“Let me ask you missy, did you put a banana in that there smoothie?”
“Ummm, no sir.”
“Wait, what?! I don’t think that is legal. But, I will give you one more shot, at least tell me there is protein powder in der and I will let it slide just this one time.”
(Play it cool, play it cool, play it cool)…..”Not exactly, and there is no yogurt either, but there IS protein enough for those big muscles of yours!” 🙂
Am I right, or….am I right? It seems all smoothies these days have a couple common denominators. And in the fitness smoothie world, isn’t it sacrilegious to NOT put some kind of powder in there? Well, I am here to free you from the regular and take you to something a little different perhaps. Not mind-numbingly different.
After a long summer of racing, I thought we would focus on a recovery smoothie that will settle your body, re-hydrate your cells, rebuild your muscles and flood the system with plenty of “good guys” to fight the “bad guys”. And with the humidity lately, we all need to replenish after sweating so much. I can’t be the only one who looks like this after running 6 miles in the humidity, right?
So this smoothie starts with coconut water, great source of electrolytes AND potassium. As with anything though, all coconut water sold in the store is not created equal. You have to think about how it has been processed, heated, packaged and flavored and BY WHOM. If we are going to use this smoothie as a recovery drink, then its probably worth it to go for the best. When we tear down our body through rigorous activity, we need to give it some love from the inside out first so its ready to go again the next time.
Check out this link from The Food Babe about coconut water, which to buy and which to avoid. I would agree with her assessments: http://foodbabe.com/2014/07/15/how-to-buy-the-healthiest-coconut-water-and-avoid-the-worst/
Now, onto the protein powder, or lack thereof. I try to eat as much of my food in its purest form. I start with food that grew that way and then transform it into something delicious (hopefully 🙂 Protein powder has been processed immensely and doesn’t really resemble much in the way of real food. Granted, there are some great brands that do their best to keep the processing to a minimum and allow the nutrients to remain mostly in tact. But, why not add a scoop of almond butter to the blender and call it a day. (Stay with me, I promise its worth it.) Plus, the addition of avocado gives you the healthy saturated fat we need, plus is a great sub for the yogurt in allowing the smoothie to be creamy.
Enough already, you came for a recipe, right. Almost there. I gave this to my kids and one said, “I can taste the almond butter.” (My answer, “So.”) Another one liked the lime because it was a little tart but got all flustered when my son blew the whistle on the almond butter flavor (he has a discerning palate, she just thinks she really doesn’t like almond butter but doesn’t have a discerning palate). 
And the last kiddo, jumped on her scooter and rode off into the sunset with her smoothie as happy as can be!
Mango Lime Smoothie
- 1 cup mango (I used frozen organic mango chunks)
- ½ cup blueberries (again, I used frozen)
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ of a small avocado
- 1 TBS. almond butter
- 4-6 oz. raw coconut water
- 1 GIANT handful of spinach
Blend it all up in a good blender (hopefully a VitaMix, ’cause they just rock!). Pour into a glass and enjoy!!
As always, thanks for joining me on another Foodie Friday! Food is a constant journey that takes you to new places…& I love being part of your journey.
~ Jamie
