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I love when my kids want smoothies for breakfast. They think they’re getting some kind of crazy treat but really they’re slurping down these little nutrient dense power breakfasts (but I’ll be damned to the be the one to burst their bubbles – if they want to call it ice-cream, then ice-cream it is).
This particular flavor combo is a recipe I found in, “Best Green Drinks Ever” by Katrine Van Wyk. I ordered it from Amazon after winter had me feeling like I had been drop kicked by the abominable snowman. Dark leafy greens always make me feel better, yet they also seem to be the first thing I forget about when I lose my mental ‘clean-eating’ focus (funny how that works, no?).
And is it just me, or does incorporating dark leafy greens into your breakfast make you feel like you’ve got one up on the day? Whenever I eat greens for breakfast, I feel like such a bad ass. What can I tell you, these are the things that get me going (which is also why my winter wonderland of scones and lattes wasn’t exactly cutting it).
Anyhow, my favorite tip in the book so far is to blend your greens with your liquid before adding the rest of the ingredients. This ensures you don’t have big fat chunks of greens in your smoothie.
Now if you really wanted to eliminate any speckle of greens (which may be beneficial for kids or newbies) use my recipe for spinach pops, only sub the kale for the spinach. Sure, this step takes a little pre-planning, but if you like a creamy smoothie, it’s definitely the way to go.
As for me, I don’t mind the speckles at all (and neither do my kids) so the pre-blend of almond milk and kale was plenty for us. But as always, I want you to make this work for you.
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 cup kale
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1/2 cup frozen mango
- 1 tbsp. raw unsalted almond butter
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Instructions
- Blend kale and almond milk in the blender for 30 seconds or until the kale has broken down a bit. Add in the banana, mango, almond butter and cinnamon. Blend until you have a rich, creamy, amazing, delicious smoothie!
Heather @ Dimples in the Wrong Cheeks says
I cannot wait to try this smoothie! I am totally hooked on green smoothies for breakfast and the simpler the better. This recipe looks great!
Emilie says
I’m sipping this breakfast smoothie right now. It’s absolutely dee-licious!! I didn’t have the almond milk already made(the almonds are soaking as we speak), so I used a cup of skim milk and put a tiny bit of almond extract in it. Tomorrow I’ll make one with the almond milk.
YUM!!
Cynthia says
Dani, thank you so much for all these good récipes.
I used to eat really bad, mostly junk food and sweet stuff and no vegetables or fruits at all cause I found them boring jaja
Now, since I found your page, I’ve discovered these wonderful récipes and a few days ago I went to the supermarket and bought stuff I never buy like kale, spinach, pumpkin pure, quinoa and the like 🙂
Now I have my kitchen filled with nice food and I’m trying a new smoothie or meal every day.
So thanks a lot!!!!
Cynthia 🙂
Dee says
What kind of blender are you using? My kale never blends well.
Dani says
I use the Breville Hemisphere.
Arina says
I wondered whether the kale didn’t blend well because Cynthia didn’t remove the fibrous rib. If she hasn’t cooked with kale before she may not have realised that she needs to strip the leaf from the rib/spine. Just a thought.
Ps. I’m enjoying your posts very much!
Dawn says
I am a diabetic and the sugars are quite high in this recipe. Any suggestions on how I could adjust it to lower the sugar content? Sounds delicious though!
Dani says
The frozen mango alone had 10g of sugar – so maybe leave the mango out and add a few ice cubes – that would cut the sugars in half.
harris says
it’s pretty hard to find almond milk around my town (my location is on the tropic country) and almond is something too expensive to get. is that possible to replace the almond milk with soy milk instead? because i thought its still dairy free and much more cheaper to buy
Dani says
absolutely. 100% any milk will do. soy. coconut, cows milk – and honestly, even water would be fine:)
Olga says
Can I use coconut oil instead of almond butter?
Dani says
Will give a different flavor but I think it would be great!
Natalie says
Can you upload this to myfitnesspal?
Michelle A. says
DANI, I found your web site when I was looking for something else. it Devine intervention, My New Years resolution was to start a fitness membership, eat healthy & lose weight. I. Just found you Monday Jan 13, I have already made. 3 of your recipes. I am hooked. You are a god send. Thank you so much.
Dani says
Yay!! Welcome Michelle! So glad we found each other…. enjoy the recipes + let me know if you have any questions.
Pamela J J Crabtree says
I, like so many others, just found your website. I cannot believe how many recipes I added to my phone today. They all sounded so good but there is also a video to actually talk you through the preparation. That means the world to me. Beside the 101 topics and clean eating. I am a new fan!!!!!
Dani says
Welcome Pamela! So glad to have you here.