Monday Morning Motivation:

Vanilla Almond Mocha Smoothie

January 19, 2015 ~ by Anna Busby

 

I like to cook, mainly because I like the ability to create something that tastes delicious, makes you feel good and provides health benefits. I’m constantly on the prowl for recipes I can alter to make healthier or already written healthy recipes to try. While my general resource for these is the world-wide web, as a Christmas gift this year, I received two delightful cookbooks, both oriented for the athletically minded person. I must say I have found myself using them more than I thought.

One in particular, the Thrive Energy Cookbook, is written by a Vegan athlete, Brendan Brazier, who fully embodies the whole food approach and has found great success both in his health initiatives and athletic endeavors in this nutrition structure. While I’m not Vegan, I have tried quite a few of his recipes, one of which I will feature today.

Today the schedule consisted of a morning run, work, then late afternoon TRX strength session. For a two-a-day like this, the importance of refueling and promoting an anabolic, positive building state after the morning workout is crucial not only to keep my energy up but also to promote positive adaptations from the workout itself.

So the ideal post-run choice this morning was a smoothie. I often reach for the blender in times like these for three reasons: it’s quick, it’s healthy and it’s easy to get down within 30 minutes after finishing the workout. Today’s special….

 

Vanilla-Almond-Mocha Motivator

• 2 large Medjool dates, pitted
• 4 coffee beans or 1/2 oz espresso shot (I used ~1/8 cup strong coffee leftover from my pre-run coffee batch)
• 1 Tbsp cacao nibs
• 1 Tbsp vegan dark chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp vanilla powder or extract
• 1 Tbsp almond butter
• 1 tsp cacao butter (I substituted 1 Tbsp cocoa powder here)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 cup coconut water
• ~2 cups ice cubes
• I added 1 scoop vanilla flavored whey protein for a protein boost, for a Vegan shake, omit this or use Vegan protein powder

Pop all the ingredients, excluding the ice cubes, in the blender first, then add the ice cubes and blend it up!

This recipe offers a slew of nutrients and health benefits that make it a superb post-workout choice. Dates offer carbohydrates necessary for replenishment of glycogen, your body’s carbohydrate stores, and fiber to encourage satiation and promote gut health. Coffee provides an antioxidants and flavonoids as well as an energy boost to get your day started. Cacao and dark chocolate are rich in healthy fats and antioxidants. Coconut water is naturally stocked with electrolytes to promote rehydration. Lastly, the addition of the whey protein provides all the essential amino acids, especially muscle-building leucine, to promote muscle recovery and rebuilding post-workout. While this smoothie served as my post-workout choice this morning, it also works well as a quick breakfast to get you up and going before you start your day or as pre-workout energizer an hour or so before you head out the door (if using as a pre-workout choice, you may want to skip the protein powder).  Aside from the numerous nutritionally positive attributes this recipe offers, it also happens to be delicious.

Recipe makes 1 serving.

Nutrition info: 423 calories, 18g Fat, 42g Carbs, 13g fiber, 29g Protein

Recipe Credit: The Thrive Energy Cookbook by Brendan Brazier