Today I'm taking you inside my healthy But kind of messy smoothie cabinet I'll Share all the best protein powders Supplements and super foods that I put Into my gluten-free and dairy-free Breakfast smoothies stay tuned for my Carefully curated healthy smoothie Ingredient tour hi everyone and welcome Back to clean eating kitchen I'm Carrie And this is my channel where I share Real food recipes and tips so you can Feel your best I have a master's degree In public health with a specialty in Nutrition I'm also a woman recovering From chronic health issues including PCOS and autoimmune disease so if this Sounds like something you're interested In please subscribe so you don't miss a Video as I mentioned in the intro today I'm going to be taking you on a tour of My healthy smoothie ingredient cabinet And this video is a result of my last Video where I shared what I eat in a day As a woman recovering from chronic Illness I asked the end of that video If Looking more deeply into this cabinet Might be something you're interested in And you said yes so that's where we are Today as you can see the cabinet is a Bit of organized chaos I pretty much Know where everything is but it does Come across as a little bit messy and That's probably just because I have such A variety of different items
But I'm gonna go through the ingredients In a pretty straightforward way first I'm going to share a really basic recipe For a simple green smoothie including The fruits and vegetables that I use These are obviously items that I don't Keep in my cabinet by keeping my freezer Or fridge but I thought it might be Important to go over those as well and Next I'll share items that I put as the Base of the Smoothie including the Healthy fats that I always include next I'll share some of my favorite protein Powders and these are all gluten free And dairy free lastly I'll share some of Those superfood powders and supplements That I usually add to my smoothies to Add nutrition and flavor and these are Things like cacao powder Vitamin C Powder mushroom powder broccoli sprout Powder and more and finally I'll share My thoughts on the best blender because I have tried quite a few different Blenders and I have a few opinions I Want to share with you So let's go ahead and jump into today's Video and before you ask I thought maybe We could also discuss briefly about why Green smoothies can be a really Important part of your diet especially If you're recovering from chronic Illness essentially smoothies can be Really healthy because they're easy to Digest they can be a great way to add in
More fruits and vegetables into your Diet and then also they are easily Customized to meet almost any dietary Need and for instance you could add more Protein power if you're more athletic or You get to add more greens if you just Want that extra nutrition or you can Include like the superfood supplements That I'm going to talk about but they Can be really great for people of all Different ages so let's talk about a Very basic green smoothie recipe which Would include two cups of any kind of a Liquid base I most often use like a Non-dairy milk so that could be like an Unsweetened almond milk or you could use Coconut milk or if you aren't dairy free You could use yogurt or regular milk as Well but you want to start with that Liquid base in your smoothie and if You're using a high speed blender or Really any kind of blender it's always Recommended to put the liquid portion of Your recipe at the bottom because that's Going to make it easier for your blender To get started with the blending so After you add your liquid base and for a Two-person smoothie you'll probably need Between one to two cups of a liquid base Next you're going to add I would say About one to two cups of frozen fruit And the type of fruit matters will get a Little bit more into that later but I Usually try to balance fruits that have
Soluble fiber and insoluble fiber and I Know that sounds like very technical Um but the bottom line is that fruits With soluble fiber like bananas pears And mango in particular will give a Really creamy feel to your smoothie and Then fruits without soluble fiber like Berries they create more of like an icy Texture and so it's nice to have a Balance of the two so I actually don't Eat a lot of bananas my husband loves Frozen bananas in his smoothie but I Will often use frozen mango instead Because I'll still get that creamy Texture but not the strong banana flavor And then of course Frozen mango or Frozen banana or even a pear Um they pair they pair really well with Almost any Berry that you can find any Frozen berries so that could be Strawberries boysenberries blackberries Blueberries raspberries whatever kind of Berry you can come up with Okay so let's talk a little bit more About the base of the smoothie and I Mentioned that I try to include a Healthy fat with each of my smoothies so Going back to the basic recipes we're Going to have the two cups of a liquid The one to two cups of frozen fruit and Next we're going to include like two About two servings of some kind of Vegetable and it could either be a Frozen vegetable or I often like to use
Steamed greens and I talked about this In my last video is that I find that Steaming my greens makes them easier to Digest and that can also reduce oxalate Which some people have to be concerned About if you have kidney stone issues or You get like joint pain issues that Could be a problem for people with Autoimmune disease if you find that if You're eating a lot of raw greens and You have sore joints afterwards then you Might try steaming your greens because Steaming foods that are high in oxalates Can help remove quite a high percentage Of those oxalates and so I do that with All my kale or spinach or any colored Greens any type of dark leafy green that Is known to be high in oxalates like Swiss chard I steam them and then I kind Of use the tongs to squeeze out as much Of the liquid as I can and I know some People might say oh but that liquid is Nutritious but the liquid is what will Contain more of those oxalates so I Discard the liquid and I just use those Steamed greens about two servings per Smoothie and put them right in with the Frozen fruit and the liquid and then There you go and then the last thing is You want to add about two servings one To two servings of some kind of a Healthy fat so if your liquid base is Like coconut milk that will also contain Fat within it but if you used almond
