I was never a fan of breakfast, even as a kid. It also took me a long time to realize that while I loved bagels and pancakes, the heavy carbs would leave my sleepy and unproductive. In the quest to make some changes in my life several years ago, I adapted a smoothie recipe from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food in 2011 into my morning drink.
What I like about the smoothie is that it leaves me full for several hours and gives me the energy that I need to be productive, especially because while I don’t jump out of bed in the morning, I am my most productive in the am hours.
Recently I made the change from regular peanut butter (I used the unsalted kind from Trader Joe’s that has nothing added to it) to the powdered kind by PB2. It’s become readily available as I have found it at my local grocery store and Target, however, to get a larger container of it I order it from www.vitacost.com. I’m using the powdered peanut butter to cut down on fat content.
While it’s important to have some fat in our diet, right now I’m doing a little tweaking with my body and needed to find places to cut fat and calories without sacrificing taste. I have used almond milk in the recipe in the past and I add coffee as a small caffeine boost– just enough for me. Finally, I add unflavored protein powder because I don’t want to taste it!
This recipe has saved me on days where I don’t have time for lunch but I need to keep myself going. If I didn’t make the smoothie, I might not get to lunch until 2:00 or 3:00 pm.
Feel free to adjust the amounts as they work for you.
The Michelle Smoothie
- Several ice cubes
- 1 banana
- 1 scoop unflavored Jarrow protein powder
- 2 tablespoons PB2 powdered protein powder
- 2 cups milk
- ¼ cup coffee (warm or cold)
Add the ingredients as they are listed above and then blend until everything is mixed well.