Wednesday was a BUSY day for me – two great workouts and LOTS of work. It’s performance review time and as a team leader, that means lots of paperwork and long meetings. So after my TRX workout this morning, I knew I needed a breakfast that would be filled with nutrients to keep me going and stick with me for a while.
Smoothies are fun because you can just grab whatever is in the fridge and pantry and throw it together. Today’s concoction was raisin-licious. I’ll admit I had never added raisins to a smoothie before Kirk made one on Sunday – so this mix is definitely inspired by him!
Raisin Green Smoothie
by
Keywords: blender beverage breakfast vegan vegetarian
Ingredients (1 smoothie)
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 2 tablespoons ground flax
- 1 banana
- 1 handful Kale (or spinach, if you’re new to green smoothies)
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon Agave Nectar
- 1 cup almond milk
- 5 ice cubes
Instructions
1. Add raisins & flax to blender and combine until course.
2. Add remaining ingredients and combine until smooth. Adjust number of ice cubes to make the smoothie thinner (less ice) or thicker (more ice).
I had a request from a reader to include more nutritional information, so here’s the stats on this recipe from Calorie Count.
Want to kick up the protein content of the smoothie? How about a scoop of Vega Sport Protein? Delicious and whole foods based, it’s especially good for turning this into a post-run recovery shake.
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Dinner was actually prepared on Tuesday night, knowing I was going to be a little pressed for time the rest of the week. I made Laura’s Asian Inspired Sweet Potato Lentil Loaf and enjoyed every bite! The glaze is just a tad spicy, which goes really well with the earthy flavors of the lentils. I actually could increase the spice next time, but I’m a spice fiend. On the side, massaged kale salad using the dressing from Blissful Bite’s Mac N Kale. I’m seriously obsessed with that recipe!
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Vega Sport Sweepstakes
Speaking of Vega, I wanted to share an awesome giveaway that they are hosting! If you’re not familiar with Vega, they have a line of clean, all-natural, vegan sport nutrition products that I have been using for my run training. Great products!
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Sweepstakes Entry Period: January 3rd – March 31, 2012
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Five Weekly Prizes (per week for 11 weeks)
1 Vega Sport product
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Find Vega on Twitter & Facebook to find out if you are the lucky winner of our Weekly Prizes.
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And finally – don’t forget to enter the SeaSnax giveaway – just a few more days to enter before the winner is announced on Monday. Remember you can get bonus entries every day by tweeting about the giveaway!!
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Do you drink smoothies year-round or only during the warmer months of the year? What’s your favorite breakfast meal during the week?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
year round smoothie gal!
I like to add berries and unsweetened cocoa to my green smoothies.
Tasha @ Dine & Dash recently posted..Anything but plain
Yay for year-round smoothies! Berries & unsweetened cocoa are great – I tend to do that more in the summertime. :)
Good call on the kale warning. Looks like an awesome smoothie!
Thanks for the loaf shout out. I am so glad you liked it! I tend to spice everything up for my tastes too… there may have been extra sriracha spread across my slices…. :)
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table recently posted..Get Slimed (Green Protein Icing)
The Kale never bothers me, but I know Kirk is more sensitive about it. :)
I love meals that I can make and eat for days, makes food prep so much easier! I’ll have to remember to slather on some extra sriracha tonight!
Nice idea to use raisins as the sweetener in smoothies. I never want them in the colder months, I’m just really sensitive to cold weather and I really crave warm foods. Thanks for pointing out that VegaSport giveaway, definitely entering that one!
Alayna @ Thyme Bombe recently posted..About a book
Have to give Kirk the credit for that one – always good to have a foodie hubby too!
That is so interesting about the raisins! Very smart too. I want to make Laura’s lentil loaf as well. I pretty much only drink smoothies when it is warm. I hate being cold haha
Carol @ Lucky Zucca recently posted..10 Ways to Overcome Unhealthy Thought Patterns
Hahah…I don’t like being cold either, but for some reason a smoothie doesn’t bother me. I’m the type who comes home from a cold run and HAS to take a hot bath, so I don’t start shivering uncontrollably. Seriously!! =)
I never would have thought to put raisins in a smoothie! I like grapes in them, so why not raisins? Great idea :D
I want the Blissful Bites cookbook JUST for that kale recipe!! Sounds so good
Char @ http://www.charskitchen.ca recently posted..Vegan Brownies & Cappuccinos
Just made another mix this morning, I wish I had tried raisins sooner – so delicious! And I think BB is worth it just for the kale recipe, going on 2 weeks of eating it every day (it’s part of lunch today). ;)
I’ve been making this exact smoothie but with dates instead of raisins! So good. I’ve now depleted my supply of dates so raisins it is. I’m all over smoothies year-round, although during the colder months I tend to forgo the frozen fruit.
Nada (One Arab Vegan) recently posted..Beet, Hummus and Avocado Green Socca Pizza
Yum – this would be great with dates too! I’m the same with winter smoothies, no frozen fruit this time of year.