Bring a little sunshine to your day with this delicious and healthy smoothie! My sunshine smoothie is bursting with citrus flavor, sweet mango, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, and made creamy with almond milk. It makes a great breakfast, lunch, or two snack portions!
I hope you all had a fun and love-filled Valentine’s Day! I spent the weekend visiting with my family and celebrating my mom’s birthday. She requested fettuccine alfredo with chicken and broccoli added and fresh coconut cupcakes for dessert…both delicious.
I made regular wheat pasta for everyone and zucchini noodles for myself – alfredo sauce mixed with chicken, broccoli and tossed with the zucchini was amazing. I also made the coconut cupcakes gluten-free so that I could enjoy them, too. No one knew and they came out awesome!
Now that it’s Monday, I’m recovering from the sweet treats I enjoyed this weekend with this fabulous smoothie. This sunshine smoothie is bursting with flavors that will make you close your eyes and feel the sunshine beating down on your face. At least that’s what I think of since we’ve had subzero temperatures here in the northeast.
I’ve been dreaming up an orange colored smoothie for a while now. I went back and forth on what I wanted to put in it, but decided on a nice mix of orange fruits and vegetables with a little bit of cucumber for more veggie power and freshness. Don’t let the carrots and orange bell peppers scare you – they are overpowered by the sweetness of the clementine and mango.
I will warn you though, this smoothie does smell like the bell pepper and you can kind of taste it, but in a good way! It’s hard to explain, but if you enjoy raw bell peppers on their own, you’ll love this smoothie. Kyle thought it was great and I gave my sister the recipe and she loved it too! If you don’t like peppers you can omit it and add extra carrots or add something else in.
The almond milk really adds a nice creamy texture to this smoothie without making it too thick and keeps calories low. I also like to add in 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to have some healthy fat. The fat aids in absorption all of the vitamins you’re getting from the fruits and veggies. If I’m using this as a meal replacement I always include the coconut oil, but sometimes I’ll make a half portion and have it with my eggs in the morning – in that case I omit the coconut oil.
Not only will this smoothie fill you up and make you feel great, but it’s also a great way to wake up in the morning. I can see myself enjoying this one a lot in the summer, but for now I drink it and dream of the warm sunshine.
- 1 Clementine, peeled
- 5 Baby Carrots
- ¼ Orange Bell Pepper
- ½ Cup Fresh Cucumber, skin on
- ¾ Cup Frozen Mango
- ½-1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
- 1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
- Combine all of the ingredients into a high-powered blender and blend on high speed for 1 minute until very well blended.
- This smoothie serves 1 as a meal, or two for a snack.
Love this smoothie – I’ve never thought of adding peppers to smoothies, but that’s a great idea because they have such a neutral flavor. But I’d probably grab for a coconut cupcake first 😉
Jessica | A Happy Food Dance recently posted…garlic herb turkey meatballs
It’s really a great addition – everyone that I serve it to is skeptical, but they end up loving it. I’d probably grab for a coconut cupcake first, too – I’m sad that they are all gone!
Your moms dinner menu sounds delicious! What a fun weekend. This smoothie is such a happy color, definitely sunshiney. Hope it brings brightness into your day. I’ve seen the weather you have been having. Looks brutal! Sending warm thoughts your way Keri : )
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely recently posted…Bacon Wrapped Dates
Oh it was delicious, Natalie! I really did have a fun weekend even though we got 5 inches of snow and it was -5º where parents live. This smoothie definitely brightens up my day… luckily I have a big window in my apartment that the sun shines through. I sit in front of it and close my eyes and dream about summer! Thanks 🙂
This looks SO refreshing! I can’t wait to try it. I love, love, love smoothies :).
Annie @ The Garlic Diaries recently posted…Pimento Cheese Turkey Sliders
this is really a yummy drink. The main advantage of this drink, all the ingredients are naturally and found easily.
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