Milk almond milk usually does not have Fat in it especially if you buy a boxed Prepared kind and so you're going to Need to add some healthy fat into your Smoothie And I would recommend like a wide Variety of things you can add you could Include avocado believe it or not you Could include hemp seeds chia seeds flax Seeds nut Butters seed Butters and the Amount that you use is just going to Really depend on how rich or filling That you want your smoothie to be I Would recommend about one to two Tablespoons for this very basic recipe Of almond butter and then you're good to Go and then the only other thing that You could add to your basic recipe would Be any kind of additional add-ins like Cinnamon or cacao powder or cocoa powder If you want to add a chocolate flavor But really the sky's the limit as far as The other things that you can add and Those will be some of the things that We're going to go through when we go Through my smoothie cabinet so let's go Ahead and go into the cabinet and then I Will talk about Exactly what the item items are okay so Let's go through some of these items in My cabinet and I'm going to show you the Packages in case that you want to Purchase them yourself and I will try to Link to the items especially items from
Amazon in the description below you can See this bag of hemp hearts which is the Same thing as hemp seeds comes from Costco I do like to buy organic and one Serving has 10 grams of protein so it's Actually a pretty good source of Plant-based protein and also has healthy Fats Another item that you can try are flax Seeds which would be a great source of Fiber I like this brand they are organic And Um I will sometimes grind these but in a High speed blender like a Vitamix or a Blendtec they do get really ground up it Makes it so your body can absorb the Nutrition another item will include are Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds and What I'll do is include like one to two Tablespoons of any of these seeds and That kind of mixed with the liquid in The smoothie it adds nutrition and it Almost creates like a homemade Dairy-free base if that makes sense now Let's talk about protein powders now Because I am gluten-free and dairy free I can't do anything like whey protein or Um anything that's Dairy based and so I Have to stick with either plant-based or Paleo proteins I like this one and it's A marine collagen and I actually use This one more for my husband because he Has a beef sensitivity and this comes From wild caught fish I will link this
In the description box below and then You can actually see Um it tells you exactly what kind of Fish so if you know that you have some Kind of a fish allergy usually it'll Tell you exactly what kind of fish this One comes from Cod Pollock haddock and Hake I don't know how to pronounce that H-a-k-e so those um says white fish so This one works well for him and then I Like to use this one vital proteins this One does come from beef and the beef are Grass-fed pasture raised that's very Important I believe this is also a Certified Organic I guess it isn't certified Organic Oops I guess it isn't certified organic But Um I'm I might try to look for something Like that but I also got this at Costco So it's a good price and one serving has 20 grams of protein Now a lot of people don't know that Collagen protein is actually not a Complete protein but it is a good source Of you can see it includes all these Amino acids but it's not considered a Complete protein but it is a great Protein to include in smoothies it Blends really easily and it doesn't have Any flavor now for a source of complete Protein you may have seen this on my Channel before because I am an affiliate
With this company it's called Um equip and I will include my affiliate Link and a coupon code in the Description box but if I want a complete Protein which I usually do also I'll Combine the collagen and some type of a Complete protein but this is grass-fed Beef isolate powder And you can see it free from gluten Dairy whey soy hormones antibiotics blah Blah blah so this is an unflavored one I Often do stick with unflavored protein Powders because since I have a lot of Sensitivities I just like to keep it as Simple as possible and I believe this is Only one ingredient the ingredient is Grass-fed beef protein powder and this Actually comes from Meat and so it is a complete protein and This Blends really well as well so this Is a good brand and it is expensive I'm Not sure of the exact price but you get What you pay for Especially in terms of protein powders For another protein option I wanted to Show you this egg white protein and I Use this sometimes with my husband's Smoothies if I'm making one especially For him this brand used to have an Organic one I haven't been able to find It recently but Um this is unflavored and I would I do Prefer the organic version but it's you Can see one one serving has 25 grams of
Protein it's very low carb I personally Have a sensitivity sensitivity to egg Whites so I don't use this but it's a Great protein powder And this is a complete protein and my Favorite my my last favorite protein Powder I know this is going to be a Little controversial but it's actually Cricut powder and before you completely Write it off and say oh that's Disgusting gross whatever you cannot Taste it you can see it's ground into a Very fine brown powder this one is a Hundred percent Cricut also they've Rebranded instead of calling it Cricut They're calling it akata which I guess Is more like the scientific name but It's dairy free gluten free Um this protein powder is a very special Actually and I have an article on my Website all about protein Cricut protein Powder I think people should not write It off especially for people like me and Maybe you if you have a lot of food Sensitivities Um like without being able to eat eggs Dairy gluten Um This is a nice option it's of course It's not vegan or vegetarian because it Comes from an insect but it's highly Sustainable and I don't know for some Reason people freak out when I mention Cricket protein powder and have like a
