2 Easy Smoothie Recipes | 4 Simple Ingredients + Tips

I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed over the last several years that when I start my morning off right, I’m more productive and make better food choices throughout the day. 

One of my absolute favorite ways to get a healthy start to the day is by making juice or smoothies. Now, I know we’ve all seen on social media complicated smoothie bowl recipes with a long list of ingredients–and to be honest, I’m not sure how we managed to make something as simple as a smoothie into a whole big thing.

So today, I’m sharing with you my two go-to simple and healthy 4-ingredient smoothie recipes to get your day started off right. 

This is a great place to start if you are looking to eat more plant based or want to become a vegan. These smoothies are quick, hassle-free, and packed with flavor and nutrients.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie Recipe

This healthy breakfast smoothie is perfect for anyone that loves the classic PB&J flavor and wants a healthier whole-foods version. It’s slightly sweet, filling, and creamy because of the plant based milk.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups frozen blueberries

• Half of a banana

• 1 tsp peanut butter

• 1 cup non-dairy milk

Instructions:

1. Put all ingredients into a high powered blender and blend until smooth*

Green Smoothie Recipe

This nutrient-dense smoothie makes getting your greens SO easy and delicious. It’s refreshing, light, and healthy.

Ingredients:

• 2 handfuls spinach

• Half of a banana

• 1 cup water

• 2 cups frozen mango

Instructions:

1. Put all ingredients into a high powered blender and blend until smooth*

*Notes

I really recommend using a high powered blender to make your smoothies creamy and smooth. If you don’t have a high powered blender, you may need to add a bit more liquid to these recipes. 

I recommend using frozen fruit so you don’t need to add ice.

These 4-ingredient smoothie recipes are so simple and delicious. My personal favorite is the green smoothie because it’s refreshing and sweet, but the Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie is my go-to because I always have blueberries and peanut butter on hand.

Which one is your favorite? Tag me at @brownvegan on Instagram so I can see your healthy morning smoothie creations!

Video Links:

Vitamix blender

Shirt is from Healthy Whole Alive - amazing quality and you're supporting a dope cause with your purchase.

What Does A Vegan Breakfast Look Like? Tips + Recipes

When it comes to vegan breakfast, the options are truly endless! You can enjoy roasted potatoes, fresh fruit, cereal, oatmeal smoothies, pancakes, tofu scramble, bagels, waffles, tempeh bacon, etc. Make the transition easy for yourself by thinking about what you're already eating and replacing the animal products with vegan options. An easy example of this is oatmeal. 

Oatmeal is naturally vegan -- it's what we put in it that usually isn't vegan though.  
Instead of using dairy butter, you can use coconut oil or Earth Balance vegan margarine. Instead of white sugar (a lot of white sugar isn't vegan since it's processed using bone char from animals), you can sweeten your oatmeal with dates, raw sugar (usually vegan) or natural maple syrup.

I can definitely understand if planning a vegan breakfast has you overwhelmed! It took me some time to wrap my head around the idea of no longer having meat, dairy & eggs as the center of our meals.

No worries though -- I promise there's sooo much variety when you start a vegan journey.

Here are more examples of how you can make popular breakfast options vegan:

*Scrambled eggs --->  tofu scramble (firm tofu crumbled and fried in a skillet with salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder)
*Toast  ---> Cobblestone Mill, Arnold's, Vermont Bread Company & Ezekiel all offer vegan options for bread. You can top your toast with avocado, jam or Earth Balance vegan margarine
*Bacon ---> Tempeh bacon - you can buy or make your own
*Smoothie ---> Blend together almond milk (or water), berries, a frozen ripe banana and a handful of spinach
*Pancakes ---> replace dairy milk with almond milk and replace butter with oil or Earth Balance vegan margarine Here's a recipe we really like
*Roasted potatoes ---> Season with salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and garlic powder and roast as usual Here's the recipe I usually make
*Cereal ---> There are tons of options, but I'm going to list a few that you can find in any grocery store -- original and cinnamon Life cereal, Kashi Strawberry Fields and Cascadian Farms Cinnamon Crunch
Serve with almond, soy or coconut milk instead of dairy milk

Quick Breakfast Tips:

• Try not to overthink breakfast.
• What are you already eating and how can you make a vegan version of that?
• Start off by planning a couple of vegan breakfast meals each week and buy enough to last several days to save both money and time.  

