Thick & Creamy Vegan Vanilla Shake

I wasn’t sure whether to call this a shake or a smoothie, because it reminded me so much of a vanilla milkshake so I opted for calling it both. This is one of the best smoothie (shake) recipes I’ve come up with so far. I was actually going to call this a breakfast smoothie until I decided to have it for dinner too because I enjoyed it so much.

This is one of those quick and easy smoothie recipes that is just so delicious and nutritious that there’s no excuse not to make it any time you need a quick meal or pick-me-up.

Vanilla, honey, maca and lucuma are all superfoods. Sesame seeds have more protein than any other seed or nut, are loaded with calcium, iron, and magnesium. Plus they contain lignans that can help burn fat. Flaxseed (also called linseed), is high in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and fiber. Oats are the king of the grains, they help lower blood cholesterol, are a good source of magnesium, zinc and vitamin E and are also very high in fiber. And the humble banana… contains potassium and vitamin B6, which the body needs to make serotonin the brain-chemical which makes you feel good. Bananas also have plenty of fiber, and it’s a particular type of fiber that aids bowel health, and has been found to lower the incidence of bowel cancer. Whew! And if you need any more convincing, just taste it.

Ingredients:

4 cups water
4 ripe bananas, peeled (fresh or frozen)
1 cup oats *
4 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp flaxseed (linseed)
2-3 tbsp honey or agave nectar (to taste)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 teas natural vanilla extract
dash of Himalayan sea salt
1 tbsp maca-root powder or lucuma powder (optional)

Instructions:

Grind the sesame seeds and flaxseed to a fine meal. A coffee grinder works beautifully for this, otherwise use a high-powered blender (make sure the inside of the blender jug is dry). Grind the oats to a fine meal in a coffee grinder or a high-powered blender.

Add all the ingredients to the blender. Blend well until, rich and creamy.

Makes 5 cups.

* Oats are almost always cooked, even when you find them as oat groats. It’s very rare to find truly raw oats, but if you want a 100% raw shake and can’t find raw oats you can substitute buckwheat groats instead. Just soak and sprout them for a day or two, but make sure to use them before the tails get longer than the buckwheat seeds. You can dehydrate the sprouted buckwheat and grind it, or just add the fresh sprouted buckwheat to the blender. The result is not as creamy in texture, but it’s still really nice and super healthy.

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Creamy blueberry coconut smoothie

Today I decided to take a break from my usual green smoothie for breakfast and go with an all-fruit smoothie.

I recently cracked open a couple of fresh coconuts, and I still had some coconut water left, so I decided to use that, as well as some of the coconut flesh. The result was a beautiful, creamy, fruity smoothie with a hint of vanilla.

Blueberries and coconuts are both superfoods. Blueberries are considered one of the best foods for fighting free-radicals and repairing cell damage thanks to the anthocyanins they contain, which also give them their blue color. They also have anti-inflammatory properties, protect against dementia and are great for the eyes and memory, especially as we get older. They also contain resveratrol which protects us against cancer and heart disease. Coconuts contain the most heart-healthy oils of any food. Prunes are good for the digestion, they help nourish the friendly bacteria in your gut. They also contain lots of beta-carotene, and lower cholesterol. Cinnamon helps to even out blood-sugar levels and prevent mood swings. So this smoothie is not only delicious, but awesomely good for you.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut water
3 cups water
3 bananas, fresh or frozen, peeled
handful of fresh coconut meat
1-1/2 cups blueberries, frozen
3-4 prunes (or 1 tablespoon of honey or agave syrup)
1 teas ground cinnamon
1/2 teas natural vanilla extract

Instructions:

Put about a cup of water and the prunes into the blender and process until the prunes are well blended. The prunes will add sweetness and can be replaced by honey or agave syrup, you can adjust the amount you add to suit your taste.

Pry a handful of fresh coconut meat from the shell. If the coconut meat still has the brown inner shell on one side cut it off. A sharp knife will work but I like to use a vegetable peeler. The fresh coconut can be a bit slippery because of all the beautiful coconut oil it contains, and I feel like the vegetable peeler is a lot safer than using a knife, and it works just as well.

Add the fresh coconut, and all the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Drink immediately.

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Strawberry, Oregano & Wild Greens Smoothie

There are some tasty foods that just don’t look that appetizing, and certainly are not photogenic. This is one of them. We stopped by our local orchard yesterday and were lucky enough to score some strawberries “for jam” at half price. So this morning’s smoothie featured… you guessed it, strawberries!

I’m also getting a bit more daring on the wild edibles front, and this was the biggest handful of weeds I’ve put in yet. I managed to find really young dandelions and plantain. I was also especially lucky to find young dock leaves. I took a nibble from one just to see and was surprised to find they have quite a pleasant taste. No bitterness at all, they have an almost nutty taste. I’d like to try them in a salad too. All the wild edibles are highly nutritious, and so is oregano I have recently discovered. It’s definitely a superherb, so I snipped a bit of that from the garden to put in too. I’ve been using oregano in my green smoothies since I first started having them, it doesn’t impart the strong flavor that’s so nice in Italian foods. It adds a really nice, fresh taste to the smoothies. And now that I know just how awesome it is, I’m making it a point to add some oregano as much as possible.

