Rachel's Recipe Box

Archive for the ‘smoothies’ Category

I know it’s spring. Really, I do. But I fell in love with this smoothie in the fall, and I can’t get enough of it. I’m sure I’ll want my yummy kale smoothie again, but for now, I want my pumpkin spice smoothie.

This is a delicious gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It can also be (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashew milk, almond milk, soy milk, or other milk/milk alternative
• 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt (optional, omit if you can’t have dairy)
• 1/4 cup coconut cream (the thick part of the coconut milk, not the sweetened cream of coconut) or coconut milk
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling, just canned or fresh pumpkin puree)
• 1 TBS maple syrup and/or 1 TBS honey
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (store bought, or make your own)
• 1 TBS chia seeds (you could also add flax or hemp seeds)
• 1 TBS protein powder (If you can tolerate dairy, I really like Designer Whey, it’s not gritty)
• 1/2 banana, frozen
• 6 (or more) frozen mango pieces

Method:

In my opinion, the easiest way to measure the top 4 ingredients is to use displacement with a 2 cup measuring cup. I pour the cashew or almond milk in first, then plop the yogurt in until it’s at 1 1/4 cups, and the same for the coconut cream and the pumpkin. Pour the whole thing into the blender. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Using my blender‘s “smoothie” setting, this takes less than a minute. My old, sturdy $20 blender took only a little bit longer.

When my cousin offered to make me a kale smoothie, I was skeptical. Very skeptical. But it was pretty good! Then I went home and tweaked it over a few months. Now I make it for breakfast every morning. I don’t even feel guilty when I eat a cider donut with it, it makes me feel that virtuous!

This is a delicious gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It can also be (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 stalk celery, cut into chunks
• 3 cups kale, packed
• 1/2-1 inch ginger paste, or 1/2-1 tsp grated ginger
• 4oz frozen pineapple chunks (I like to get the 4 pack of pineapple tidbits that are prepackaged. I then freeze them in their containers. However, 1/2 cup frozen pineapple or 1/2 cup pineapple chunks & juice that has been frozen works well)
• 1 TBS Chia seed (I prefer to buy my chia seeds via Amazon’s subscribe and save, but Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods often have good deals as well)
• 1 heaping TBS protein powder (I’ve really liked the vanilla Designer Whey protein powder, there’s no grit or aftertaste, but it’s obviously not dairy-free)
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I prefer soy or almond, but any milk or milk substitute will work)

Method: 

Put the above ingredients into the blender. I do it in the order listed above. Turn your blender on low and start blending. You may need to stop and stir the ingredients as the blender gets going, depending on the strength of your blender. (A Vitamix will finish this off in the blink of an eye, but the average blender, like the one I own, will take a bit longer.)

Pour into a glass and enjoy! This will serve 1 or 2 people depending on how hungry/thirsty they are.