Smoothie Saturday: "Wake Up" Choco Latte

I would be lying if I told you I make smoothies everyday for their taste over their health benefits. Truth be told, I sometimes pack in so many greens and other random ingredients (like beets and pumpkin) that it is sometimes a challenge to finish the whole thing.

It's not that I don't believe in enjoying food and smoothies, I just find it such a lost opportunity to pack in nutritious produce if I don't take it to that next level. I find it difficult to get in my veggies and salad in the winter months especially, so I just feel so much better about my day when I start it with a greens packed smoothie.

That said, every once in a while, I indulge in a smoothie that is more tasty than healthy.  I leave out the greens, I use soy milk instead of water, add extra banana and some peanut butter and or cocoa, and in the end the thing tastes more like a milkshake than a smoothie. Mmmmmmm mmmmm good...

Well, today was the perfect day to try out a smoothie in the middle of the road. It's not PACKED with greens (although it could be), but it's also not overloaded with calorically dense, nutritionally light foods either. Since I was out of soy milk and unable to make my daily double latte, it was the perfect excuse to sneak some espresso into my smoothie. Coffee and breakfast in one- cha ching!

"Wake Up" Choco-Latte Smoothie

1 frozen banana (peeled, sectioned, frozen at least the night before) OR 1/2 an avocado + ice cubes
2 shots of espresso (or, 1 cup brewed coffee - just reduce other liquid)
water or milk or choice to thin to desired consistency

1 teaspoon coconut oil (use only if using water as thinner over milk)

2 tablespoons "power" mix (I use chia seeds, hemp hearts, buckewheat, and flax seeds)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (regular is more antioxidant packed, but dutch processed is tastier)
2 frozen "green cubes" (pureed spinach/kale frozen in ice cube tray)
1 tablespoon almonds or almond butter
Optional: I added some frozen berries in for some more antioxidants, but not enough to affect the flavour.

Blend until creamy, and enjoy!

Smoothie Saturday | Mango Acai Super Smoothie

Wow, you'd think I'm writing a food blog with all the posts I've had this week. As it probably should be, blog imitates life, and currently my life is very focused on nutrition and whole foods and cooking. I have some very exciting house news coming up though, so I'm sure to change gears from food to decor in the next month (and no, we aren't moving unless we win the dream home we bought tickets for).

Anyways, as luck would have it, I ran out of my "pre-bagged" frozen smoothie mix, and so this post which was supposed to show you the 10+ different goodies in my go-to smoothie has now resulted in a smoothie du-jour recipe. Nonetheless, it's tasty and healthy and still super easy to whip up with a little prep.

Mango Acai Super Smoothie

From top, clockwise

• Frozen Organic Mango Chunks (Costco)
• Organic Black Kale (aka Dinosaur Kale) -(Thrifty's Foods)
• Frozen Bananas
• Dried Mint (Bulk Spice section at Grocer)
• Acai Mango Zinger Tea (Bag cut open) - (Celestial Seasonings brand- bought at Walmart)
• Organic Spinach Cubes (Made from pureed spinach and water) - (Costco)
• Power Mix (made from hemp hearts, chia, flax and buckwheat) - (Costco and Bulk)
• Acai Juice Supplement (frozen into cubes)- (Costco)

I never thought of cutting up tea bags to use the tea insides until I realized what matcha green tea is. Yup, just ground up green tea. So, I've started including green tea or hibiscus tea (zinger) in every smoothie for an extra flavour kick and a huge amount of nutrient dense leafies and antioxidants. Dried mint is also a very inexpensive and tasty way to rev up the nutrition in your smoothie.

I just discovered black kale last month and it is now the only kind I buy. It has a much more buttery texture than regular old kale, I find it stays fresh and crisp in the fridge for much longer (no need to make kale cubes if it's gone within the week) and it tastes SO GOOD cut up in soups and stir frys.

The rest of the ingredients are pretty self explanatory. Give it a go!

Any great ingredients you've put in your smoothie lately?

Healthy Home | Eggnog Smoothie

I'm not sure what jingles my bells more; hearing Mariah's "All I want for Christmas" for the first time of the season, or chugging an iced cold glass of eggnog.

Preferably I'd be doing both simultaneously.

Unfortunately, my new found interest in healthful living (and subsequent plant-based eating) ultimately tossed a wrench in 50% of that plan. A couple of years ago (before even being a soy milk drinker) I tried a Soynog alternative hoping for a healthier version. Not so much. It didn't even compare, so why bother?

So I decided to make my own....

And then I took it one step further, and I thought, why not try and make it into a delicious smoothie, and one with natural, healthful ingredients?

And SmoothieNog was born.

I'm not big on tooting my own horn, but goodness gracious this smoothie is delcious. Thick, creamy, frosty and, for me, as eggnogy as it gets without using real eggnog or even eggs for that matter.

So here it is, a vegan, no-refined-sugar, healthy fat and fibre full smoothie that you can enjoy guilt-free all season long!

• 1 cup soy milk (or milk beverage of your choice)
• 1 large frozen banana (freeze at least the day before, peeled and cut into chunks)
• 3-4 small pitted dates or 2 large*
• Approx 3 - 5 almonds
• 1 tbsp healthy seed mix (my go to is flax, chia, hemp hearts and buckwheat, but just chia or flax would work great for this)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp rum extract (depending on how rummy you like it!)
• pinch cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (save some to sprinkle on top)

(*not required, but definitely kicks this drink up a notch- if you don't have dates in your house I fully suggest adding them to your pantry- I use them EVERY day and they make a great alternative to many sweeteners.)

For bonus points, add a cup of spinach. It'll up the nutritional benefits and you won't even taste it!

Note: I made mine in my NutriBullet (love it!). A Vita Mix would be wonderful for this, but if you only have a Magic Bullet or blender you still should be fine. I would recommend milling the almonds and seeds separately first and then adding that mixture when you blend the rest of the ingredients for the best consistency.

Good luck and happy nogging!