Power Smoothie — 8 Ways

We all know that as those on restricted diets and plant-centric diets it's important to stay on top of our nutritional needs and make sure our bodies get all the dietary components necessary to stay healthy and energized (been there the unhealthy way in my teens.... not good!). I've found at times though that I develop a huge resistance towards the very things I know I need more of in my diet—greens and protein. It's hard to explain how that happens, but I'm sure many of you have been there... So, my solution to bypassing this and to making sure my diet is more balanced? A power smoothie!

I know smoothies aren't exactly hard to make, and don't typically require a recipe, but I wanted to share this one with you because I think it's special. It's not special because it's a particularly ingenious invention on my part, but because of the key component in it: Vega. Now I'm all for making fresh green smoothies, but the Vega Protein Smoothie mix is quite special in its own way. It's amazingly quick and simple to prepare and it's got some incredible specs to its name: 15 grams of protein (from peas, saviseed, hemp seed, and sprouted brown rice) and the equivalent of 2 servings of green vegetables (consisting of kale, spinach, alfalfa, and broccoli)—none of which you can taste ;). The best part—all this is only 80-90 calories so far! And it's completely vegan, gluten-free, and non-GMO. Now that is what I call a jam packed with nutrients gluten-free vegan power smoothie, my friends!

There’s only one downside—it's stevia-sweetened. Now, while I love how low calorie and refined sugar-free this smoothie mix is, I’m not a fan of stevia. I wanted to like stevia so badly, but to date I can only literally count a handful of recipes where I could tolerate the aftertaste. I found that the Vega smoothie is not so bad in this respect—definitely falls into this “handful” of acceptable recipes. It does require some masking however, and unless you are uber brave, do not attempt to follow the directions on the package and just mix the powder in with water—unless you want "stevia mouth," that is. Below are 8 of my favorite ways to blend up a really amazing and healthy drink (that just happens to taste like liquid ice cream :)... ).

Chocolate Banana Power Smoothie:

1½ cups unsweetened almond milk (I use a vanilla flavored one, or homemade almond milk)
1 scoop of Chocolate flavored Vega Protein Smoothie powder
1 frozen banana

Strawberry/Blueberry Vanilla Power Smoothie:

1½ cups unsweetened almond milk (I use a vanilla flavored one, or homemade almond milk)
1 scoop of Vanilla flavored Vega Protein Smoothie powder
½ frozen banana
6 frozen strawberries or ¼ cup blueberries

Vanilla Chai Power Smoothie:

1½ cups unsweetened almond milk (I use a vanilla flavored one, or homemade almond milk)
1 scoop of Vanilla flavored Vega Protein Smoothie powder
1 frozen banana
½ tablespoon maple syrup (optional)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
and a pinch of the following spices: cardamom, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger

Piña Colada Power Smoothie:

1½ cups unsweetened almond milk (I use a vanilla flavored one, or homemade almond milk)
1 scoop of Vanilla flavored Vega Protein Smoothie powder
½ frozen banana
½ cup pineapple chunks
1 tablespoon coconut butter or 2 tablespoon coconut flakes
juice of ¼ - ½ a lemon (to taste)

Chocolate Raspberry/Cherry Power Smoothie:

1½ cups unsweetened almond milk (I use a vanilla flavored one, or homemade almond milk)
1 scoop of Chocolate flavored Vega Protein Smoothie powder
1 frozen banana
¼ cup frozen raspberries or cherries

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie:

1½ cups unsweetened almond milk (I use a vanilla flavored one, or homemade almond milk)
1 scoop of Chocolate flavored Vega Protein Smoothie powder
2 tablespoon peanut butter
a handful of ice cubes

Cranberry/orange, chocolate/orange, raspberry/coconut... You get the idea, right?

Note: Vega makes several flavors of these smoothie mixes. My advice is to stick to the chocolate and vanilla flavors. The berry flavors are just not as awesome.

You can find Vega products in most health food stores, many grocery stores and online via their website or via Amazon. Now, how many people do you know who can say they started their day with broccoli, kale, spinach, alfalfa, protein packed seeds, sprouted grains, and fruit? I thought so :).

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Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links to Vega products.