How to Make a Breakfast Smoothie

Breakfast smoothies are such a healthy and yummy treat in the morning. Plus I think the coldness and the loud blender wakes me up better than coffee can! I love making smoothies in the morning before I go to work because I can just throw the ingredients in, push a button, and voila! Breakfast in a cup! Plus, this is a great way to start off your “New Year, New Me health kick!! 😉

I am a firm believer that there is no wrong way to make a smoothie, but after talking to my mom who is not much of a cook, apparently there is a wrong way!! My family and I were taking a roadtrip to Dallas to see my Papa and we all met in the morning before leaving. I brought all of my breakfast smoothie ingredients, blended them up, and then let my mom and aunt taste it. They both asked how I made it end up like a normal smoothie and they said their smoothies never end up like this… So before we embarked on our roadtrip, I had to give a quick smoothie-making class.

First, you need a base “flavor”. This will be your main flavor of smoothie or the “name” of the smoothie if you were to order it at Jamba Juice. I usually do fruit smoothies so my base is always mixed berry, strawberry & peach, strawberry & banana, etc. But you can do peanut butter, chocolate, or a “green” smoothie, too!

Smoothie Base Possibilities:

• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Peaches
• Kiwi
• Banana
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Peanut butter
• Chocolate
• Greens (kale, spinach, cucumber, kiwi, avocado, green apple, etc.)

Smoothie Tip #1: buy frozen fruits and vegetables for your smoothies! 1.) if you use frozen fruit/veggies you won’t have to add ice cubes and 2.) they will keep longer than refrigerated produce so you won’t have to throw produce away because you didn’t make a million smoothies a week before your strawberries got moldy… Whenever you feel like a smoothie, you can just reach into the freezer and know that you have frozen fruit/veggies ready to blend!

Second, you will need a liquid. This is important because the liquid will make your smoothie drinkable and not have an ice cream consistency. (I think this is where my mom had issues because she was trying to drink ice cream lol).

Smoothie Liquid Possibilities:

• Orange juice
• Grape juice
• Pomegranate juice
• Milk
• Coconut water/milk
• Leftover gatorade or other juice that you have (I used blue powerade once and it wasn’t bad… *shrugs*)

Third, you need a protein in order to fill you up. Your smoothie would be fine with just frozen fruit and orange juice but you’ll get hungry in 30 minutes or so. In order to be a breakfast smoothie, it has to be a full meal, which requires protein!

Smoothie Protein Possibilities:

• Yogurt – I like to use raspberry greek yogurt but you can use any flavor!
• Chia seeds
• Flax seeds
• Protein powder
• Meal replacement powder
• Nuts
• Rolled oats
• Hemp
• Any kind of nut butter (peanut, almond, etc.)

Fourth, you can add extras, too, if you want. This can be just a flavor boost or a nutritional boost or maybe some caffeine if you’re having one of those mornings. And don’t be afraid to add more than one. Shoot, add them all if you want to, it’s just a smoothie

Smoothie “Extras” Possibilities:

• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Cocoa powder
• Vanilla extract
• Coconut shavings
• Metabolism booster – I use the Herbalife Herbal Tea Concentrate (raspberry flavor)
• Appetite controller/fat burner – I use Herbalife Prolessa Duo (literally melts fat off)
• Aloe concentrate – I use Herbalife Herbal Aloe Concentrate (mango flavor) aloe is really good for your digestive system!! (healthy poops are important!!)
• Energy booster – I use Herbalife Liftoff (pomegranate-berry flavor)
• Probiotics – I like adding Activia drinkable yogurt to my smoothies in the morning so I can have healthy poops and a fast metabolism! #ItsOkayToPoop
• Spinach leaves
• Kale

Smoothie Tip #2: Don’t be afraid to throw stuff in! If I’m making smoothies and I see that I have strawberries in the fridge that are looking a little rough, I’ll throw them in there. Banana that is turning really brown? Toss it in. Yogurt that is expiring today? Put that shit in the blender. Smoothies are really nice for when your produce is about to go bad and you don’t want to waste anything!

Tip #3: portion size is key!!! You’re not making smoothies for your entire office so you only need a handful of fruit and a small amount of everything else! Start small and if your smoothie needs more, add it later. And once you get the measurements down, you can just eye it from then on.

Portion sizes:

1. Fruit/veggies base = 1.5 – 2 cups TOTAL
2. Peanut butter/chocolate base = ½ – 1 cup
3. Liquids = 1 cup
4. Yogurt = single serving/cup of yogurt (5oz) or ½ cup if out of a big container
5. Chia & flax seeds, cocoa powder, coconut shavings = 1 tbsp
6. Hemp & rolled oats = 2 tbsp
7. Nuts = ¼ cup
8. Vanilla extract & cinnamon = ¼ tsp
9. Boosters & probiotics = follow serving instructions on their packages

Here are some examples of my go-to daily smoothies:

1. Strawberry-Peach Smoothie: 1 cup frozen peaches, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup orange juice, 1 single serving (5oz) raspberry greek yogurt, 1 tbsp flax seeds, ½ tsp Herbalife Tea Concentrate metabolism booster, 3 partial capfuls Herbalife Aloe Concentrate, 1 scoop Herbalife Prolessa Duo fat-burner, 1 single serving/package Activia Probiotics Digestive Health.
2. Mixed Berry Smoothie: 2 cups frozen mixed berries (comes in a package together with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries), 1 cup milk, 1 single serving (5oz) raspberry greek yogurt, 1 tbsp flax seeds, ½ tsp Herbalife Tea Concentrate metabolism booster, 3 partial capfuls Herbalife Aloe Concentrate, 1 scoop Herbalife Prolessa Duo fat-burner, 1 single serving/package Activia Probiotics Digestive Health.
3. Strawberry Banana Energy Smoothie: 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 banana, 1 single serving (5oz) vanilla greek yogurt, 1 tbsp flax seeds, 3 partial capfuls Herbalife Aloe Concentrate, 1 scoop Herbalife Prolessa Duo fat-burner, 1 single serving/package Activia Probiotics Digestive Health, and 1 cup orange juice with 1 package Herbalife Liftoff (dissolved in the orange juice!!!).

To finish off the breakfast smoothie, just pour it into a large cup, tumbler, or Yeti. Make sure that the cup is big enough! I hope this how-to-guide for breakfast smoothies was helpful to those not quit getting their smoothie texture right. And I hope this provides some smoothie inspo for those looking to eat healthier but don’t have the time to make an elaborate, healthy breakfast in the morning before work (like me)! 😉

You can get a marble tumbler like mine here!