recipe sunday: strawberry chocolate cake batter smoothie.

a few weeks ago, when I was stuck in bed with the norovirus, I took to pinterest and started looking up recipes. Now, if you know me, I am a huuuuuuge smoothie fan. In any way, shape, or form. And I kept stumbling across the "cake batter" protein shake. I kept finding various cake batter flavored recipes for spreads, smoothies, and ice cream. The key ingredient? Almond extract.

yeah, i know. I was surprised too! I thought you were only capable of getting cake batter taste (yum) the good old fashion way: by baking a cake. Yep, my mind was blown. So I decided to make a version of my own:

strawberry chocolate cake batter smoothie.

here's what you need:

1/2 cup coconut milk (or any other milk)
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 scoop vanilla vegan protein powder (or whichever one you like; here's my favorite)
2 medium sized bananas
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1 drop almond extract (a little goes a loooooooong way, so be careful!)
2 cups ice

here's what you do:

1. cut up bananas and strawberries.
2. place ingredients in blender in the above order. The order is important! The weight of ice, and then the fruit, pushes all of the ingredients down into the blades creating a  smoother smoothie.
3. blend away!

this recipe packs in about 26g of protein, making it the perfect breakfast/lunch/post workout smoothie. Depending on what type of milk and protein powder you use, it's vegan and gluten free too!

blend on, baby.

xo,

adrienne.

the perfect pre-post workout vegan smoothie.

mornings are hard. Like really hard. Even for us morning people. It's hard when even just waking up on time feels like an accomplishment, let alone dragging your derriere to the gym/studio/trail all before you shower, make breakfast, and head to work.

unfortunately, when sleep is in high demand and low supply, I start to cut corners. And those corners are usually with breakfast. I hate feeling hungry, especially after I've gotten my morning workout in (or more probable, before my afternoon run). And I hate feeling tired, even when I got 8+ hours of good solid sleep. But a certain something easy, tasty and fast makes my mornings a smidge easier: my hybrid morning perfect pre-post vegan smoothie.

now it's equal parts smoothie, iced coffee, and protein shake so it tackles all of the bases you'll need to get your day moving in a healthy and whole way. Caffeine fix? Check. Protein quota? Double check. A serving of fruit? Triple check. Now that that's all covered... Try it out!

ingredients:

-8oz chilled double brewed coffee OR 1 serving instant espresso in 8oz of water

-1 scoop vanilla vegan protein powder (Vega Sport is my up most favorite! Vegan, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, 100% amazing). Don't worry, any other protein powder will work. 

-1 tsp. coco powder

-1 large banana

-1.5 cups ice

1. Throw all of the ingredients in your blender, in the order above. The order is important: the weight of the ice and banana helps create a smoother blend. Trust me, I've got your back on this one.

2. Blend until desired consistency. If it's not blending smoothly, feel free to add in a little almond/coconut/rice milk.

3. Pour into your cup, and drink up, butter cup!

as I said, mornings are hard no matter what. Hopefully this little recipe makes them suck just a bit less. Oh, and don't forget to tell me what you think!



veg on, lovelies.

adrienne.