Almond Power Smoothie

I’m back from Camp! Did you miss me? Hopefully not as much since my friend Jen was here to keep you company on Wednesday and Friday. Thanks again Jen! What great posts, plus her photos make me jealous. Must be the Montana light! (Or her awesome skills I suppose…) So happy she posted her amazing Walnut Encrusted Chicken which is one of my favorite recipes by her!

If you haven’t visited Jen at her blog yet, do it now and tell her I sent you!

I had a great time at camp and I’ve come back exhausted and refreshed at the same time. I needed an outdoor break! Remember how I said I wouldn’t be cooking this week?

Really, you believed me?

But more on that later as I’ll be sure to share some of my camping experiences with you this week.

Now on to an original recipe of mine I’ve been meaning to post:

A couple of weeks ago I was feeling really crappy. I was groggy, tired, terrible stomach pains, the whole nine yards. Not sure what kicked it but I'm feeling a lot better. I also went on a healthy "binge" to help sort it out. I think it actually might have worked! Yay bananas!

But if you still need a power boost, here's what I suggest:

Almonds- lots of protein and energy to boot. Add a banana and protein rich Greek yogurt, you are good to go for a labor intense activity or a cool down after a run. I'm no health expert, heck, I'm a history major, but I do like healthy protein rich foods. Since I don't eat any red meat or pork, I have to rely on a lot of non-meat products for protein, mainly nuts like almonds.

 This smoothie came off of an protein-rich experiment to help with my tiredness and stomach problems. In the past I've had to limit my dairy consumption (not without struggle) as my lack of meat eating makes it hard for me to digest animal proteins like that found it milk. Once again, I'm not a doctor, but when I eat less dairy I get fewer stomach issues, I feel more energized, and overall just a little better. And maybe that had nothing to do with dairy but it was worth a shot. (But of course ice cream and cheese doesn't count right? Oops.)

 So in this (mostly) vegan protein smoothie you can experiment with eating your own natural and plant based snacks or just experiment with its tastiness. I love bananas and almonds so if that's you, you'll love this too.

Note: If you want a "true vegan" smoothie either get rid of the yogurt or use a vegan substitute such as Whole Soy or another soy-based yogurt.

Almond Power Smoothie:

Makes 1 smoothie

Ingredients:

One banana, cut into chunks and frozen

3/4-1 cup almond milk
1-6.oz container of vanilla greek yogurt (I used Chobani 0% fat)
2 tbsp. Justin's honey Almond Butter
1-2 tbsp. Light agave (adjust for desired sweetness.)

Directions:

 In a standing blender or with a emulsion blender in a container, begin to blend frozen banana with half amount of almond milk.

Once mostly smooth add yogurt, almond butter, and desired amount of agave. Blend, adding more almond milk as necessary.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Variations:

·         Add ½ cup of blueberries for color and extra sweetness and nutrients

·         Add a little chocolate….don’t tell anyone I said that!

·         Add chia seeds for extra nutrients and texture.

·         Mix in some SunWarrior: Warrior Blend Protein mix for more vegan protein and have smoothie for a full breakfast! (Another benefit of my July Conscious Box!)

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Love,

The College Cuisiner