Happy Halloween, friends! Is everyone ready for some holiday fun? I’m super excited to take my kiddos out trick or treating tonight – if we can figure out how to keep them warm. It’s going to be cold here in Minnesota. As much as I love this time of year, it is definitely busy. Between fall festivals, costume parties, and field trips, we’ve had days that are absolutely full. In the midst of all that fun, I haven’t had much time to spend in the kitchen cooking. And I don’t know about you, but when I get busy, I definitely tend to crazy comfort foods and quick dinner fixes. While I don’t believe in deprivation (you’d better believe I’m going to be enjoying ALL the candy tonight!), I do try to keep some balance in my eating life and often rely on a handful of healthy on-the-go recipes to sneak some nutrients into those busy days. I had a full day of errands today so after my morning yoga class, I popped home and took a look through the kitchen and came up with this Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie.
It’s a simple smoothie that takes just a few minutes to make and has plenty of staying power, keeping me full all afternoon. Using a high powered blender (I use Blendtec), just add almond milk, frozen banana, ice, cocoa and peanut butter. I upped the nutrition ante on mine by also adding a scoop of vanilla protein powder. I love this Orgain version (it has greens!) available at Costco and Target, but you can really use whatever you want or leave it out. That’s one of the beautiful things about this smoothie. You can easily adjust the recipe to your taste and what’s in your fridge and pantry. If you don’t have almond milk, go ahead and use regular. Prefer almond butter? Ok. Want a thicker smoothie? Add more banana. No frozen bananas ready? Just add some extra ice. It’s really such a simple make-and-go recipe.
My husband wandered into the kitchen just as the smoothie finished blending and gave it a try. He liked it so much that I made him another one, which he promptly gulped down and then asked me to write down the recipe so he could make it again. I figured I’d share it on the blog instead.
What are your favorite on-the-go healthy snacks or meals? Do you have a smoothie recipe you love? We’d love to hear from you! Leave us a comment, send us a tweet, or let us know on Instagram.
And as always, thanks for reading.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1/2 cup frozen banana slices approx 1/2 banana
- 1 Tablespoon smooth peanut butter
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 scoop of your favorite protein powder I recommend vanilla
Instructions
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In a blender, combine the almond milk, ice, banana slices, peanut butter and cocoa powder.
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Add the protein powder, if using.
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Blend until smooth.
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Serve immediately!
Yum! I love adding peanut butter to pretty much everything. And I agree that frozen bananas are key (or add more ice as you said).
So, so good! Sweet and packed with protein!
I want this for lunch! Love smoothies for lunch. they help full me up for the afternoon slump!
Great idea!