Back in the day when green smoothies seemed like something out of the swamp for me- I started building easy smoothie recipes leveraging the fruits and flavors I enjoyed the most. I had to ease my transition into a liquid breakfast, because let me be dead honest with you; it was anything BUT easy. I yearned for buttery croissants, cheese, eggs and coffee. Yes. That had been my breakfast of choice for years. I was the “bread woman”. Without bread and coffee, I couldn’t get the party started every morning. Anyone who has worked with me will recall my previous fondness for bagels and strong coffee. I used to run on carbs and caffeine, that’s the best way to describe it.

This was one of the first smoothies I started making; quite literally 5 ingredients and less than 5 minutes to prepare. I looked for comfort flavors; like blueberry, banana and the thought of creamy oats. It was not intimidating or daunting; you got to start small- you got to start somewhere. By small I don’t meant you’re compromising on nutritional content- no, quite the contrary. This smoothie has a good serving of fruit, old fashioned rolled oats for a soluble fiber punch, healthy fats in the banana and nut butter, as well as calcium in the non-dairy beverage. And did I mention it’s delicious?

Makes 1- You Will Need

• 1 cup of frozen blueberries (when frozen, they gives the smoothie nice texture and you don’t need ice)
• 1 ripe frozen banana sliced
• 1 cup of almond or coconut milk * carrageenan free
• 1 tablespoon of raw almond butter
• 1/3 cup of old fashioned rolled oats

Optional

• 1 tablespoon of raw agave, maple syrup or raw honey for added sweetness
• Hemp Hearts for added protein ( I like to keep my protein sources plant-based and avoid supplements)

Blend on high until desired consistency is obtained, when using dry oats you will need to blend a little longer than usual to break them down. Enjoy!!

*Carrageenan has been linked to cancer by some preliminary studies. I always ensure my non-dairy milk choice is carrageenan free.