Zucchini Bread Smoothie

I have always been a huge fan of zucchini bread. It was always one of my favorite things to eat when I was younger (and not gluten free). For years now I have been trying to find a good gluten free zucchini bread recipe, but I still have yet to find the perfect one. I had seen people make zucchini bread smoothies on instagram, so since I had leftover zucchini in the house, I decided to freeze it and make my own version. 

This recipe turned out so well. I did not actually think that I could get a smoothie to taste like zucchini bread, but the mix of zucchini, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla protein was suprisingly accurate. I have already made this several times, and I know that once zucchini's are in season in Wisconsin, this smoothie will become a constant in my smoothie rotation. 

Zucchini Bread Smoothie

Serves: 1 Large or 2 Small

Ingredients 

1 c. frozen zucchini

1/2 frozen banana

handful of kale (or spinach) 

1 T. almond butter

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder 

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon) 

1 1/2 c.  almond milk 

Instructions

Blend until smoothie and enjoy! 

Let me know if you try this out! 

xoxo, 

Maddie

Hidden Veggie Immunity Smoothie

At school I work with performance nutrition for our sports teams, and the main point of my job is to make smoothies. Obviously I have not been working since I am back home and all college athletics have been cancelled. My bosses have been letting work on little projects if we want to stay involved. Recently I worked on making social media posts on the topics of hydration and immunity. I loved making the immunity post because it was informing on what foods are great for the immune system, and then I made a recipe to go along with it. 

This Immunity smoothie truly does have most of the recommended vitamins, mineral and protein to help support a healthy immune system. The strawberries are a great source of Vitamin C. Carrots provide beta carotene which will be covered into Vitamin A. The banana provides probiotics that help keeps a healthy gut, which has a surprisingly large impact on the immune system. Protein can come from the milk and protein powder. Finally the almond butter is a good source of  Vitamin E and Zinc. All of these nutrients can help your immune system. 

It is important to make sure you always get your nutrition information from accurate sources, not just any old website (mine included). Eat Right is the Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics website, and it has a lot of great nutrition information on almost every topic. At the end of this post I will link two great articles about eating for immunity if you are interested. Here are some key take aways:

Hidden Veggie Immunity Smoothie
Serves: 1 large or 2 medium smoothies

Ingredients 

1 cup milk (dairy free if need be) 
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 chopped carrot
1/2 banana
2 T almond butter
pinch of cinnamon

Instructions

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Here are the links to extra reading on eating for immunity.
https://www.eatright.org/health/wellness/preventing-illness/support-your-health-with-nutrition  
https://www.eatright.org/health/wellness/preventing-illness/how-to-keep-your-immune-system-healthy

Let me know your thoughts on the smoothie,

Maddie

Strawberry Grapefruit Smoothie

In the middle of this last semester I started to experiment more with making smoothies in the morning. I love smoothies as a way to get in your fruits and veggies to start the day, but just a smoothie isn't enough of a breakfast for me. I really need to be able to chew some part of my meal in order to feel satiated. I started to experiment with making small smoothies and I found some that I really liked. My favorite breakfast quickly became a smoothie with scrambled eggs or a muffin on the side. 

This strawberry grapefruit smoothie is one of my all time favorites. It creates a great fluffy smoothie with the prettiest color. The grapefruit provides a refreshing and tangy taste while the strawberry balances it out with sweetness. 

For protein powder, I really like Garden of Life's Sport Whey Protein. Of all of the protein powders I have tried, it blends the smoothest with not off taste. Any other plant or whey based protein powder could work here as well. If you don't want to add any protein powder, another option is adding vanilla extract. Your smoothie will not expand in volume as much, but it will still have a great taste. 

Strawberry Grapefruit Smoothie 

Serves: 1 

Ingredients 

1/2 c Grapefruit* (about 1/2 a large grapefruit) 

3/4 c Strawberries 

1/4 c Riced Cauliflower

2 T Vanilla Protein Powder 

1/3 c Almond Milk (or any milk of choice) 

*try to remove as much of the white strings as possible as it makes the smoothie bitter

Instructions

Add all of the ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth. 

Let me know what you think!

Until next time, 

Maddie