Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

This is my husband's favorite smoothie, but it's a little too sweet for me. So if you like to eat a lot of candy maybe you can eat this instead. You don't need to be too strict with any of the measurements.

1 c. chocolate soy or almond milk
2 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
1 banana, broken into pieces
2-3 dried dates, minced (Trader Joe's has a good price on these, ethnic grocery stores usually have even better prices)
4-5 frozen strawberries, optional



Place it all in the blender and blend until smooth. Keep in mind it will all blend together better if you place the wet ingredients into the blender first.

Strawberry Peach Smoothie

If you start making these smoothies you will notice there are several ingredients I use as a base for all of them. I made this one simply because frozen peaches were on sale and it turned out quite nicely. I think it's my second favorite smoothie right now. I don't really follow any of the amounts strictly, so when I say 1 c. of strawberries I mean dump in a bunch of strawberries.

1 c. raw almond milk, or store bought nut or soy milk
1 Tbsp. raw almond butter (Trader Joe's has the best price for this)
1 banana, broken into pieces
2-3 dried dates, minced (Trader Joe's has a good price on these, ethnic grocery stores usually have even better prices)
Small drizzle of vanilla extract (optional)
1 c. frozen strawberries
1 c. frozen peaches

Place it all in the blender and blend until smooth. Keep in mind it will all blend together better if you place the wet ingredients into the blender first.

Cherry Almond Smoothie

This is my personal favorite smoothie in the world. I think it came to me from above because The Almighty knew how much I'd love it. I don't really follow any of the amounts strictly, so when I say 1 Tbsp. of almond butter I mean a big blob of it.

1 c. raw almond milk, or store bought nut or soy milk
1 Tbsp. raw almond butter (Trader Joe's has the best price for this)
1 banana, broken into pieces
2-3 dried dates, minced (Trader Joe's has a good price on these, ethnic grocery stores usually have even better prices)
Small drizzle of vanilla extract
Small drizzle of almond extract
1 c. frozen cherries


Place it all in the blender and blend until smooth. Keep in mind it will all blend together better if you place the wet ingredients into the blender first.

Nate and Mr. Miyagi enjoy a smoothie - Photo courtesy of Christina Lehner

Blueberry Orange Smoothie

I got into smoothies when I tried to eat all raw food one summer. I felt amazing that whole summer but it wasn't something I felt I could keep up 100% of the time. The smoothies stuck with me though so I'm going to post some of my favorites. I don't really follow any of the amounts strictly, so when I say 1 Tbsp. of almond butter I mean a big blob of it, or when I say 1 c. of blueberries I mean dump in a bunch of blueberries. You can also add any supplements that you'd like to this such as nutritional yeast, spirulina, flax oil, greens, etc.

3/4 c. raw almond milk, or store bought nut or soy milk
1 Tbsp. raw almond butter (Trader Joe's has the best price for this)
1 banana, broken into pieces
2-3 dried dates, minced (Trader Joe's has a good price on these, ethnic grocery stores usually have even better prices)
Small drizzle of vanilla extract (optional)
1 whole orange, skin and seeds removed, or 1/2 c. pure orange juice
1 c. frozen blueberries

Place it all in the blender and blend until smooth. Keep in mind it will all blend together better if you place the wet ingredients into the blender first.

Raw Almond Milk

I use this to make smoothies and I think it tastes much fresher than store bought almond milk, however, it only keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days. When raw almonds are soaked the natural enzymes in the nut become nutritionally available, but you can also make this if you forget to soak the almonds.

3/4 c. raw almonds
Purified water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
1/8 tsp. almond extract (optional)

1) Place the raw almonds in a ceramic or glass bowl and cover them with at least an inch of water as they will expand quite a bit. Leave them to soak over night or for 10-12 hours. They will start to look kind of slimy by the end.

2) Drain the almonds in a fine mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly.

3) Transfer the almonds to a blender and add 4 cups of purified water and the vanilla and almond extracts, if using.

4) Blend on high until the nuts are pulverized and you have a white liquid (about 45 seconds):

5) Place the strainer you used to drain the nuts over a large bowl and pour the almond milk through the strainer into the bowl. Then pour the milk into a mason jar or some other container and refrigerate.