Veggies For Breakfast, A Smoothie Story
I was once asked to write down the principals that I live by. In my list of 10, number five, right in the middle was “eat your veggies for breakfast”. 🥦🥕🥒🥬 🥑🍠 As in, cover your bases first thing, so the afternoon can be a party. Smoothies are spot on when you are breastfeeding and pumping, especially if you’re also working. You need all the things: protein, fat, fiber, vitamins — and veggies are a great start. So put them in your morning smoothie. The perfect answer? A cauliflower celery smoothie.
But first, a disclaimer. Part of me acknowledges that the whole concept of a smoothie is pretty silly. I’ve had long, drawn-out imaginings of people, 50 years from now, being amazed and disgusted by our smoothie routines. They'll be shocked that we took perfectly good, beautiful food, blended it all up and chugged it down in 2 minutes, rather than chewing, eating and enjoying. Sometimes I imagine aliens seeing us eat smoothies and feeling entirely superior to the human race.
Our overly busy, quick-fix, ever-optimizing culture has given birth to "smoothie goals". We've gotten so swept up we buy $12 spinach-mint-chip smoothies, $50 bottles of protein powder and $1,000 blenders. I am culprit #1. I’ve taken smoothie absurdity to great heights, with elaborate smoothies that have to cost at least as much as a dozen eggs and take 20+ minutes to make. I’ve blended everything from ashwagandha to chickpeas into my smoothies and I can attest that 99% of the time, superfood powered smoothies come out looking and tasting brown. And yet, I continue.
And when nursing, a smoothie is a quick way to get in all the wins (and all the veggies).
I have discovered a few secrets. Cauliflower in place of ice — it makes a smoothie creamy and without ruining your flavor. Coconut milk is cheap, filling and should always come from a can. Water is always a good addition. Rhodiola tastes terrible, but is a wonderful adaptogenic herb when you’re nursing and pumping — a morning smoothie is a perfect place to hide it’s stringent flavor.
A smoothie is not a science nor an art. It’s blending stuff and hoping for the best. Same idea as a breakfast burrito. There's no earth-shattering recipe, just throw stuff in a tortilla and add cheese. I have little respect for smoothies. But I make them so well. So here’s my current un-recipe — let the aliens downgrade my IQ.
Ingredients:
Some frozen cauliflower, about 1/2 cup
1 celery stalk, cut up roughly
A small handful of frozen mangos or frozen blueberries (feeling tropical or berryific?)
1 scoop of good vanilla protein powder (favorites: Vega One, Ancient Nutrition)
A handful of nuts or seeds (examples: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts)
Any of your special herbs, when nursing for me its been a rotation rhodiola, moringa and cordyceps
1/2 cup coconut milk, from a can
Bonus: some greens, whatever you have one hand, from romaine to broccoli sprouts
Double Bonus: Some cut-up fresh ginger or a sprinkle of some powdered ginger… for kick.
Directions: Throw it all together and blend. Add more water as needed. Feel good that you ate veggies for breakfast.