This long weekend has been so fantastic already.
I’m thrilled to have another day today to continue cleaning the house, organizing our offices, and making a mark in the endless pile of laundry.
It’s my first weekend at home in over 2 weeks so I’ve let a lot of things fall to the wayside. Sometimes it’s nice to just stay at home and work on your nest, you know what I mean?
With a to do list longer than my arm, I decided to start off each day over the holiday with an energy smoothie. Yes, green tea is still huge part of my life these days.
It all started with cucumber melon and has evolved to a mash of different fruits and veg stuffed into a jar overnight for quick smoothie making in the morning, like my sleepy smoothies.
Energy Smoothies
Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free
Prepare these smoothies the night before for quick smoothie making. Great for leftover fruits and veg that you need to clean your fridge of. Just throw it in and hope for the best!
Inspired by my Green Energy Smoothies
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients
Strawberry banana
- 1/2 banana
- 6 strawberries
- 1 cup green tea
- 1 scoop protein powder
- 1 tbsp chia seeds [optional]
- 1 serving probiotics [optional for some, a must for me!]
Blueberry peach
- 1/2 peach
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup green tea
- 1 scoop protein powder
- 1 tbsp chia seeds [optional]
- 1 serving probiotics [optional]
Directions
- Choose a flavor, or prepare both. They stay well in the fridge for 2 days, so you can make both ahead of time.
- Combine all ingredients in a 1L mason jar. Seal and place in the fridge overnight.
- In the morning, place contents in a blender and blend to your hearts content.
- Enjoy!
note: you can make this smoothie right in the blender, or have it sit overnight. I like letting it sit overnight so the chia has time to get really gelatinous.
note: if you don’t want to use green tea because of the caffeine, try a nice herbal tea.
Right before I left for Yasodhara, I received a very important package…
Just LOOK at how big that container of coconut butter is.
The first thing I did when it arrived on our doorstep?
Ripped open the package, grabbed a spoon and dug into the colossal mass of coconuty goodness. Wouldn’t you have done the same?
I bought it and the items below on Upaya Naturals, a Canadian raw foods store. The 8lbs (1 gal.) of coconut butter was just $85CAD, a savings of $43 had I just bought the equivalent in 16oz. jars at the local health food store. I just love saving money, don’t you?
I also love having a huge tub of coconut butter at my disposal. So far all I’ve done is hack off a piece into a bowl, mix it with some jam and flax seeds and call it a snack. A high fiber snack, at that.
I also bought a sprouting bag so it’ll be easy for me to make sprouted gluten-free bread.
And some kelp noodles! Have you ever tried them? If you have, what’s your favorite way to enjoy them?
Okay, time to get to this list of to do’s. At least I know I’m properly fueled for the work ahead!
Hello, welcome to my healthy gluten-free 
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Those smoothies seem like a great way to start your day — and I love the picture of the veggies and fruits packed in the mason jars — how beautiful!
For the kelp noodles:
Blend:
meat of a young coconut and about 1/2 of the water
1/4-1/2 cup shredded coconut
pinch Himalayan sea salt
1 tsp curry poweder
1/4 tsp tumeric
1 clove of garlic
Pour over noodles and stir (after they’ve been rinsed, etc.). Top with cilantro, scallions, whatever. Super delicious!
Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. I have a full coconut on the counter just waiting to be eaten, this is perfect. Thanks Jen!
I have been doing lots of smoothies lately as well! I love the idea of putting the ingredients in the jar the night before. I’ll try that tonight
I’d love to know more about what you use the coconut butter for! I’ve never had it before.
Jealous that you’ve got the day off…I still have a list a mile long to do at home too. Enjoy the day!
Your smoothie will surely help you power through
I am kind of scared of Kelp noodles- I had a package in my fridge and I never ate them.. I have heard they smell fishy?!
jenetta
hmmm fishy? Interesting. When I try them I’ll let everyone know how it goes!
Mmm stawberry banana smoothies all the way for me please! Kelp noodles looks like miracle noodles which I’ve been dying to try lately. They just cost so much! Have you ever tried miracle noodles?
Nope, never tried miracle noodles but I’ve heard of them!
