Protein Smoothies for Health

Protein Smoothies

I never thought I would actually be searching for recipes with extra fats, good or bad, but my skinny little girl has had a tough time bulking up. It took forever to get her to reach 30 lbs, only to drop almost 2 of them from severe constipation (sorry TMI). It was pretty intense, involving an xray and blood tests, now leaving us to figure out how to keep her diet balanced and prevent this from happening again. That is, once she is healed, which could potentially take some time. As the Mama, what can I do besides give her the medicine? I need to be proactive, I need to find some way to keep this pain and discomfort, not to mention embarrassment from incontinence, from happening again. I also want to make sure that weight gets back on her bones.

I’ve always loved the following recipes for protein smoothies, and they are now becoming my go-to solution when needing to nourish and fill. They are also really great pregnancy foods, to which I can attest.

Berry Smoothie with Almond Meal

Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 cup strawberries, hulled, roughly chopped
½ cup frozen berry mix
½ cup low fat yogurt
¼ cup oatmeal
2 tbs almond meal
2 tbs honey

Directions
Soak the oatmeal and almond meal in the milk for 10 minutes to soften. Add remaining ingredients and blend. Enjoy!

We eat lots of Moroccan-inspired foods in our house since that is DH’s culture and the following two protein smoothies are the kind you can find in the old Medinas of Morocco. As you walk past the shops with colorful, pungent spices, extraordinary clothing and slippers, and the occasional donkey clomping along the uneven stone floor, you will see the smoothie counter with fresh almonds, avocados and oranges. By definition, orange flower water is a clear, perfumed distillation of fresh bitter-orange blossoms and can be used for many things.

Almond Milk Smoothie with Orange Flower Water

Ingredients
1/2 cup almonds, blanched and peeled
1 1/2 cups cold milk
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
splash of orange flower water
4 or 5 ice cubes, optional

Directions
Place the blanched almonds in a blender, and process until the almonds are a fine powder. Add the milk, sugar and orange flower water, and blend on high speed to mix well. If desired, add ice cubes while the blender is running to chill the drink even more.

Avocado Banana Smoothie

Ingredients
1 ripe avocado
1-2 bananas
1 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste)

Directions
Mix all ingredients until smooth.

For more like this, check out the Healthy Recipes page!