Learn how to make healthy smoothie recipes with natural protein. Skip the unhealthy protein powders, sneak in those vegetables, still taste great.

A smoothie has to be one of my all time favorite ways to start the day. When I was teaching full time, a smoothie made an easy and quick on the go breakfast during my commute to school.

Now that I work from home and take care of the kids most of the day, a smoothie still serves as an easy and quick on the go breakfast to drink while getting the kids ready for the day.

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Any time I pull out the blender, my kids abandon their own breakfasts and surround my legs asking for their own cup of smoothie.

It thrills me that they enjoy them so much (even if the mess of them drinking a smoothie is more clean up than I really want in the morning) and I am happy to fill their little cups and provide them a curly straw.

When I first started making smoothies, I threw in the required handful of spinach and a half cup of Greek yogurt before loading the rest of it with a whole bunch of fruit.

Delicious, yes. Nutritious staying power, not quite.

Now, my smoothies are full of vegetables and a touch of fruit.

Delicious, yes. Nutritious staying power, also yes.

There are a few nutritional decisions you need to make when putting together your own smoothie, especially if you plan to share it with your little ones.

Fruit

I will be the first one to say that you should absolutely add fruit to your smoothie. It will make your drink taste sweeter and throwing in a bunch of berries and a banana is super simple.

If you are concerned about keeping your natural sugar intake down and your carbohydrate count low, then you need to limit the fruit you include.

Just about every smoothie I make includes a banana and a handful of berries.

Vegetables

What I love about smoothies is you can add a ton of vegetables and not even taste them. Not only do you get the nutrition that foods like cucumbers, celery, carrots, and spinach offer, but you get in a serving or more of vegetables at breakfast.

If you are just starting out with smoothies, produce like kale and celery have a strong “green” smell and flavor. Opt for sweeter vegetables to start like spinach, carrots, and cucumbers.

Add vegetables in slowly over time as you get used to the taste and figure out what combinations and amounts of flavors work best for your taste buds.

Protein Powders

Most Americans are consuming more protein than they need. The protein recommendations for women is 46 grams. The average scoop of protein powder sits at about 25 grams.

One egg has 6 grams of protein. One cup of chicken breast has 43 grams. A half cup of black beans has 7 grams. Clearly, reaching the 46 gram protein goal is not too difficult.

Any extra protein you consume is usually stored as fat, with the actual protein part of the nutrient, the amino acids, being excreted. In other words, your body cannot store protein, so having a surplus each day is not necessary.

With this in mind, you have to decide if using a protein powder is right for you. If you are trying to build a serious amount of muscle and are doing the heavy lifting workouts to get it, then adding some extra protein to your diet will benefit you. If you are trying to lose weight or tone up, then you do not need any extra protein in the form of powders.

That being said, definitely analyze your daily food intake to be sure you are getting enough protein from high quality food during your day. If your current diet is lacking, I recommend you start by improving your meals and snacks before turning to protein powders.

Natural Protein Sources

Instead of buying expense protein powders, or the cheap ones that do not taste very good, you could opt for some natural protein sources as a way to meet your daily protein requirements.

Some natural protein sources that are easy and delicious to add to smoothies or protein shakes include:

• Peanut butter
• Chia Seeds
• Greek Yogurt
• Flaxseed Meal
• Oats
• Avocado
• Almond Milk
• Spinach
• Kale

Healthy Smoothie Recipes

With the amount of ingredients that can go into a smoothie, you definitely want to meal prep a few smoothie packs for the week to store in your freezer or fridge.

Just put all the ingredients you need into a plastic bag and dump the bag into your blender when you want it. When you are prepping for your smoothies, make sure you only prep ingredients that freeze (or prep) well. For instance, bananas freeze well but avocados do not cut well ahead of time.

Try out these two healthy smoothie recipes as an easy way to add some vegetables to your smoothie and still have it taste great.

Carrot Berry Smoothie

• 2 cups Spinach
• 1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 Banana
• 2 Carrots
• 1/2 cup Berries of choice
• Handful of ice
• Water or Almond Milk to taste

Blend all ingredients together to desired consistency.

Simple Berry Blitz

• 2 cups Spinach
• 1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 Avocado
• 1/2 cup Berries of choice
• Handful of ice
• Water or Almond Milk to taste

Blend all ingredients together to desired consistency.

As you dive deeper into the world of healthy smoothie recipes, you can experiment with adding more vegetables to these recipes. Either way, you have a quick on the go breakfast you can feel good about having yourself and giving to your kids.

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