Visceral response but I think that we're Going to see it more and more in the News and in society and I just wouldn't Write it off until you've tried it or if You've never been able to eat protein Powders this might be a good option it Is a complete protein and let's just Talk about a few of the add-ins I Mentioned that I like cacao powder this One is a nice option now there's been Some news recently that chocolate Products have been found to have heavy Metals within them I'm not sure where This one was on the list I was doing a Little research the other day and I did Buy a bag of cacao powder that is in the Mail and it supposedly has been tested For having low cadmium levels but I Haven't received it yet so in the Meantime I'm using this one if you don't Like cacao powder you can just use Regular Um cocoa baking cocoa I really like this Brand it is organic it is Dutch process And I know some people don't like that They think it's more processed but if You're sensitive to the other one I just Showed cacao this is actually cocoa and I find it to be a little less I find it To be a little bit easier to digest than The cacao powder you probably saw this Item in my video my last video the what I eat video this is a vitamin C powder It comes from Whole Foods it has the
Ingredient label here I won't read it All but I like to just put a little bit Of this in my smoothie doesn't really Add flavor but let's see one fourth of a Teaspoon has 180 milligrams or 200 Percent the daily daily value of vitamin C so that's just a little extra added Bonus that I like to add into the Smoothies I have a jar here of ground Cinnamon of course cinnamon is Um great for blood sugar actually There's a lot of research on that so and Of course it has great flavor so I buy It in bulk I don't have the bag here but I do get an organic brand and I get the Real cinnamon so let me see if I can Find a package here okay I found the Bulk package this is ground Ceylon Cinnamon I get it from I get it online Frontier Co-op and this is organic and Ceylon cinnamon is what they is known as The real cinnamon and so you don't want To get the cassia you want to get the Ceylon here's another item that Sometimes I will add to this smoothie Especially in the springtime if my Allergies my seasonal allergies start Picking up it's bee pollen it is a Little bit expensive but this package Will last for a few years you can see This is what it looks like inside if you Can see that You just use a little tiny bit at a time And I would also start off slowly to
Make sure that you don't have any Sensitivity to it so just use like Um a few of the Of the granules at a time that's what They look like And just put those right into the Smoothie and they get Blended in now These two items are mushroom powders and They are my most recent additions new Additions to my smoothie Um they I use the lion's mane and the Chaga now Um let's see I use mostly this one For my husband healthy aging immune Health and then the lion's mane for me Or now I can't remember actually Um I'm kind of getting them mixed up in My mind but each one has scientific Research and of course there's other Types of mushrooms that can be made into Powders you just need a little bit I Think it says the serving size is one Teaspoon I use less than that and Um You know you can look and and get it try It for yourself if you want I'll put These in the description box below And in case you're wondering the Mushroom powders really don't have a lot Of flavor especially when you add them Into your smoothie and then for Sweetness sometimes I will add some Black strap molasses into the smoothie It this is an unsulfured organic and
Um it is Uh I you know it's a big jar it lasts Quite a while I'll just use maybe one to Two teaspoons per smoothie it adds Really nice sweetness and then it also Has Um plant-based iron three milligrams or 15 Of the daily value per serving so if you Are a Um pre-menopausal woman and you're Looking to get more plant or get more Iron in your diet black strap molasses Is a nice source so I also want you to Talk just briefly about the best Blenders for making green smoothies and I think having a high speed blender is Really important when you're making These types of smoothies because the Last thing you want is a chunky green Smoothie for lack of a better Description you don't want little pieces Of your leafy greens floating around you Want everything to be very well Blended And creamy and really the only way They're going to get a creamy texture And get all of your seeds and your Greens Very well Blended is to use a high speed Blender and the two best high speed Blenders on the market are Vitamix and Blendtec and now they all have different Models within their lineup so that's Kind of up to you as to whether or how
Much money you want to spend I think a Great intro model is the Vitamix Explorian and you can actually find Refurbished ones on Amazon this is a Refurbished model I do like this Vitamix it's basic now it Doesn't come with a bunch of programs in Other words like a button that you can Push for Smoothie or Soup Um but if you don't need that then you Can spend Um maybe between I think these are about Three hundred dollars but you will get Your money's worth out of any Vitamix Model that you purchase for sure and Then my other favorite is a Blendtec and I would say that Blendtec is the Rival To Vitamix Um but they're both excellent Brands I Have the more I think the most expensive Blendtec because it has a noise Canceling cover and I do like that Aspect for me it was worth the extra Money because I make so many smoothies That it's nice to not have to cover my Ears or put in earplugs every time I'm Gonna blend something uh both of these Jars are made from BPA Plastics and They're easy to clean you can clean them By hand or you can put them in the Dishwasher so I do think it's worth Being investment of several hundred Dollars to get a high speed blender
Especially if you're going to be making A lot of smoothies and of course you can Use these blenders to make other Recipes like soups you can make banana Ice cream which is just frozen bananas Blended up in one of these high-speed Blenders so they're really versatile They are an essential part of my healthy Kitchen and so I hope that these Recommendations were helpful so before We go I want to know what is your Favorite healthy smoothie ingredient Especially something that maybe I didn't Cover in this video I'm always looking Forward to learning about new things and I learned from you just as much as you Learned from me so please share that in The comment section below And if you're looking for some actual Recipes I have a whole playlist for Dairy-free smoothies and I will link That here and I'll see you in the next Video bye
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