Pretty Little Apron

Vanilla Mint Green Smoothie

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A new week, a new smoothie! I know, I know, didn’t I just post a smoothie recipe? But I’m kind of in love with this one, and Hello! It is December! Doesn’t that mean it is time to put mint in things? Candy canes, bark, cookies…..smoothies!


Now, let’s just hold onto our minty horses for a quick second because all those candy coated holiday minty concoctions are missing the fact that fresh mint leaves have many awesome health benefits. From aiding in digestion to fighting acne, mint can do it! I could keep going and going but I think my friends over at Organic Facts sum it up in their Health Benefits of Mint post. If you want more minty facts, head on over and check them out! Interesting stuff I tell ya,  and seriously who knew?

If you’ve never been one to pick up a bunch of fresh mint at the grocery store I highly suggest it. Believe me, after you make this smoothie that fresh mint will work its way into so many other things you hadn’t even planned on making! Tomorrow I’m going to make a big ol’ cup of green tea and throw some mint leaves into that, and then after that I might just steep it into some cream and make a batch of ganache to whip up some icing for a party this weekend. So yeah, I’m getting my mint on this week, and you can too!

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What I also discovered while making this smoothie was the glorious, soft-serv-ish concoction I got from the frozen ‘nana, coconut milk, and vanilla bean. I mean, seriously, I could have easily sat there with a spoon and just ate it like that! It is thick, smooth, and oh so creamy! I think I see a lot more frozen ‘nana + coconut milk + other goodies in my future. Plus, my kids are completely on the frozen ‘nana bandwagon. Healthy snacks say what????

So let’s talk coconut milk…because I didn’t really address this in my Strawberry-Pomegranate Green Smoothie post. I prefer to use canned coconut milk because it doesn’t have any weird additives (hello carrageenan) but you can use any milk (or liquid) you’d like. I used Native Forest Organic Light Coconut Milk.I chose this brand because they do NOT use BPA in their can linings. If you haven’t been following you might have seen me mention I’m kind of OCD about canned foods. The first step to addressing your issues is admitting you have a problem, right? HA! Ok, I know I’m a total weirdo about canned foods but hey, I don’t like the idea of putting weird chemicals into my body. So non-BPA linings for me it is, and Native Forest fits the bill. I found this coconut milk in the organic-ish baking section of my local grocery store.

I  also added some chia seeds to this smoothie for extra antioxidants/protein. While these little balls of nutrition are pretty awesome, they do add a jelly-ish texture to the smoothie. If you haven’t tried chia seeds yet, I would suggest putting a few in water and allowing them to expand, then trying them before actually putting them into the smoothie. I don’t really love the texture of them, but for nutritional reasons I added them. If you are on the fence, I’d say just omit them altogether! While they do add extra nutrition, they aren’t everyone’s cup o’ tea, and that’s cool! 🙂

Products from Amazon.com

Vanilla Mint Green Smoothie

Vanilla Layer

Ingredients:

  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1/2 cup light coconut milk (canned version)
  • 1/4 vanilla bean pod or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)

Green Mint Layer

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 1 and 1/2 cups fresh spinach
  • 10-15 fresh mint leaves
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk

Directions: Thoroughly blend until all ingredients are smooth. Serve immediately.

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Comments

  1. Lauren

    Wow, this looks delicious (and so pretty)! I’m such a fan of mint, so I’ll definitely have to give this a try. Great blog you have, by the way. I see a lot of recipes I’d love to try on my family. 🙂

  2. Jasmin

    Hi Dana,
    I love your two layer smoothie recipe…
    I have one large bush of mint in my garden and I’m always looking for new recipes to implement mint, and this one sounds delightful 🙂

  3. Lana

    Now this looks like something I am definitely going to try this weekend! It looks amazing and I am sure it is just as tasty 🙂

  4. Laura

    It was pretty darn tasty! Even used a spoon to get the rest out of glass. I used frozen spinach since I had that on hand. A bit of a challenge for my blender, but I think it made it an extra cool drink! Clocks in about 280 calories so it’s a tasty option for lunch

Trackbacks

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