Smoothies. You know ‘em, but do you REALLY know ‘em? Like, how to make sure they are easy to prep, quick to make, and *genuinely* delish to enjoy? This month, we’re comin’ at ya with some hacks & recipes to up your smoothie game this summer.
We’ve been over it before: we’re told nutrition is complicated, that it involves a bunch of strict rules and that you need to go all-in or it’s not worth doing. And that is…you guessed it, bullshit.
Want to lose some weight? Curb afternoon energy crashes? Improve your sports performance?
For the vast majority of us, our nutrition could be wildly improved by getting just a little more protein and a lot more fruit and veggies in. These are the nutrition fundamentals that keep our bodies healthy and strong as we are out there chasing our big, beautiful goals.
It’s not novel information, sure, and while we can definitely acknowledge that it is easier said than done, there ARE ways to make it easier on ourselves. And since smoothies are an easy way to get all that goodness in one go, we’re turning our attention to how to make a great one.
Hacking your smoothie prep
1. A good blender is worth every cent
There is little worse than rounding up your ingredients, putting in the time to put it all together, and then having to chew half your smoothie because your blender couldn’t hack the work.
In general, we try to not suggest you go out and buy much (that’s a diet industry ploy we try hard to avoid around here) but man – your prep time and general enjoyment will be saved by investing a little on this one. A lot will depend on the general size you need (are you prepping smoothies for you or your whole family?), but it’s worth doing some comparing of the speed & power capabilities of a few of your top choices and factoring that into your purchase.
2. Add veggies (greens!) that aren’t too strong
Some people don’t mind a distinct veggie taste to their smoothies but for some of us (me!), it’s a no-go. I LOVE all kinds of veggies as veggies, but I don’t particularly want to know I’m drinking them, okay? Insert my fave green powerhouses: spinach and broccoli. When their frozen (the brocc in small chunks, too), these two options blend up wonderfully and are easily masked by the fruit of your choice.
3. Chop & freeze your banana pieces
Bananas are a smoothie staple around here: not only do they add a ton of fibre and potassium, but they also do wond
ers for a creamy texture. A little prep hack: Peel and chop your bananas into smaller chunks and toss them in a bag to freeze ‘em in advance. That way, you can choose the amount you want to use pretty specifically and save yourself the trying-to-peel-while-frozen headache, too.
Our fave *simple* smoothie recipes
If you really get into smoothies, there are unlimited ways you can fancy them up and make them uh-mazing. But right now, we’re just looking at an easy way to get those nutrients in on hot days with what you might already have kicking around. So here are two pretty straightforward but totally killer smoothie recipes to start with.
Tropical Dream
- 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder of your choice
- Frozen banana chunks
- Frozen Pineapple
- Frozen passionfruit cubes (for my Dutchies, you can get these at Albert Heijn!)
- Frozen Spinach
- Water/milk of choice, amount depending on consistency preference!
Desert in a Cup
- 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder of your choice
- 1 teaspoon of raw cocoa
- Frozen banana chunks
- 1 scoop of 100% peanut butter
- Frozen broccoli chunks
- Water/milk of choice, amount depending on consistency preference!
Small steps to big goals
If you’ve felt stuck, demotivated or unsure where to start with your nutrition journey, we suggest you start right here. A couple of smoothies a week will make a big boost in the diversity of nutrients you’re getting in, keeping you full of energy and vitality to take on the next goal.
It doesn’t need to be big or complicated or flashy to make a serious step toward your nutrition goals this summer. In fact, small steps are the real way to big, big transformations.
Happy blending, friends!
PS: If you take this to heart and give it a shot, we’d LOVE it if you’d shoot us a message, a picture or your rating and let me know how it went. Ya team could use some new recipe inspo, too!