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)
3 bananas (fresh or frozen)
1 cup frozen plums
handful of young wild edible greens (dandelion, dock, plantain) and fresh oregano
handful of spinach

Instructions:
Rinse and drain the leafy greens. Strip the leaves off the oregano stems and throw the stems away. Remove any thick stems on the spinach. I used wild New Zealand spinach, which have small, tender stems so they can be blended right in.

Add 4 cups of water to blender jug. Add in the greens. Blend until there are no bits of greens left. If you have a high-powered blender at least 1,000 watts you should be fine. Otherwise, try adding only 2 cups of water at first, then the greens and blend. Then add the rest of the water and blend again.

Once the greens have liquefied, add the fruit and blend until smooth. Serve and drink as soon as possible.

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Super C Hydrating Fizzy Refresher

This is one of by favorite refreshing pick-em-up drinks. I drink it nearly every day and I really miss it when I don’t. This is one of my ‘happy foods’, combining red bush tea (also known as rooibos) and the fermented wonder-drink kombucha. Rooibos tea is high in minerals, loaded with antioxidants and very hydrating, making it a great isotonic sports drink.

Combine the hydrating properties of Red Bush tea, the vitamin C and antioxidant properties from superfoods camu camu and lemon, and the energizing zing of kombucha and what have you got? Why a Super C Fizzy Antioxidant Refresher of course! Okay, enough silliness. But seriously, this tasty beverage always lifts my spirit as well as my energy levels. It’s quick and easy to make, but so good for you. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

2 cups Red Bush tea (2 cups boiling water, 1 red bush tea bag, make the day before and store it in the fridge overnight and it will be ready to make a cool, refreshing drink for you the next day)
1 cup kombucha tea
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoon sweetener (raw unfiltered organic honey, raw agave syrup, or raw yacon syrup)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon camu camu powder
1/2 teaspoon MSM powder
powdered organic ginger to taste
dash of cayenne

Instructions:

I keep the red bush tea in the fridge, and make a new batch as soon as I use the tea from the previous day. This way my Super C Fizzy Antioxidant Refresher drink always comes out refreshingly cool right out of the blender.

Add all ingredients except the kombucha tea to the blender. Blend thoroughly until the sweetener is completely dissolved. Add the kombucha tea and pulse the blender briefly to just mix everything.

Serve and drink. Garnish with a sprig of fresh wild mint if you like.

Makes up to 3 servings, unless you love it as much as I do and drink it all!

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Delicious Nut Milk

You can make a delicious, creamy non-dairy nut milk from raw cashews. They can be added directly to smoothies to make them creamier, or you can create this nut milk and use them in smoothies, on raw granola, or other dishes.

Cashews are quite soft and will blend well without soaking, but if you have problems digesting nuts you may want to pre-soak them for 6-12 hours and throw away the soak water before you proceed.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews
3 cups water
1-2 T clear agave nectar, raw honey, yacon syrup or other sweetener
1 teas natural vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean
2 pinches Celtic sea salt

Instructions:
Blend cashews, water, salt and sweetener on high until creamy.

If you don’t have a very powerful blender you might want to use soaked cashews and/or add only half the water to start, and when the cashews are well blended add the rest. If you have a powerful blender, like a Vita-mix it’s easy, just add all the ingredients and blend.

Depending on what you want to use the cashew milk for it may be fine as-is, but you can also strain it through a fine sieve or nut milk bag or piece of muslin to remove the fiber. Be sure to save the nut fiber to use in cookies and other recipes.

Cashew milk can be substituted where I have used almond or other nut milks in most of the recipes here.

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Green Smoothie

Today’s green smoothie (breakfast of Champions!) came out really creamy. I’m not sure why, but I’m sure enjoying it. I’ve got 2 superfoods packed in this one, goji berries and goldenberries (a.k.a. Incan Berries and Golden Inca Berries). Just for a change I decided to add some spice – cinnamon and ginger, it’s a subtle but nice change.

Ingredients:
4 kale leaves (stalk removed)
bunch of curly parsley (any kind will do)
4 sprigs apple mint (alternatively any other fresh mint)
2.5 cups kombucha (alternatively use filtered water)
3 frozen bananas
1 handful frozen goldenberries
1 handful dried goji berries
2 good shakes of powdered cinnamon
pinch of celtic sea salt
pinch of powdered ginger

Instructions:
Put all the greens into a blender. Add kombucha up to the 2.5 cup mark on my blender jug. Blend, starting on slow and gradually turning up the speed until the liquid starts turning green (at first the liquid is still clearish, with green leafy bits in it, but I keep blending on high until the bits start liquefying).

