Smoothie Recipes to Take You Through the Day

I love smoothies! Specifically the Fab Four Smoothies inspired by Kelly Leveque. Kelly is a nutritionist and wellness expert, and when I read her first book, Body Love, a few years ago, I was immediately a big fan of her recipes. Her smoothie philosophy centers around avoiding a lot of sugar in your smoothie, and instead making sure that it has the Fab Four ingredients-fat, fiber, protein and greens. Her recipes have a lot of flavor but very little fruit or sweeteners, which might seem strange to some people at first, but it keeps your blood sugar more stable so that you don’t get any spikes and then crashes.

My go-to breakfast in the morning is now a smoothie, and I’ll even bring my Vitamix on trips with us so that I know I can have them easily. I’ve also been known to have them for lunch on the go or for an afternoon snack. The Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie is an especially good for that time in the afternoon when I want to eat an entire bag of cookies. I’ve included pictures and recipes for my three favorite smoothies below, but please feel free to tweak them to your own tastes! I don’t usually measure any of the ingredients except for the protein powder-I just eyeball the measurements and adjust for how I’m feeling that day. If I feel like I have a cold coming on, I may add more lemon juice or if I’m extra hungry, I’ll throw in extra nut butter.

The Every Day Sludge:

I call this The Sludge because it ends up being a not very cute greenish color, but it’s a great flexible base for any number of smoothie options. This is my basic morning recipe that I tweak depending on my mood, but it starts with:

3/4 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 scoops of vanilla protein powder

1 tablespoon chia seeds or flaxseeds

2 cups spinach

Then depending on my mood, I’ll add either:

1/4 cup of frozen blueberries and a baby cucumber or

1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter and a half a frozen banana and a few shakes of cinnamon

After I blend those ingredients together for about thirty seconds, then I add anywhere from 5-8 ice cubes to help thicken and cool the smoothie. I find that a very thick smoothie is more filling and satisfying.

The Refreshing Spa Smoothie:

These ingredients may seem like a strange combination, but it tastes so refreshing and instantly makes me feel cleansed and refreshed.

3/4 cup of unsweetened coconut milk or almond milk or coconut water

2 scoops of vanilla or plain collagen powder

1 tablespoon of chia seeds

2 cups of spinach

1 baby cucumber

Juice from 1 lemon

4-5 leaves of mint

1 half of a frozen banana (optional if you like the smoothie sweeter or are using plain collagen powder)

Blend these ingredients together for 30 seconds or so, and then add 5-8 ice cubes and blend until smooth.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

This is smoothie is great for days when I want something more indulgent. I would eat peanut butter all day, but you could easily swap any nut butter in for this. I’ll make the “jelly” swirl when I’m feeling fancy, but it’s also totally fine to skip that step and just enjoy the peanut butter on it’s own!

3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 tablespoon chia seeds

2 scoops vanilla protein powder

2 tablespoons peanut butter (or any other nut butter of your choice)

Blend those ingredients for a few seconds and then add 5-8 ice cubes and blend until smooth.

For the jelly swirl:

5 frozen strawberries and 1/2 cup water blended together until the strawberries are mostly smooth-some small chunks are fine.