smoothie recipes

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

When celebrity trainer Jackie Warner recently dropped by the FITNESS offices — she’d dashed in between doing a TV segment and hitting some other morning meetings — she was fresh off the success of her latest book, 10 Pounds in 10 Days, and already on to the next big project. Fans who watched her Bravo TV reality series Thintervention With Jackie Warner will recall scenes where the fitness pro showed up in contestants’ kitchens and taught them to whip up healthy, don’t-blow-your-diet shakes. Turns out, Warner sensed a secret ingredient was missing. “I’d read a lot about protein powders and consumed them myself but I couldn't find anything with all the all-natural, organic components I thought they needed,” she says. “I wanted whey protein powder with more than protein isolate. So I spent two years developing some myself.”

The resulting product can be found in her just-launched Wellness Collection, which also includes a multivitamin, a combo Omega-3,-6 and –9 supplement, flavored H20 boosters and 150-calorie snack bars. “Plus it tastes great,” adds Warner.

Before her morning workouts, Warner whips up a healthy shake (click on the link below for the recipe) with the vanilla bean protein powder. “It has the perfect combination of carbohydrates, fat and protein to fuel your workout,” she says.

Read on to get the recipe to Warner's shake.

More from FITNESS Magazine:

Are Weight-Loss Reality TV Shows Really Effective?

8 Healthy and Refreshing Smoothie Recipes

10 Diet Tips from Olympic Nutritionists

Source: Flickr User ginnerobot

FitSugar reader For the Love of Fiber has a healthy recipe to start your day off right. She shared it with us in our Healthy Recipe group in the Fit Community.

What if I told you that whether you like it or not, you have an organic bounty filled with amazing health benefits and detoxifying properties growing in your backyard? Would you think I’m totally nuts? Check out the amazing health benefits of dandelion greens in my original post here, and then make this smoothie. You'll thank me later.

See the recipe after the break!

Powder-based smoothies are so convenient: add water, shake, and you're done. The problem is that these types of smoothies leave a lot to be desired in terms of taste — they're often chalky, tasteless, or, at worst, off-putting to the palate. To make these nutrient-rich smoothie powders more appetizing, try adding one — or a few! — of these mix-ins to your next smoothie.

• Fruit: Fresh or frozen fruit is a great way to brighten the flavor profile — and nutrient makeup — of a smoothie. This couldn't be more true of smoothies made from green powders; they may be phytonutrient-rich, but they often lack sweetness, which is something a healthy dose of mango, apple, or berries can help solve.
• Nut butters: Nut butters help add fat and protein to powder-based smoothies, and in addition to adding flavor, nut butters make a good thickening agent. Suddenly a thin and runny smoothie is thick, rich, and creamy!
• Milk: Whether you choose dairy or non-dairy, milk and all its varieties are good mix-ins for smoothies made from protein powders. Add a creamy dose of calcium and protein by using milk in place of water when mixing your next smoothie. Milk also helps to lessen the chalky taste that is common in powder smoothies.

See more smoothie mix-in ideas after the break!

When I spoke to professional triathlete Brendan Brazier, he said that one of his readers was so inspired by the Thrive Diet (a vegan, mostly raw nutrition plan) that the reader opened a juice and smoothie bar dedicated to Brendan's book Thrive. Brendan added, "He's actually made my original smoothie recipes even better." In his latest book, Thrive Foods: 200 Plant-Based Recipes for Peak Health ($13), Brendan has included a few revamped smoothie recipes courtesy of his fan back at Thrive Juice Bar.

I decided to make "The Brazier," which is essentially a healthy chocolate shake. For the vanilla vegan gelato, I used So Delicious Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk ice cream with no sugar added. The recipe is not overly sweet, and I think the shake would be a great post-workout drink or a dessert substitute for adults and kids alike. I found the recipe is a little thin for my taste, so after I initially tried The Brazier, I reblended it with half of an avocado to give it a thicker, heavier texture reminiscent of a chocolate milkshake.

Tell me what you think after you make your own Brazier smoothie.

Cool down with this avocado smoothie recipe from FitSugar reader Gabriela Une Vie Saine. Gabriela posted it in the FitSugar Healthy Recipe community group.

Head over to Une Vie Saine to learn how to make this smoothie. Don't forget to post your own recipes in our Healthy Recipe group! Yours may be featured on our homepage.