s fat-burning properties. Coconut oil contains short and medium chain fatty acids that help to increase our metabolism and thus help with fat burning. Because it is steered directly to our liver, it’s used directly for energy and burns fat instead of storing it in our cells. Aside from helping with digestion, fat burning, immunity, cardiovascular health and fighting bad bacteria in our guts, coconut oil is our skin and hair’s best friend. Along with moisturizing and reducing the appearance of wrinkles, this oil is a mighty fighter of more serious skin cases like psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis and other skin issues. I always just gage around a tablespoon (melted) but you can always do more or less!

Hemp Seeds
I love protein. I need protein. Especially when it comes to losing weight, for me, my body reacts more affectively to less carbs and more protein than anything else. Hemp seeds are what we call a complete protein. They are a perfect blend of essential fats (Omega 3+6), nutrients, antioxidants, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals for your body. For those of you that are vegan, struggle with digesting certain proteins, or just don't like your protein powder, this is for you. It also is great sprinkled on yogurt if you’re trying to think of other ways to use it! I use one tablespoon, depending on if I have flaxseed or chia seeds in my cupboards. Two tablespoons if you’re out of the others.

Chia Seeds
Chia is one of my favourite things to put in my smoothie. Even though it doesn’t taste any different, I can feel the difference in my hunger and energy levels when I’ve had chia seeds in the morning. One thing you always want to focus on at breakfast time is fibre. Fibre keeps you going throughout the day, it helps to support blood sugar, gives you energy and holds your hunger. And let me tell you, chia is bursting with it. The fibre also helps to feed the friendly bacteria in your gut, which is ultimately going to help with your digestion. They also have high protein, high antioxidants and are high in Omega-3. Can I get an amen? I use one tablespoon, again, depending on what other seeds I have like hemp or flax.

Protein Powder
This particular protein powder I have is one that is constructed/manufactured by my nutritionist. What I love first of all is the taste. Once upon a time, I actually used a little more than indicated to make my smoothie taste better. Yes, it’s that good. But even more, I love how simple it is. Just clean, pure, protein. It also consists of probiotics, enzymes and has no artificial ingredients or preservatives. It also has a high Biological Value (BV) and the higher the BV, the more absorbed and digested it is by your body. You can read more about it here, but a basic protein powder of your choice will do. This just assists the hemp and chia in giving me an extra boost of protein and to hold me longer throughout the morning.

Apple
You’d think I’d be on fibre overload by now, right? Not so much. Other than just simply liking the taste, I use a half an apple for a little extra fibre and some Vitamin C to help with immunity. And if you were wondering, the fibre comes from the soluble and insoluble pectin that apples are full of!







One small note: if you like smoothies more thick than thin, use avocado! It's a great source of essential fats and potassium for your day and is also the perfect ingredient to make your consistency thick.

I hope you take a morning to try out my smoothie and if you do, let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear if you made your own changes and how they turned out!

Yours truly,
The Holistic Darling