Smoothies! Easy as can be. Quick for a meal-replacement (MRP), a way to buffer your macros, and can be taken on the go. I’ve been asked by numerous people to put what I do for MRP/smoothie making as I’ve been making them since my 20’s. Having them available instead of garbage fillers will keep you leaning in a healthier direction at what is really quite easy to do.
Equipment
I’ve had a lot of blenders over the years and while my Warren will outlive me I finally switched this last holiday season to the Ninja Smart screen / Kitchen System and have found it much easier to maintain quality control as well as feed a family worth of frozen treats faster and easier. If you aren’t in the mood for this size look into the Bullet sized systems. The main point is you have interchangeable cups which help get you out of the kitchen faster. The vacuum system in the Ninja I’ve also found to be helpful because many whey/milk protein shakes end up volumizing (growing too large) because of the available air. By pulling a bit of this out your smoothie will stay more condensed and less frothy.
The Composition
A dietary artist you become for a smoothie. Proteins, amino chains, vitamins, probiotics, fruits, flavors, omegas, etc. You pick what you want based on what you need for the day. Total MRP or just a healthy filler instead of that bag of powdered donuts. Let’s walk it through.
Protein
Back in the late ’90s, you ate chalk. By the early ’00s protein had finally found a path into your palate that was smooth and sometimes even undetectable. In the 10’s we have seen the rise of plant-based protein and sometimes using those feel like you’ve stepped back into the ’90s.
I’m a whey guy for the most part. I have no problem with pea or hemp-based proteins, they just require more out of you to get an exceptional product. I can’t recommend any that I am steadfast to since I’m still working through different variants. Where I can say I’ve settled for now in the whey categories is BodyTech’s Whey Tech Pro 24 (Vanilla). At $50 for 77 servings (.64c/serving) it clocks in at a very affordable protein/amino profile. 120 cals, 24g of protein, 1g sugar it’s a good based to build upon. I use this in a blended shake.
If you need a protein shake you use a shaker for I usually opt for something like Whey Isopure which goes in pretty much invisibly.
Flavors–I highly recommend only buying into Vanilla and Chocolate. If you want strawberry, add strawberries. You can always tilt vanilla to any flavor and chocolate will always be chocolate, but you’ll taste the synthetic every time if you try and find some fruity concoction. Just keep it simple and tweak flavors based on actual whole-foods.
Macro & Trace Nutrients
Macronutrients are easily found in a good diet. Here we aim to make sure you are rounding that diet out well. These fellas keep the body running happily, so adding them seems like common sense for a MRP. For this, I’ve stuck by one manufacturer nearly since their inception years ago. Vibrant Health Green Vibrance. This stuff is like a healthy bump. First thing in the morning this will wake you up almost like coffee. Mid-day, keeps you going. I lean towards the idea that it’s just bioavailability of goodness that is taken up pretty easily. I don’t quite ascribe to the probiotics elements of most edibles since the stomach is only going to pass along 2% of that but hey, if there are 25 billion probiotics then 2% of 25B is more than you might have gotten otherwise. Cost-wise it runs $70, for 60 servings you’re looking at $1.15 per serving. You’re free to range and try and compete here but a glance at the nutrient label will make you understand just how much is being put into each scoop. I’ve had this in my household for over a decade.
Healthy Fats
You can play here where you like. I keep a bag of hemp shells, chia seeds, flax seeds all in tins that I can scoop from. Another benefit of the Ninja Kitchen blender is it has an Extract mode which does a good job at taking seeds and pulping them well. Better to have your seeds whole until you need them than their powder forms so having a blender that can really tear them down before eating is a boon.
Pick what you like a scoop of each, make a jar of all of them, add your fish oil or what you like to round out great brain health and you’re moving on.
Fruit!
Now, this is your playground. Buy what’s in season fresh, buy what’s out of season frozen and enjoy mixing and matching to your heart’s content. Fresh fruit going bad? Dice it up and throw it on parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet, freeze it, bag it, now you’re wasting nothing.
Peach season, peach smoothies. Blueberry season, blueberry smoothies. Strawberry… you get the idea. But it’s winter you cry! Ok, grab a bag of mixed fruits of different types when you see a BOGO at your grocery and now you grab a handful of that. We’ll talk about ice and ratios in a moment.
