Energizing Green Smoothie – Gluten-free and Vegan

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Energizing Mocha Green Smoothie

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.

Energizing Mocha Green Smoothie

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.

Energizing Mocha Green Smoothie

[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]

 

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18 Responses

  1. Abby says:

    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.

    • tastyyummies says:

      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.

  2. Seana says:

    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!

  3. Kathy says:

    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!

  4. Lori says:

    This sounds really good! I’m definitely going to give it a try! Thank you for sharing!

  5. Lissa says:

    This sounds great, except for the banana. What can I use as a substitute for that?

    • tastyyummies says:

      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.

  6. autumn says:

    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 🙂

  7. Wendy says:

    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.

    • tastyyummies says:

      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.

  8. Yep, I knew it…I want one! THIS is smoothie perfection.

  9. Iman says:

    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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