OK, so I gave you my fave post-workout drink and smoothies are a great way to work something sweet, tasty and very healthy into your daily eating routine. There are several foundational ingredients that contribute to a good smoothie and I’ll post those soon with a link for you.Here are a few of my smoothie “rules” to go by:It’s good to have a “to go” smoothie container like in the pic.
1. The portable blender in the pic can be useful at times, but is only really good for water and protein powder.
2. If you have to grind up and puree your ingredients, there are some portable ones available, but they are around $50-60. A portable blender is certainly NOT required to have.
3. I like to use 3 fruits and most of the time it is best to make sure one is frozen + a banana, and at least one berry.
4. Try to include one ingredient from the “greens” family (spinach is a safe choice, not much taste to overwhelm the drink, you can try kale, celery, cucumber, but be careful and experiment with these, they can overwhelm the entire flavor of your smoothie)
5. Add one nut butter. The ones I like are peanut butter, cashew butter, or almond butter.
6. You can also add another healthy fat source, examples are flax oil or walnuts.
7. I never use regular milk and instead I substitut almond milk. This is optional.
8. If you want to make it thicker, add oatmeal, flax meal, applesauce, or ice.
Summary: Build your drink base with 3 fruits, 1 green ingredient, a nut butter. Then if you want to keep adding more fun stuff, you might try cacao nibs, sunflower seeds, almonds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds.