I figured as long as I am on a smoothie kick, I will continue to share my recipes with you guys. It’s been a bit of a busy work week and I just haven’t been motivated to make many large involved recipes, plus I am waiting on a shipment of almond flour to make a few recipes that have been in the queue for this week. I’ve been cooking pretty simple recipes for dinner and quick easy salads and other veggies for lunch. As much as I love cooking, when the rest of my life feels hectic and busy, it is hard sometimes to muster up the energy to want to be patient and take photos after I do all the cooking. I love creating the recipes, I love cooking and I really love eating, but sometimes setting up for the photos, worrying about lighting and stressing about props is just more than I can handle. I want my photos to be as good as they can be, so I think I tend to put way too much pressure on myself, in that way.

This morning, after a somewhat restless night of sleep, I actually slept in a little bit (until 8:30am) and didn’t make it to yoga, so I decided to make a smoothie first thing and enjoy it outside on the patio. I had no real plans of sharing the recipe or taking photos, but after I took the first sip I decided it was way too good not to share (plus I wanted to tell you guys about the yummy green superfood powder). So, I ended up grabbing my camera quick and setting up a really fast shoot for the smoothie, trying not to stress over details. No harm, no foul. Until…. the wood backdrop that you see behind all of the ingredients in the photo below, decided to fall forward and spill almond milk everywhere, it was the last of the almond milk in the house and was supposed to be enough to make a smoothie tomorrow. Not exactly the way to start a day. I took a really deep breath (OK maybe I threw the wood in anger first, then took the deep breath) and cleaned it up. At any rate, thankfully I got a few decent photos before that whole fiasco, but I have to say, I am not gonna lie, editing these photos definitely gave me a little anxiety thinking about that crash, and the almond milk spilling everywhere.

OK, enough of all that, let’s talk smoothie…many times I just make up my smoothie recipes as I go and this morning I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I really wanted to include some veggies but since I was out of kale and didn’t have any spinach, I decided to add a scoop of Orange Dreamsicle Green SuperFood from Amazing Grass. They aren’t paying me to say any of this, it is a product I grabbed at the Lexington CoOp a while back after they had someone there offering samples. I was impressed with the taste, but I also love that one single scoop helps provide you with your 5 to 9 daily servings of veggies. Not too bad for a small unassuming scoop of gluten-free and vegan green powder.

The powder has a very subtle orange creamsicle flavor and it isn’t chalky or strange, it pairs nicely in fruit smoothies as well as a smoothie with cocoa powder and almond butter. I bought this container back in March and I still have a decent amount left. Each container has about 30 servings and once opened you store it in the refrigerator for optimal freshness. The Orange Dreamsicle flavor is so good I have on occasion mixed it with just water or almond milk for a quick green pick me up. You should definitely give it a try if you are looking for ways to add more greens into your diet.

[print_this]Mango Banana Green Smoothie – Gluten-free, Vegan + Refined Sugar-free
serves 1

• 1 cup unsweetened organic vanilla almond milk (or any non-dairy milk of your choice)
• 1 organic banana, preferably frozen
• 3/4 cup frozen organic diced mango
• 5-7 drops of NuNaturals Liquid Vanilla Alcohol-Free Stevia (or any other sweetener of your choice)
• 1 scoop of Green SuperFood Powder (if you don’t have this or something like this but you still want greens, add 1 cup of
• spinach or kale or just leave it out)
• 1 handful of ice if your banana isn’t frozen

Add all of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. If it is too thick, add more almond milk or some water to thin it.

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