This is an original recipe created by a hungry college student wanting to find an easy, fast, and delicious smoothie to drink for breakfast. The result is this strawberry banana smoothie recipe (perfected over two years) packed with fiber to fill you up, protein to trigger your metabolism in the morning, and natural energy from green tea.

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana
• 2 handfuls of frozen sliced strawberries (Sam's Club)
• 1 can of V8 Energy Drink OR almond milk (Walmart) OR coconut milk (Whole Foods)
• 1 teaspoon of chia seeds (Aldi)
• 2 tablespoons of Justin’s almond butter (Thrive Market online or Walmart)

Supplies:

• Blender
• Teaspoon
• Tablespoon
• Glass or plastic cup

Watch how to make it below or keep reading for written instructions!

Note: Depending on the placement of your blender blades, you want the softest ingredients on the bottom so that you can correctly mix in the frozen strawberries, which are harder on the blades. My blender is a myBlend Oster, so the order of ingredients is opposite than a standard blender. In this recipe the order will follow that for a standard blender: fresh fruit, almond butter, chia seeds, frozen strawberries, liquid. (But the photos will be different.) Basically, make sure the strawberries are on top of all the other ingredients when blending.

1. Wash your hands, get out all your ingredients, clean your blender, and peel your banana. Break off pieces of the banana and toss them in. Make sure you use a ripe, spotted banana to get the sweetest, best flavor. If you don’t like bananas, you can use any fresh fruit of your choice, such as blackberries or blueberries. If you don’t have fresh fruit, you can just add another handful of strawberries instead.

2. Scoop out two tablespoons of almond butter and add those to the banana. You could use peanut butter, but it doesn’t have as much protein and the taste turns out very different. I would recommend almond butter. I received mine free from Thrivemarket.com after paying for $1.95 shipping. I’m not sure if they’re still running the promotion, but you can follow this link to find out: https://goo.gl/z7gIYN. If not, both Walmart and Aldi have different types of almond butter available.

3. Open up your chia seeds and measure out a teaspoon or just pour the desired amount in. These are going to give you tons of fiber to get your metabolism triggered for the day. I found the cheapest ones at Aldi, and the bag has lasted me for about a year now.

4. Next is the frozen strawberries. Grab a couple of handfuls of them and throw ‘um in. Make sure you buy frozen SLICED strawberries, as they are faster and easier to blend. I bought mine at Sam’s Club. I’m sure they’re at Costco too.

5. Lastly, pour in about ¼ of your V8 energy drink or enough liquid to cover the banana. Make sure you shake it before opening! It won't explode like soda. V8 Energy Drinks can be found at Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market. Before discovering them, I used apple juice with no added sugar. You could instead use water, coconut milk, or almond milk if you prefer. V8 energy drinks come in multiple flavors in sets of six. Personally, I do not drink coffee, so they are a perfect boost of energy to wake me up in the morning with NO CRASH later in the day, like other energy drinks. This is because the energy they contain comes from green tea. Read more here: https://goo.gl/kMVJpm.

This is what it looks like with everything in:

Add more liquid if it doesn’t blend up right away and then you’re done!

Blend until the smoothie is an even color.

Hope you enjoyed this delicious smoothie recipe that happens to be vegan! If you want to see more easy recipes check out my playlist featuring other tasty creations: https://goo.gl/cqhrFb