Do you ever wake up and realize you indulged a little too much at dinner last night, and are not excited to stuff your face with a huge breakfast? Welp, this happened to me last night. We had a big dinner followed by a HUGE peanutbutter cup oatmeal cookie. As full as I was, I am not one to skip dessert especially if there's chocolate involved. So today I woke up drank a tall glass of warm water with lemon to flush out my system and once I got hungry decided it was most definitely a smoothie kind of day. I wasn't always a huge smoothie fan, I strayed away from the popular cold beverage since summertime because, hello! this is Boston and it's freezing out! That's when I learned that not all smoothies have to be cold. Huge lightbulb moment. If you use fresh fruit instead of frozen, or a mixture of the two, you get a pleasantly delicious drink that doesn't chill you to the core. Pro tip: make sure you take the extra few minutes to let your chia seeds soak. This makes them puff up and form a gel-like outer layer which makes them more bio-available to your body. Hydrated chia take longer to digest leaving you fuller longer, preventing blood sugar spikes and decreasing cholesterol. You can even soak them overnight - you can never soak chia for too long!
Morning Green Smoothie Recipe for Two
Total prep time: 7 minutes
Ingredients
2 handfuls of spinach and/or kale
1/2 cup of blueberries
1 kiwi
1/2 apple (save the rest for a snack, your dog, or tomorrows smoothie)
1-2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup water, coconut water, juice (I used Trader Joes Green Juice)
Top with a sprinkle of hemp seeds, granola, and/or blueberries
Directions:
1. Combine chia seeds and your choice of liquid in blender. Let chia seeds soak for 2-3 minutes while you gather the other ingredients.
2. Throw the rest of your fruits & greens in the blender and blend on high for 3-5 minutes. Kale and spinach are pretty fibrous so make sure you blend, blend, blend so you're not chewing your smoothie!