I hope this is helpful!

What are some of your favorite breakfast meals?

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4 Quick Breakfast Ideas | 10 Mins or Less

Like I mentioned in this blog post, we usually eat the same breakfast every day for one week because it saves time and money.

Plus this is how our life was before we started this vegan journey. I gave you some breakfast ideas in that post, but wanted to quickly write this one to share 4 breakfast meals that take less than 10 minutes (some less than 5) to put together.

*Vegan yogurt with fruit & nuts-

There are many options out there for yogurt - almond, coconut and soy are just a few (almond being my least favorite).

Vegan yogurt brands:

So Delicious    Whole Soy & Co

Silk soy yogurt      Almond Dream

Amande almond yogurt     Stonyfield Farm O'soy yogurt

Serve your yogurt with fresh fruit, roasted nuts and a sweetener like natural maple syrup and/or dates, if necessary.

*Cereal

Click here to see a list of vegan-friendly cereals

Unhealthy (but vegan) breakfast cereals are here 

Serve your cereal with a plant-based milk like almond, soy, hemp or coconut

*Smoothies - always so simple and filling- here's the recipe for the pic below

If you prefer to start your morning off with some greens, here's an easy smoothie formula for that:

3 cups of greens (spinach is an awesome start since you don't taste it) + 2 cups of liquid (almond milk, juice or water) + 1 cup of fruit (frozen is great) = simple green smoothie

You can serve your smoothie with toast or a bagel

*Oatmeal- this one of my go-to breakfasts for our fam

Instead of conventional butter, you can use Earth Balance vegan margarine or coconut oil.

Also, use raw sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup and dates to sweeten your oat instead of white sugar

Add in fruit and nuts of your choice to give it some variety.

Breakfast has been on my mind a lot lately because I feel as though it's the easiest meal to immediately start your vegan journey with.

Have you started with a vegan breakfast yet? leave me a comment below.

Strawberry & Banana Smoothie Recipe

If you've been following me for a while, you know that I love my vegan junk food.

In fact, I'm working on a video with my son Elijah to share some our favorite vegan junk food. Stay tuned for that!

Since I often find myself eating a little too much junk food (*shaking my head*), I try to keep plenty of fresh fruit and non-dairy milk in the house for smoothies.

They make for a fast, filling snack (or meal replacer) any time of day....without the guilt.

3 simple ingredients-Strawberries, banana & almond milk.

Naturally Sweet.

Delicious.

I rarely add extra sweetener to my fruit smoothies, but a couple of dates or agave nectar would be nice if you need it. 

My son made this smoothie for me the other day. He loves drinking them just as much as I do.

Thanks, Jason!

Strawberry & Banana Smoothie

by Brown Vegan

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1 cup almond milk

Instructions

Blend & enjoy!

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What do you put in your smoothies?

Roasted Potatoes Recipe

I’ve been working on not using the word “vegan” when I post a video recipe or blog post. There’s something about that word that stops too many people dead in their tracks. Words like “gross” “too healthy” and “bland” come to mind…at least that’s what I’ve heard.

Sometimes the food can seem different, but overall, you’re eating a lot of the same dishes you enjoy right now.

This roasted potatoes recipe is a perfect example…..

All 3 of my sons love this recipe for breakfast with fruit and/or tempeh bacon. Simple, delicious and so filling. Enjoy! :-)

Roasted Potatoes

by Brown Vegan

Prep Time: 25 mins

Cook Time: 20-25 mins

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 large Idaho potatoes, washed and chopped into cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Place chopped potatoes in a large bowl and cover with water.

2. Allow to sit for 20 minutes (to remove the starch.)

3. Preheat the oven at 425º

4. Drain the potatoes and pat dry with a clean kitchen cloth.

5. Rinse and dry the bowl and put the potatoes back into it.

6. Mix in the olive oil, making sure that all of the potatoes are coated.

7. Then mix all the spices together in a small bowl and add to the potatoes until

evenly coated.

8. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet

9. Bake for 20-25, flipping them over after about 15 mins.

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