Amazing smoothie for pumpkin lovers

One rule about cooking with Girl Scouts: Make sure you are watching what they're doing.

Suddenly, I was stuck with three opened, partially used cans of canned pumpkin after Tuesday's cooking experiment of Pumpkin Pie in a Cup. And with two kids at home, several games and practices on the schedule, and a sick husband, I was pretty short on time.

My solution? Make a breakfast smoothie.

Amazing Pumpkin Smoothie

Ingredients
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups milk or vanilla almond milk
2 drops cassia essential oil or cinnamon essential oil
2 scoops vanilla TrimShake

Instructions
Mix ingredients in blender. Add ice and blend to desired consistency.


Note: This post does include affiliate links, in case you need a source for those ingredients.

Searching for smoothie ideas? (Free ebooks June 14, 2014)

Searching for new smoothie ideas?

I lean heavily on making smoothies for breakfast, and am always on the search for new inspiration.

Here are some free e-books on smoothie recipes available right now through Amazon. Enjoy!

• Smoothies For Good Health... Cleanse, Energize, Lose Weight and Get More Nutritious Raw Foods into Your Diet the Quick and Delicious Way 
• Smoothie Recipes for Weight Loss - 30 Delicious Detox, Cleanse and Green Smoothie Diet Book Green Smoothie Recipes For Weight Loss and Detox Book 
• 40 Juicing Recipes For Weight Loss and Healthy Living (Juicer Recipes Book) 
• Vegetable Smoothie Recipes For Good Health: Delicious & Easy To Blend Vegetable Smoothie Recipes For The Perfect Diet!
• 31 Perfect Fitness Smoothies 
• Non-Dairy Smoothie Recipes: Delicious & Nutritious Smoothie Recipes For Losing Weight & Achieving Wellness! 
• SMOOTHIES: The most delicious recipes for weight loss book. Vol. VII (smoothie recipes for weight loss,smoothie recipe book): More delicious recipes, health galore 
• The Best Of Breakfast Beverages: Super Easy Recipes (My Favorite Cookbook Collection:) 
• Simply Great Smoothies!: 57 Delicious recipes for Great Health and Weight loss 
• 7 Day Detox Smoothie Diet: Delicious Detox Smoothie Recipes To Lose 10+ Pounds & Cleanse Your Body 
• SMOOTHIES: The most delicious recipes for weight loss book. Vol. IX (smoothie recipes for weight loss,smoothie recipe book): More delicious recipes, health galore!

Smoothie Saturday: Clean Eating and the Banana Bread Smoothie

A confession: I read Clean Cuisine: An 8-Week Anti-Inflammatory Diet that Will Change the Way You Age, Look & Feel this summer, and I found it fascinating, and also realized there are a lot of things to implement in my own life. The reality is I am so far behind the curve that I almost need pre-clean eating steps (like a Math 0001) before I could successfully tackle the program in the book!

So I am working on those baby steps. A little less junk food (lately my downfall). Sneaking in a little more fruit in my smoothie since I do so poorly at eating it the rest of the day. Adding a vegetable side dish. I rebooted my subscription to Green Bean Delivery, and I'll be sure to add some leafy greens in the weekly order as well.

One tip I will share from the Clean Cuisine  book: Dates, which I normally don't eat, add thickness and texture to your smoothie without impacting the flavor.

This recipe was inspired by the Clean Cuisine book. Yes, it includes dairy, but I am sure you could substitute any other milk. I was happily surprised to drink something that tasted very much like banana bread!

Banana Bread Smoothie
Blend:
1 banana (frozen; if not frozen, just add ice)
1 c milk 
1/4 c pecans 
2 dates
cinnamon

Smoothie Saturday: Peach Smoothie

I love grabbing all the peaches I can at the farmers market when they're in season, but sometimes I get a bit too many of these juicy fruits. A quick smoothie can make a sweet start to your day and use some of the less than perfect peaches up.

Peach smoothie
Ingredients
2 peaches
1 scoop protein powder
1 c vanilla almond milk

Instructions

Blend all three ingredients together, then add ice and blend until desired consistency.

Smoothie Saturday: Dole Pineapple Whip Inspired Smoothie

Dole Pineapple Whips are apparently the talk of Disney World, and while we missed this treat on our one-day stop at the most magical place on earth this summer, I decided to at least try the treat.

You can find knock-off recipes online, but I thought it very easy to transform it into my morning smoothie.

Dole whip inspired smoothieBlend:
1 c Dole pineapple chunks
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2-1 c vanilla almond milk

Banana Coconut Smoothie (Smoothie Saturday)

This banana-coconut smoothie was a happy accident of trying to clean out my fruits and fridges before we left town on vacation. It's simple but a summery way to start your morning.

Banana-coconut smoothie
1 cup yogurt
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup sweeted coconut
1 banana

Blend ingredients. Add ice and blend to desired consistency.

Next time I may try this with a drop of orange essential oil too.

Cinnamon apple smoothie

Cinnamon apple smoothie

1 cup diced apple
1 cup skim milk

1 scoop DoTERRA vanilla Trim Shake or other vanilla protein shake

1/2 cup ice or more if desired.

Blend all.


Calories according to MyFitness Pal: 365 for the entire thing. It tastes amazing and was so filling!



Disclosure: I do receive a percentage of the sales for the DoTERRA vanilla Trim Shake by following this link, however, I wouldn't use it if I didn't like it!

Vanilla pear smoothie

One of my goals for 2013 is simple: 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. And I admit I've easily eased into protein shakes in the morning, so adding fruit was the next step.

Here's a simple recipe for a vanilla pear smoothie recipe.

Vanilla Pear Smoothie
2 pears, cored (skins OK)
1 cup skim milk
1 scoop DoTERRA vanilla Trim Shake or other vanilla protein shake
1/2 cup ice or more if desired.

Blend all.

Calories according to MyFitness Pal: 400 for the entire thing. It tastes amazing and was so filling!

Disclosure: I do receive a percentage of the sales for the DoTERRA vanilla Trim Shake by following this link, however, I wouldn't use it if I didn't like it!