This above all else is your preference but the skies the limits. Avocados also make a great rich addition if you so desire. Experiment and find what you like. Pull up a nutrition loadout on the item if you’re really curious how it might impact you but unless you’re trying to keep a low GI then I don’t worry too much about this. You’re only going to add about 1/2 cup.
Liquids
Last main thing I’ll cover before some recipes to help out. What to add for liquids. I like to think about this as digestibility and caloric needs. Milk is slow to digest. Great for overnight smoothies to help you stay away from being catabolic but might not be great when you want to have a quick uptake. Also, it’s rather calorically dense. I’ve moved on to unsweetened vanilla almond milk and toasted coconut milks. Low in calorie, easily digestible, and really tasty in your smoothie. You can also cut any of the ‘milks’ with fruit juices. Just know you’re adding potentially a lot of fructose/sugar into your mix. However, if you are going for a really orange smoothie then OJ helps bring it fully around to what you’re creating.
In this category, you can also add yogurts and kefir. They will add a richness and will depend on your taste. I like keeping a bottle of vanilla yogurt and honey kefir around just to add variance. They also can be used to thicken a smoothie well for a smoothie bowl if you want to take more time to enjoy your meal.
Recipe Logic
I’ve been told some of you have no creativity, so let’s help that out. Real quick about frozen ratios: If you use too many frozen items, you’ll end up locking up your cups; if you use too little, you’ll have more liquid than frozen. With experimentation, you’re going to figure this out. The easiest rule of thumb I’ve found is to make sure you can cover your frozen goods with enough liquid + a little more. It’s that easy. I’ve also found it beneficial to fill ice > fruit > powders. If you do this in reverse, the powders might not blend fully (if you use a Ninja-based cup—if you use a standard blender, you’ll want this reversed. You really just want your powders and soft stuff blended before your ice/frozen items).
Quick aside: All of these recipes are built around the Ninja tall cups. Use the measurements on them for clarification. Scoops are based on the serving scoop in each jar. KISS.
Strawberry Smoothie
(based on Ninja attachable cups)
- 5oz Ice
- 4oz Strawberries
- 1/2 Banana
- Cover with liquids
- 1tbls Honey (if your strawberries are not sweet enough)
- 1 Scoop Green Vibrance
- 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein
- 1 1tbls Hemp Shells
Frozen Mangos Smoothie
- 4oz Ice
- 4oz Frozen Mangos
- Cover +2oz Liquids (Toasted Coconut does great here)
- 1/4c Yogurt / Kefir
- 1 Scoop Green Vibrance
- 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein
- 1tbls Hemp Shells or Flax
Nutty Chocolate Smoothie
- 5oz Ice
- Cover +2oz 2% Milk or other
- 1 Heaping Tbls Sunflower Butter
- 1 Tbls Nutella
- 1 Scoop Chocolate Protein
- 1 Scoop Green Vibrance
- 1 Tbls Honey (maybe—this is sweetness preference)
Super-Duper Green Smoothie
- 3oz Ice
- 4oz Wyan’s Berries & Kale
- 1/2c Baby Spinach
- 1/2 Avocado
- 1/2c Yogurt
- 1/2 Scoop Green Vibrance
- 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein
Are you seeing some basic patterns? Smoothie making isn’t rocket science. You want it to blend, so you can play the game ‘Will it Blend?’
Don’t want it so frozen? Less ice. Want to have to scoop it out of the blender, more. Don’t be afraid of your ingredients or your machine. If your smoothie locks up, pull it off the blender, shake it, and keep doing it. If it never unlocks, open it up and add some more liquid. There is no failure or real mistakes. (Well, except when you overfill like I seem to do regularly because I WANT SO MUCH—this can lead to a mess. Hah!)
Other than that, you go where your taste and ingredients can take you. The point of all of this is you should always have access to a healthy, clean, and delicious snack, meal, or filler for the day. The cost will net out around $2 – $3 per meal which I’ve found acceptable for the nutritional impact in my life.
I hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions, reach out and let me know.