Veggie Staples

dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, plant based recipes

Archives for January 2015

Pumpkin Muffin Smoothie

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Did you get snowed in this week like we did here in New England? We got about 20 inches here in NH, but some parts of the state saw as much as 30! It’s a really good thing that my husband bought a snow blower last weekend. I suppose this photo does not do it justice!

 

Either way, snow storm or not, I still drink a smoothie every morning. Every. Morning. No matter what. They are easy, so I can drink them in the car on my way to work, and delicious! And there are so many variations, it is a breakfast that never gets boring.

I also love pumpkin all year ‘round (if you follow my blog you know I kind of have an obsession). And I always keep a few cans of pumpkin in my cabinet, no matter what time of year. I was jonesing for some pumpkin the other day, and whipped up this pumpkin smoothie, tastes just like a pumpkin muffin or a slice of homemade pumpkin pie. SO delicious. Add a little honey if you prefer it sweeter, but I don’t think it needs it. The thing I think makes this taste most like a pumpkin muffin is the added graham cracker. It gives it that taste like a sweet crumbly crust. I love Elana’s Pantry Graham Cracker recipe, it’s easy to make and very tasty! Dessert in a cup? Yes, please!!

 

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Pumpkin Muffin Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: Smoothie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1-2 smoothies
 
Ingredients
  • 1 large banana
  • 1 cup non dairy milk
  • ½ cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (or more if you like it)
  • 1-3 teaspoons of honey (optional)
  • 1 gluten free graham cracker
  • ice to taste
Instructions
  1. Peel banana
  2. Add all ingredients to blender or food processor
  3. Blend until smooth
  4. Serve immediately
  5. Top with extra graham cracker crumbles if desired

pumpkinmuffinsmoothie

Orange Detox Smoothie

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Do you love Mexican food? I love cilantro (I drench my mexican food in it!), and I try to stick it in my smoothies whenever I have any extra around left over from cooking. It alkalizing, and it helps remove heavy metal toxins from the body (the only herb able to do so)! It’s also an excellent source of calcium and beta carotene! Blending cilantro with a sweet fruit (orange or otherwise) really helps mask the flavor if you’re not super crazy about it. I love orange with the cilantro, especially because oranges are in season right now. I think you’ll really love this orange detox smoothie (try it with other sweet fruits, too)!

orange detox smoothie

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Orange Detox Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: Smoothie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1-2 smoothies
 
Ingredients
  • 1-2 oranges, peeled and deseeded
  • 1 handful of fresh cilantro, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup dairy free milk
  • ice to taste
Instructions
  1. Prepare ingredients as necessary
  2. Add all ingredients in a blender or food processor
  3. Blend ingredients until smooth
  4. Serve immediately

 

Apple & Beet Blaster Smoothie

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Do you like beets? I’m actually not a big fan of them cooked as a side dish with lunch or dinner, but I absolutely love them when they are juiced or blended into a smoothie. They have a very strong taste but I think they really give a smoothie or juice something great when they are incorporated with other fruits of veggies. My absolute favorite is beets and apples! The apples create such a perfect sweetness! And besides, beets are said to boost stamina for workouts, fight inflammation, lower blood pressure, contain lots of fiber and helps support detox!! This apple and beet smoothie will make you feel good and tastes good to boot! Enjoy!

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Apple & Beet Blaster Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: Smoothie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1-2 smoothie
 
Ingredients
  • 1 apple, peeled and chopped
  • 1 beet, washed and chopped
  • 1-2 cups water
  • ice to taste
Instructions
  1. Peel and chop apples and beets
  2. Add all ingredients to the blender or food processor
  3. Blend until smooth
  4. Serve immediately (will be frothy)

 

applebeetblastersmoothie

Orange Vanilla Creamsicle Smoothie

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Do you love those old school orange creamsicle bars? This smoothie tastes exactly like it! I was inspired to do a post with Sun Warrior Vanilla Protein Powder!