Add the rest of the ingredients, breaking up each frozen banana into about 3 pieces. You probably don’t have to break the banana if you have a super-blender, like the Vita-mix.

The banana and goldenberries will thicken the mixture, so add more kombucha or filtered water until you smoothie is the consistency you like.

This will make several large glasses, and will keep in the fridge for the rest of the day if you want to drink it throughout the day.

Tip: The quickest way I’ve found to de-stalk the kale is to grab hold of the thick end of the stalk with one hand, wrap my thumb and index finger around the stalk near my ‘holding’ hand with my palm facing toward the leafy part and then just sliding my thumb and index finger up the stalk to pull off the leafy part.

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Banana Mocha Non-Milk Shake

I created this as a non-dairy alternative to my former favorite, espresso milkshakes. Now, I may be biased, but I’d say espresso milkshakes pale in comparison to this baby! This is a favorite afternoon pick-up drink in my house.

I also find this satisfies my sweet cravings, and is a lot healthier than having a chocolate bar.

Ingredients

1 cup brewed espresso
1 cup rice milk, soy milk, or nut milk
4 medium frozen bananas
1 T cacao nibs, cacao powder, carob powder
1 teaspoon raw agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon natural vanilla essence
generous shake of ground cinnamon

Instructions:

Brew the espresso ahead of time and allow it to cool down. I usually make it in the morning and put it in the fridge until afternoon when I make my shake.

Break or cut the frozen bananas into several pieces. You may have to experiment to see just what size your blender can handle.

Put the banana pieces into the blender and add all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth. Serve.

Makes 4 servings

Banana Mocha Non-Milk Shake

Where to Find High Quality Ingredients:

• Cacao Nibs 16oz. (Peeled, Raw/Organic)
• Cacao (Chocolate) Powder 16 oz. (raw, organic)
• Cacao Beans (Raw, Organic) 16oz.
• Agave (Amber) Nectar 16 oz
• Agave (Dark) Nectar 16 oz
• "Real Raw" Organic Agave Nectar (Platinum), 13.25oz

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Ingredients:
1-2 teaspoons raw, unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
1 glass water

Instructions:

Apple Cider Vinegar Drinks

Mix 1-2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. Take 3 times daily, before or during meals.

It’s not hard to make your own apple cider vinegar from either cores and peels or whole apples, check out the homemade cider vinegar recipe to see how easy it is.

If you’re using store-bought ACV be sure to get one that’s organic, unfiltered, and unpasteurized in order to get the most benefit from it. Bragg’s make a really good quality cider vinegar. It’s the next best thing to your own homemade cider vinegar . It’s called Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar Raw, Organic, Unfiltered, with the ‘mother’. You can order it online in 16 fl oz size and 32 fl oz size. If it’s your first order with them use the discount code WEZ300 to get a bit of a discount off their already great prices.

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Banana Berry Smoothie

This great tasting smoothie is packed full of nutrition. It’s especially high in fiber, vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants. The kefir or yogurt contributes acidophilus, to keep your intestinal flora healthy. Using kombucha, instead of dairy makes this a dairy-free, vegan drink.

Ingredients:
1 banana, chopped
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, diced
1 kiwifruit
1-2 handfuls frozen blueberries or mixed berries
3/4 cup apple or pineapple juice
1/2 cup organic yogurt, kefir, or kombucha

Instructions:
Cut the kiwifruit in half, and using a spoon scoop out the flesh.

Add all ingredients to a blender or smoothie maker. Blend well.

Notes:
Use kombucha for vegan or raw versions of this smoothie.

Serves 2

Related posts:

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Peach & Strawberry Smoothie

The delicate hint of rose complements the taste of the strawberries perfectly and really brings out the fruity flavors of this drink. I can’t eat much first thing in the morning, so I’ll often have a smoothie to last me until I can eat a bit more. Tinned peaches and frozen strawberries make this a quick, nutritious drink you can whip up anytime of the year.

Ingredients:
1 can peaches, in juice
1 handful strawberries, fresh or frozen
1 to 1-1/2 cup kefir or organic acidophilus yogurt
1 teas bee pollen
1 teas Eau de roses (extract of roses)

Important ingredient notes:
Make sure the peaches are in juice, not syrup, even light syrup – it’s full of sugar and definitely not healthy. Even light syrup really overdoes the sugar and takes away from the flavor of the peaches.

Look for Eau de roses in shops that specialize in Middle Eastern or Mediterranean foods. This is the flavoring that’s commonly used in Turkish delight. If you can’t find any, try substituting natural vanilla essence instead.

Instructions:
Pour the peaches, including their juice and yogurt into a blender. Add bee pollen and rose water. Blend well.

Frozen strawberries will make this a bit thicker and colder than fresh strawberries. You can also add some ice if you want a really cold drink, but not too much or it will mask some of the subtle flavors of this smoothie.

Makes 2 tall smoothies

Related products you may be interested in:

• Bee Pollen
• Dr Weil Blender
• Vitamix Blender

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