I am fully aware of how cheesy I am for naming this smoothie after my blog 😬. But I’m doing it! And I’m doing it because this is my all-time-go-to-always-balanced smoothie that I make all the time for my family (including my little guy). The formula works! The hopeful and wholesome smoothie is perfectly balanced with protein, fats, veggies and carbs. And guaranteed to satisfy!
I love a plug and play recipe that you can change up based on what you’ve got in the fridge. And easily adjusted for your preferences or dietary restrictions. Here is what you’ll need:
- non dairy milk
- fruit, preferably berries
- protein powder
- greens (frozen or fresh)
- healthy fat
Make your choice from each of the categories here, toss it in the blender (like my new Vitamix I’m super excited about!), and DONE! Seriously, so simple. I try to feed little man a smoothie once a day (mostly to make sure he gets at least 1 serving of greens in) so I will make a big batch and it will last for a few days in the fridge. I just portion it out in some mason jars and the snacks are ready to go!
Now let’s talk details.
Milk
For milk, I am loving this Good Karma flax milk these days; it has added protein (from pea protein) so it gives you a whopping 8 grams just from the milk alone.
Fruit
For the fruit, my go-to is blueberries- they’re little man’s favorite and also a great source of antioxidant and lowest on the glycemic index so they don’t give your blood sugar a spike like other fruits. And I like to use frozen; that way I don’t have to worry about them going bad in the fridge and I like the texture better with the frozen fruit.
Protein and Greens
For protein powder, I like to change it up, but many times we have Orgain at home and I’ve been buying this from LivBody which is delicious. For greens, I typically use frozen organic spinach. I am the queen of letting veggies rot in the fridge (seriously ask my husband) so I try to buy frozen as much as possible so they don’t go bad before I can use them. And they’re just as nutritious as the fresh stuff! Another source of greens you can add is spirulina. This doesn’t necessarily replace the greens, but you can definitely add it in for some more nutrients (and some addd protein). I will talk more on spirulina later, but if you’re looking for a magic pill for longevity… this is it.
Fat
For the fat, there are tons of great options. Typically I go for a nut butter (usually almond butter), but you could also throw in some avocado to make a creamier smoothie, throw in some chia seeds for some texture, or a healthy oil like flax oil. Often times I throw in a little almond butter AND flax seed oil, it just has so much healthy stuff I don’t want to leave anything out.
And that’s the hopeful and wholesome smoothie! It’s so versatile, you can use the formula to make dozens of different flavors, and even add in other goodies to make it your own. Send me your version on social and tag me @hopepedraza so I can share!