The photos that you took for this post are gorgeous! They’re just brimming with life and energy.
Too funny… I JUST posted about smoothies today.
Yours all look awesome. I wish it was summer and cold smoothie weather all year!
You have an 8-pound container of coconut butter! Awesome!
I know, right? And all I’ve done is eat from it… I need to get a bit more creative.
I needed one of those smoothies to get through my day! I didn’t even make a dent in the laundry/unpacking. I’ve been trying to do a little at a time, but I’m really feeling the need to get it done. Hopefully I will have some luck and energy this week!
Good luck in getting it all done, Sarena. Someone once said to me – “why make a to-do list that you check off while you’re doing things? Don’t you get discouraged at the end of your day when things don’t get done? I just write down a to-do list at the end of my day of all the things I got done, then sit there and check them off. So much more satisfying.”
We have the Kelp noodles here in Australia to, and I have only just started using them! They have not had a fishy smell for me. I have started to incorporate them into my stir-fries and curries and even Thai salads etc. I just stir them through at the end, enough to warm them, as they dont need much cooking. They also last for ages in the fridge after opened, just need to be placed in water in sealed container.
Yet, to do the whole smoothie thing with greens like spinach, but I here they make you feel amazing
Thanks for the tip, Sophie. I was worried that I’d have to use them really quickly!
I love your idea of putting all of your smoothie ingredients together the night before, I just might have to do that tonight! Kelp noodles sound interesting, I’ve never tried them. Can’t wait to hear how they turn out!
Um so jealous of that tub of coconut butter. Ive never made smoothies with green tea, always use a dairy or nondairy milk, but I’ll def try it out next time
I’m eating your Berry Fibrelicious Sleepy Smoothie as I read this! It’s delicious, I do so love your recipes – especially the smoothies – so seeing this post pop up made me very happy! Thank you
I LOVE coconut and a heaping spoonful is exactly the way I would have celebrated it’s arrival on my doorstep
What a GREAT idea to put the smoothie ingredients in a jar the night before! I’m going to have to try that for sure:)
Sounds like delicious smoothies! Anything to give me more energy to get through my to do list. It never seems to end!
Great smoothies. I love the stuff in the jars. Such a cute presentation. Congrats on top 9.
This looks great! I love prepping smoothies the night before! I am such a zombie in the morning.
All the “frees” make them perfect, great job!
This is a brilliant idea. If you don’t plan, you plan to fail… right?
Hi Leanne I absolutely LOVE your website. After struggling for so many years with a whole host of digestive problems your site has been a god-send. I am going to start trying your smoothies in the mornings for breakfast to get me going in the am. I am a new mom and if I don’t eat right away several hours seem to go by with my not eating a thing. I know that’s not good but babies are distracting
I was wondering what brand chia seeds you use, brand of probiotics, and brand of almond milk? I was briefly looking at whole foods and didn’t like some of the extra ingredients I found in the coconut milk and some of the almond milks. Trying to stay away from all the gums even if they’re “naturally occurring”. Are there even any almond milks out there like that? Thank you again for what you do, from Sunny Southern CA!
Hi Beth, I’m so happy my recipes are helping! Smoothies are definitely good for Moms on the go (because what Mom isn’t? haha) For milks – I’m now making my own almond + coconut milks with raw almonds and whole coconut. If that’s not an option for you, I really like Almond breeze, but it does have some additives. You can usually find some canned coconut milks out there that are just water + coconut, but then you’re eating from a can everyday. For probiotics, I use these: http://www.nationalnutrition.ca/detail.aspx?ID=1583 and for chia seeds, I get them at bulk barn. Not sure on the brand but I know they’re gluten-free. Hope that helps!
Thanks so much Leanne I will look into those. I may give the at home option a whirl if I can find the time. In the meantime I’m going to start with the smoothies and just bought some sprouted brown rice protein powder by Nutribiotic. Best one I could find out there with the minimal amount of ingredients. Also going to try your tuna cakes. Oh and I shared your website on my mommy facebook page for the other moms to see. Have an appt. with an allergist this week and hoping to finally get some answers after getting none from GI Dr.’s over the years! Your recipes are amazing and I am so glad they have more than one “free” in them!!
You should write a cookbook!!