I am not one for coffee much anymore, now-a-days I only have it when I am craving it, when we have an insanely early morning of travel or when I am somewhere with an exceptional brew – but generally that’s only about once or twice a month, at most. I used to drink it regularly, an every morning ritual type of thing. It was more of a habit than anything. Though, I really didn’t like feeling like a slave to my habit, getting a headache if I just wasn’t in the mood to drink it. These days, I prefer to start my days with a mug of warm lemon water, usually followed by a hot tea with my breakfast, after my morning yoga.
Last month during my yoga teacher training, by around the second week – the 3 hours of driving to and from Venice Beach during rush hours and the 12+ hour days of being gone, then getting home to cook dinner, study, and get my work done – started really taking their toll on me. It was wildly different than my usual days of working from home, staying in my PJs until 2pm, if I chose. I was trying to take hot tea with me on the drives in the morning, but I realized we didn’t have any good travel mugs and I find drinking scalding hot liquid from glass jars while driving in heavy traffic to be insanely stressful. Since I was also making a smoothie every day for breakfast and drinking that on my drives, I decided to combine everything into one. An energizing green smoothie to help get my day started right. A little boost of caffeine before our daily 3 hour morning yoga practice and our 6 hours of lectures, was just what I needed.
I honestly don’t know why I have never thought to put coffee into a smoothie before. It’s so incredible. An amazing flavor and for those busy days, where you need a little boost to get started, it’s a really great way to get it.
If someone told me that coffee and spinach would be good together, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. But, as with most of my favorite flavor combinations, the stranger they seem, usually – the better they are.
Most days I made the smoothie with the baby spinach, on some days if I ran out or wanted a change, I opted for a tablespoon of ground flaxseed instead, but the rest of it stayed the same. A yummy energizing travel-worthy breakfast.
[print_this]Energizing Green Smoothie – Gluten-free and Vegan
serves 1
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (I use homemade almond milk)
- 1/2 cup strong black coffee, cold
- 1 organic banana, frozen
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 cup organic baby spinach*
- 1-2 medjool dates, pits removed
- 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder (or regular cocoa powder)
- a few ice cubes (optional)
Add all of the ingredients to your high speed blender, blend until smooth and creamy. Serve.
*some mornings I would opt for 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed instead of the spinach, for a change of pace [/print_this]
18 Responses
This sounds amazing, very similar to a smoothie combination I already make and enjoy but with the addition of coffee. I am going to make some cold brew this morning and try this out tomorrow for breakfast. I need many caffeine boosts these days with my three and a half year old and seven month old sharing a bedroom and taking turns getting up before dawn.
I hope you enjoyed this, if you made it – Abby. Ah yes, I would say with two little ones a little jolt to your morning smoothie can’t ever be a bad thing.
I just started doing this last week to cut down the number of mugs I was traveling with each morning. My recipe is very similar except I sub 2 Tbsp PB2 powder for the almond butter and 1-2 Tbsp honey for the dates. Oh, and if you don’t have any cold coffee, one packet of Starbucks Via is really good too. Yummers!
Great tips. I love the idea of using the Starbucks Via if you are in a pinch, thanks for sharing.
NICE…I drink one of these often …only difference is instead of adding the baby spinach I often do a green shot like g-free wheat grass or E3live. I enjoyed this post and photo’s a lot thank you!
Ooh Kathy, I will have to try it that way. Great tips, thanks. And thanks for your kind words and comment 😉
This sounds really good! I’m definitely going to give it a try! Thank you for sharing!
This sounds great, except for the banana. What can I use as a substitute for that?
There isn’t really a simple substitution for a banana in smoothie recipes. If you want the creaminess you could try half of an avocado. The banana also provides a sweetness so you may want to add another date or two.
This sounds REALLY GOOD, Beth. When I make myself a cup of coffee in the morning, I inevitably never drink the whole thing, so this would be a really good use for my coffee leftovers 🙂
Thanks so much Autumn! My hubby is a coffee addict, he can never decide if he wants hot or cold, so he always has cold brew on hand in the fridge, so it is perfect for me and this yummy smoothie 😉
Kewl you should come up with that. Extnlleec!
This looks neat! I’ve been wanting to add more veggies in by way of smoothies. I’m always up for trying unusual things too! I bought some herbal coffee this week out of curiosity. I haven’t tried it yet though.
Thanks Wendy. I just love adding veggies to my smoothies. Herbal coffee is surprisingly good, not quite the same as the real thing, but still quite tasty and a really nice roasty flavor.
Yep, I knew it…I want one! THIS is smoothie perfection.
I’ll have to make one some morning for you 😉
I made this snoothie the other day! it was soooo tasty, I must just say! 😀 and congrats on the yoga, that takes dedication 🙂
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