My Matcha Smoothie Recipe: For Focus, Energy and Satiation

The color isn't the greatest, but taste/quality is amazing!

Sometimes recipes just come together based on what you have lying around. Granted, the items that I have just lying around in my house aren't necessarily "typical" (case in point: gelatin powder that comes from grassfed cattle parts). But it's all relative. Last weekend I was looking to make a killer smoothie that included my new love, Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder (after seeing Lindsay rave about this stuff, I quickly bought it too). I knew I wanted a good amount of greens in my smoothie, but still sweet, not bitter, and not too sugary. Below is what resulted and I loved it.

The best part? My energy was off the wall! I felt so focused and ready to just hammer out tasks. Not BS'ing here. In fact, I put this smoothie to the test again today to replace AM coffee/caffeine, which I've been off of for a bit (something I do every now and then). When I'm "off" the caff I eventually get to the point where I still have good energy, but I always miss that jolt coffee gives. Well I put the matcha to the test this morning for a jolt, and I can't say that it was exactly like coffee awesomeness, but it amp me up and really put me into focus/work mode.

Anyway, try it out. It's pretty easy to make and their are endless options on how this can go. When I formulated this my goals were to:
1) make sure there was FAT involved
2) include at least 3 green things
3) low on fruit
4) no added sugar (but still sweet!)
5) and have some "chunk"... you'll see ;)

~~~

Matcha Smoothie

Use organic ingredients when possible...

Ingredients in order of how I add:

1 1/4 cup of nondairy milk of choice; I used organic unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 tsp Matcha powder

1 tsp Maca root powder

2 tbsp Great Lakes Gelatin powder (pure quality protein!!)

2 rounded tbsp ground flax meal

1/3 large cucumber

4-5 dino kale leaves

Stevia to taste; I used half powder/half liquid stevia

Sea salt, a pinch (the secret to make this drink awesome!)

Cinnamon, a few liberal shakes (this prevents spike in blood sugar and is always a delicious addition

4-5 cubes ice

Optional: 

-more fat such as small handful raw organic cashews, spoonful nut butter, hemp, or avocado

-extra water if you don't want it so thick

-few chunks watermelon (I did this in my drink over 4th of July weekend; it's good with or without)

Next up: Blend!

 The finished product yields slightly more than a pint (fit nicely in a mason jar, with a few extra sips out of the blender's pitcher).

 

Add coconut, then stir in the flakes right into the drink!

BUT WAIT!

You're not done.... 

The best ingredient is still to come:  

Coconut flakes!

...After you've blended and added the drink to your glass, add thick coconut flakes (the unsweetened kind!) for some added texture and a little something to chew on! Great to add if you're having this for breakfast!

Bam. Enjoy and try not to consume too fast... savor it.








Last word: 
Normally I'm not big on using smoothies to replace meals. Especially your standard fruit/juice blend that's essentially just sugar and poor-quality gut-wrenching dairy. But here's why I think smoothies can be a great idea:

1) Hearty, filling, stabilizing. If there are good calories from fat, and not just pure fruit/sugar you can really develop a quality "meal in a glass" that hydrates and also keeps you full for a long time, and doesn't spike your blood sugar (thus leading to a crash).

2) And by drinking your meal you are giving your digestive system a break. We're constantly overwhelming our digestive system to do work with the meals we eat. That takes energy and is taxing. So why not give it a break with a smoothie every now and then and let that extra energy be used somewhere else positively in your body. (Granted, my smoothie has the coconut flakes that you chew but you get the idea ;))