Wake-Up Smoothie

Good morning.  I took the lunch pictures today very quickly, as I worked late last night and then decided to sleep a bit later this morning. Here is lunch + 3 snacks as I hope to go to yoga after work today:

• Espinacas con Garbanzos, a long-time favorite:

• Hummus with carrots, celery and small collard leaves. These collard leaves are seriously tiny compared to the usual large floppy leaves:

• Green smoothie made with collards, banana, almond milk, chia seeds, Sunwarrior Vanilla and ice:

• A half recipe ‘s worth of Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats. I used Angela’s recipe and substituted agave for the maple syrup:

I skipped the toppings Angela suggested (walnuts, maple syrup, raisins) in favor of my latest obssession:

I have yet to meet an Artisana butter I do not like – I started with the Coconut Butter, then the Tahini, then the Cacao Bliss, then the Cashew and Almond, and now the Walnut. I used to be only meh about nut butters, but I think the problem was that I was relying on Maranatha and Trader Joe’s  – I never seem to like any of their nut butters, yet I love love love the Artisana ones. They are pricey, but I use them sparingly. I know that I can make my own nut butters, but nut butters is something I prefer buying. I find I eat less of it that way.  I am pretty picky about nut butters – I prefer raw nut butters, no added oils, no added sugar and no added salt.  That basically kicks out most nut butters I can buy in stores I go to.  I think some of the Naturally Nutty butters might fit my criteria, so I am going to look into those eventually, but for now I have a lovely stash of Artisana butters I am working my way through.

I actually had planned to have pumpkin overnight oats for breakfast Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  I whipped up a big batch on Sunday night and loved having them yesterday morning (topped with Artisana Walnut, of course). This morning however, all I wanted was a green smoothie. I think it is because drinking one when I am tired feels like having caffeine in terms of the instant energy boost, with the bonus of not having a caffeine crash right after. As usual, I made a smoothie, drank half of it and packed the other half. Here are the ingredients:

Wake-Up Smoothie
Makes 2 16oz smoothies

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1 scoop Sun Warrior (vanilla flavor)
• 2 cups collard leaves
• 1 banana, frozen (I freeze bananas in large chunks)
• 4 ice cubes

I put the ingredients in that order in the Vita and presto, instant wake-up potion.

I am so grateful my husband cooked the Espinacas con Garbanzos, when he got home from work, so all I had to do this morning was assemble and photograph.

Have a great day!

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