smoothie love

Its' very common for customers to walk into my store with a coffee or smoothie in hand.  I am lucky enough to be on a street with other amazing retailers.  One being a funky coffee shop and the other food option is a vegan cafe with ridiculous (as in delish) smoothies.

A few weeks ago a customer came in sipping a green shake from the vegan cafe.  When she told me what was in it I have to admit I was a bit skeptical.  Two days later I gave it a try and it was AWESOME!

I think they call it the Funky Monkey but I just call it plain ole' YUM!

It contains almond butter, almond milk, dates, spinach and banana. It is liquid ROCK STAR.

I try really hard to eat breakfast at home and to bring my lunch using tasty leftovers since I eat way healthier and save a boat load of money but some days it's just hard to get it all together and out the door in time for work.  That's when I head up the street for coffee, an egg sandwich or a green smoothie.

And then a few days ago my friend Wendy (who I may have told about the ROCK STAR shakes and who may also love them) told me she figured out how to make them at home.

Texting her from the grocery store to make sure I had it all correct I filled my cart and headed home to get mixing.  She was right, it is super easy and tastes just like it does up the street.

I now have a new use for my roadie cups.

Of course there was a bit of trial and error...more trial than error because my cup always ends up empty.

I find that the end result is colder and better if I break up one ripe (but not brown) banana and wrap it in a bit of cling wrap and then pop it into the freezer while I do my morning routine.  I would say its in there for 1-2 hours.

I start by adding a large handful of baby spinach to the blender.  Then one date and the almond butter.

Using a tablespoon from the silverware drawer I scoop out a decent spoonful.  I use creamy butter.

Then the pieced, semi-frozen banana and last 3/4 a cup of Almond Milk.

Blend until smooth and into a roadie cup it goes.....