Sun Warrior contains no animal products, it’s raw and free of dairy, egg, gluten, soy, added sugar, wheat, or yeast. It is free of solvents, GMOs, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, or artificial colors. It’s also super easy to digest and promotes healthy kidney and liver functions! What’s not to love? Which is why I’m giving away a free container of it! (Entry form below). I really love this product in my post workout protein smoothies! Doesn’t taste artificial or like chalk! Great nutrition facts – 1 scoop = Calories: 70, Fat: 1g, Carbs: 4.2g, Protein: 16g, Sugar: 0

This smoothie tastes just like an Orange Vanilla Creamsicle - Enter below & then you can make one of your own (or just add vanilla extract)!

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Orange Vanilla Creamsicle Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: Smoothie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2 smoothies
 
Ingredients
  • 1 orange, peeled and deseeded
  • 1 banana, peeled
  • 1 scoop sun warrior vanilla protein powder (or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract)
  • 1 cup non dairy milk
  • 1 cup water
  • ice to taste
Instructions
  1. Prepare fruit as necessary
  2. Add all ingredient to the blender or food processor
  3. Blend until smooth
  4. Serve immediately

orangevanilacreamsiclesmoothie

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Creamy Strawberry Smoothie

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Do you love avocados? They are one of my favorite foods. They are so good with anything: toast, guacamole, as a snack with a little bit of salt! So good! They are one of the best healthy fats you can consume! They have 7 grams of fiber per serving, more potassium than a banana, and are said to help eye sight and fend off cancer! Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, when we go picking in the summer, we get loads of them and stick ’em in the freezer so we have enough to last us until the following summer (strawberries provide lots of vitamin C and help with inflammation, by the way). This creamy avocado strawberry smoothie provides lots of fiber (17 grams between the strawberries and avocado) alone, nevermind the flax seeds! If you find that the strawberries aren’t sweet enough for you, add a teaspoon of honey at a time until it’s to your liking. Enjoy!

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Creamy Strawberry Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: smoothie
Cuisine: smoothie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1-2 smoothies
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen, washed if fresh)
  • ½ avocado (pitted and peeled)
  • 1 cup non dairy milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
  • ice to taste
  • 1 - 3 teaspoons honey, optional
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients to the blender, prepared as needed
  2. Blend until smooth
  3. Serve Immediately

creamystrawberrysmoothie1

Sweet Carrot Zinger Smoothie

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Ready for a smoothie with carrots? I tried mixing some fruits I had for this smoothie that were starting to go! That’s the awesome thing about smoothies and using up anything that might be going bad. This smoothie incorporates a peach, an apple, a carrot and ginger (hence the ‘zinger’). It was quite tasty, and a great way to get in carrots (which I normally really don’t care for, raw or cooked).

Some benefits of carrots:

1. Improves vision: Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the liver. You never see any rabbits with glasses, do ya? 

2. Helps prevent cancer: Studies have shown carrots reduce the risk of lung cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer. Researchers have just discovered falcarinol and falcarindiol which they feel cause the anticancer properties. Falcarinol is a natural pesticide produced by the carrot that protects its roots from fungal diseases. Carrots are one of the only common sources of this compound. A study showed 1/3 lower cancer risk by carrot-eating mice.

3. Slows down aging: The high level of beta-carotene acts as an antioxidant to cell damage done to the body through regular metabolism. It help slows down the aging of cells.

4. Promotes healthier skin: Vitamin A and antioxidants protects the skin from sun damage. Deficiencies of vitamin A cause dryness to the skin, hair and nails. Vitamin A prevents premature wrinkling, acne, dry skin, pigmentation, blemishes, and uneven skin tone.

5. Helps prevent infection: Carrots are known by herbalists to prevent infection. They can be used on cuts – shredded raw or boiled and mashed.

6. Cleanses the body: Vitamin A assists the liver in flushing out the toxins from the body. It reduces the bile and fat in the liver. The fibers present in carrots help clean out the colon and hasten waste movement.

