Weekly Smoothie Prep with Recipes!

 

I think it’s appropriate that my first blog post back after having a baby be about preparing a healthy meal like breakfast quickly–like as fast as possible before the tiny human starts crying again. I used to think that the requirements for making a smoothie were easy enough without prepping anything ahead of time, but now I realize that it could be a lot faster. So for those of you who have kids, or just don’t like waking up 5-10 minutes earlier to prep all the ingredients for a smoothie, then this post is for you.

 

It takes roughly 30 minutes on the weekend to assemble these smoothie bags, and then you will have a super nutritious breakfast ready in no time flat during the work week. It’s totally worth it. I pre-assembled all of my smoothie ingredients minus the liquids, which means that in the morning all I have to do is add my milk and protein of choice to the blender with my frozen smoothie pack–breakfast pronto! If I can do it with a 6 week old, you can do it too! Although you probably don’t need to blend the smoothie in the bathroom with the door closed to keep from waking your child who naps next to the kitchen! Thankfully she can sleep through almost anything!

 

I make my smoothies with a rough formula of 1 1/2 cups fruit, a healthy fat, a vegetable, optional grain like oats, a liquid, and a protein. There are a lot of smoothie recipes out there with 3 or 4 pieces of fruit in them, which in my professional opinion is too many carbs for a breakfast drink. I like to spread my fruit out throughout the day for a healthy energy boost when I need it. For my liquid I usually do skim milk, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, or unsweetened vanilla coconut milk, but you can use your favorite! I rarely think the flavor of a smoothie is changed much by the type of milk I use. For protein I’ve recently been using cage-free pasteurized egg whites–they add zero taste and a lot of great lean protein. Plain Greek yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, and plain protein powder are all also great options!

 

For all the smoothies you will need a quart-sized plastic bag, and a marker to write what is in your smoothie and what you need to add before blending–so you don’t forget! Feel free to make substitutions based on your taste preferences. It really doesn’t matter if you use chia seeds instead of flax seeds, or almond milk instead of soy milk, or protein powder instead of egg whites. Store smoothie bags in the freezer until you are ready to drink them!

 

 

5 days of smoothies:

The Cinnamon Apple: 1 1/2 cups chopped apples (about 2 small), 1/2 cup baby carrots, handful of spinach or other leafy green, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp chia seeds

Add: 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese or protein of choice, and enough almond milk for blending (generally 1-1.5 cups)

This is a greener tasting smoothie–so if you aren’t used to green smoothies you may want to add a tbsp of honey or agave to your smoothie

The StrawBananaCado: 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen), 1/2 sliced banana, 1/2 small avocado, 1 handful spinach, 1/4 cup oats, 1 tbsp chia seeds

Add: 1/3 cup liquid pasteurized egg whites or protein of choice, and enough almond milk for blending (generally 1-1.5 cups)

The Berry Good Breakfast: 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries (like strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries), 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cubed small avocado, 1 handful spinach, 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds,

Add: 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese or protein of choice, and enough almond milk for blending (generally 1-1.5 cups)

The Nutty Chocolate Banana: 1 1/2 sliced bananas, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, 1/2 cubed small avocado, 2 tbsp almonds, 1 tbsp chia seeds

Add: 1/3 cup liquid pasteurized egg whites or protein of choice, and enough almond milk for blending (generally 1-1.5 cups)

The Tropical Veggie Twist: 1 small diced mango, 1/2 sliced banana, 1/2 cup baby carrots, 1 handful spinach, 1/4 cup oats, 1 tbsp flax seeds

Add: 1/3 cup liquid pasteurized egg whites or protein of choice, and enough almond milk for blending (generally 1-1.5 cups)

 

Here is your list of ingredients you will need:

1 mango

2 small apples

3 bananas

1 large bag frozen mixed berries (great for multiple weeks of smoothies)

1 large bag frozen strawberries (great for multiple weeks of smoothies)

1 bag baby carrots

2 avocados

1 tub of spinach or leafy green of choice

1/2 gallon milk of choice: I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk

protein of choice: I used a mixture of lowfat cottage cheese and pasteurized egg whites

3 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp flax seeds (chia and flax are nutritionally similar–if you don’t like one, use the other)

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

2 tbsp almonds

1 1/2 cup oats

1 tbsp cocoa

1/2 tsp cinnamon