ironclaw Chocolate Smoothie

I have a smoothie for breakfast every weekday. I have done this for nearly three years. The recipe has changed over time, but this is my current recipe. I realize I could buy pre-mixed smoothie powder, but this works well for me and is cheaper. I really like Shakeology, but I cannot justify the price per serving. My smoothies cost about $2 per serving where Shakeology is about $4 per serving.

I do like my smoothie to be a bit chunky. I will note how to change this if you prefer it smooth.

I have yet to find my favorite protein powder, but I keep trying new ones. This recipe will list my most recent one. I did try unflavored protein powder at one point, but I was adding cocoa powder to get the chocolate flavor and that seemed silly when I can buy chocolate powder. I am using vegan or vegetarian powders. I feel better after having these powders than I do whey protein. This does not mean the entire smoothie is vegan, but I tend to stay away from dairy based products in my smoothies.

Most protein powders are very sweet. I tend to prefer less sweet, so I am on the hunt for a better chocolate powder for my own personal tastes, but the powder linked below turned out pretty well when combined with this recipe.

I think this smoothie tastes like I remember the milk from cocoa pebbles tasting when I was a kid.

Weekly prep work:

• I pre-mix my smoothie in jars every Sunday. This saves me several minutes of measuring every morning.
  • 
• I blend a mix of greens every 2-3 weeks and freeze them in ice cube trays so they won’t go bad and they help the smoothie stay cold when blended.
  • I typically buy the power greens from Costco and tightly pack my blender with greens to about 3/4 full. Then I add 12-14 oz of water and blend. This fills two standard ice cube trays.
  • Once the cubes freeze I remove them from the trays and put them in a freezer bag. This just works better for me.

The Recipe
I use the recommended serving sizes
I add the ingredients in the order listed
I blend twice to get the chunky effect. To get a smooth blend just add them all at once
Most ingredients are linked to the products I use

• First Blending (35 second setting on my blender – listed below)
  • Chocolate Oat Milk – 8 oz
    • Yes, chocolate! It adds very few calories and I like the taste.
    • You can use any milk (soy, oat, almond, dairy)
  • Water – 4 oz
  • Frozen green cubes – Two
    • A handful of fresh greens works just as well
    • You cannot taste the greens unless you add too much.
  • Regular Ice – Maybe 10-15 cubes
    • Adjust to your liking.
  • Pre-mixed smoothie
    • Chocolate Protein Powder – One Serving
    • Multi-Collagen Peptides – One Serving
    • Chia Seeds – One Tbsp (sometimes)
    • Four Sigmatic Defend Mushroom Blend – One Serving
    • Celtic Sea Salt – 1/8tsp …or just a pinch
  • Also add the “Second blending” ingredients IF you want a smooth smoothie
• Second Blending (Very quick …just enough to mix ingredients)
  • Cacao Nibs – 1 Tbsp
  • Plain slow cook oatmeal – 1/2 cup
    • I prefer steel cut oats, but any plain oats are fine.
  • Ground Flaxseed – 2 Tbsp (sometimes)

Optional Ingredients: 
These are other ingredients I have used and you are welcome to add for increased calories or differing taste. 

• MCT Oil for additional fats
• Nuts for additional fats an protein
  • I prefer walnuts or almonds
  • I do not currently add any nuts to my mix
• Frozen fruit
  • I preferred mixed berries or just blueberries
• Pretty much any other supplements you are interested in trying.
  • Be careful here as some can add a bad flavor!

Our Blender:

We use the OmniBlend V Commercial Blender. We have used this blender for 4-5 years without issue. It works very well. Feel free to ask me any questions.

Thanks for reading!