7. Protects teeth and gums: It’s all in the crunch! Carrots clean your teeth and mouth. They scrape off plaque and food particles just like toothbrushes or toothpaste. Carrots stimulate gums and trigger a lot of saliva, which being alkaline, balances out the acid-forming, cavity-forming bacteria. The minerals in carrots prevent tooth damage.

I could go on and on about ginger, peaches, and apples, but I think we’ve had enough information overload on carrots, yes?

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Sweet Carrot Zinger Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: smoothie
Cuisine: smoothie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 large carrot, washed and chopped
  • 1 large apple, washed and chopped (peeling optional)
  • 1 peach, washed and chopped (peeling optional)
  • 1 inch knob of ginger, washed and peeled
  • 1 cup non dairy milk
  • 1 cup water
  • ice to taate
Instructions
  1. Clean and chop ingredients if needed
  2. Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor
  3. Blend until smooth
  4. Serve immediately

sweetcarrotzingersmoothie

Blackberry Bomb Smoothie

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This blackberry smoothie is my third smoothie on the blog to kick off a month of healthy smoothies here at Veggie Staples. I’m hoping to get you guys 20 by the 31st! I recently headed over to BJ’s and picked up a huge box of blackberries that I’ve been munching on all week, so I knew I’d be throwing these into a smoothie recipe to share with you. This one is a fruity, delicious concoction. People underestimate blackberries, I think they get forgotten about because you see so many strawberry and blueberry recipes, but blackberries are one of my favorites. For instance, did you know they have the highest amount of antioxidants out of any berry? The high tannin content of blackberries also provides a number of benefits to reduce intestinal inflammation and tummy troubles, not to mention all that fiber!! What is your favorite berry?

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Blackberry Bomb Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: Smoothie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1 smoothie
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup blackberries (frozen or fresh)
  • 1 cup greens (spinach, kale)
  • 1 cup non dairy milk
  • 1 cup water
  • ice to taste
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in a blender.
  2. Buzz on high speed until smooth
  3. Best if served immediately

blackberrybombsmoothie

Morning Frothy Monkey Smoothie

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The month of smoothies continues. I love this smoothie on the weekends because it gives me a little pick me up in the afternoon (and perfect for weekday mornings), and it’s got a few of my favorite ingredients, almond butter & coffee! Can’t really go wrong with that. It’s a nice treat, something a little indulgent that you don’t have to feel too guilty about. I’ve been taking polls on facebook about what your favorite ingredients for smoothies are, so I’m going to try to include them all (I don’t think that will be too much of a problem)! I hope that you’ve started off your new year right and that you are sticking to those resolutions related to your health!

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Morning Frothy Monkey Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: Smoothie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1
 
Ingredients
  • 1 banana (I like mine frozen)
  • 1 cup of almond milk
  • 1 cup of cold brew coffee
  • 1 tablespoon almond butter
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cacao powder
  • ice to taste
Instructions
  1. Blend
  2. Serve Immediately

 

morningfrothymonkey

 

 

 

Pineapple Basil Smoothie

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Happy New Year! How are you all doing with your resolutions? Many of you probably decided that losing weight would be one of them, right? I have that on my list also. 30 pounds of baby weight to get rid of (10 of them already gone). So I feel your pain! I’m starting off January with a month of smoothies. My goal is to get you 20. I figure that’s not too bad, one every other day. I drink them every morning, and I am always changing the ingredients based on what I have in the fridge or feel like that day. They fill me up (lots of fiber) and it’s a great way to start the morning. Not to mention the easiness, my sister just gave me her nutribullet, so I can make smoothie for lunch when I feel like it too! I hope you like this first one, I love the taste of pineapple, and both basil and pineapple are so good for you. Basil is a good source of magnesium, helps with cardiovascular health, and helps with inflammation (hello, vitamin A)!

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Pineapple Basil Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: Pineapple Basil Smoothie
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1 smoothie
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of pineapple (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 handful of basil
  • 1 cup of spinach
  • 1 cup of non dairy milk
  • 1 cup of water
  • ice (optional, good if you are not using frozen pineapple
Instructions
  1. Blend until smooth
  2. Serve immediately

pineapplebasilsmoothie