Banana Berry Hemp Seed Smoothie

Every once in awhile I'm a little bit lazy to plan a full meal for dinner. Luckily my husband likes to cook and will come up with an awesome meal idea when I'm not feeling it. But he's not always able to fill in the gaps between school, work (he's on call at dinner hour sometimes) and the kids sporting events. We had one of those nights recently. He was taking Amberly to her softball game and wouldn't be home for dinner. So, I called an audible. Leftovers for mom and the boys could have chicken nuggets. They're totally processed and I'm not proud of it, but sometimes we need a quick fix. I asked the boys if they wanted pasta (organic noodles and sauce by the way) to go with it and they both said no. Guess what happened about an hour after dinner? They both said they were still hungry. I should have just put some carrots and cucumbers (both organic) on their plate with the chicken nuggets but I didn't.

Hmmmm..... What could I make that was quick and would fill their half empty bellies? Hey, how about a smoothie? "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" was the reply I got. A winner just about every time! Normally we have smoothies during the day, they make the perfect after school snack. I don't know if I've ever given them a smoothie as an after dinner snack. To be honest I'm generally one to say no when the kids ask if they can have something after dinner and they know it. But of course I knew I hadn't prepared a decent meal and wanted to remedy that. 

We've been trying out a variety of smoothie combinations. I'll be the first to tell you that they don't always pan out. But this one did! I went wanted ingredients that were simple and filling and healthy. I think we came up with just what the boys needed.

Banana Berry Hemp Seed Smoothie: (3 servings)

 

                             

                                                                      Just 5  Ingredients                                      

1 cup green juice
2 heaping cups frozen mixed berries
1 banana
1 cup vanilla yogurt - I used Mountain High Yoghurt

2 TBPS hempseed

1 additional TBSP hempseed for topping
fresh blackberries for topping

Add the first 5 ingredients to your high-speed blender. Blend on high for about a minute or so until you see all the ingredients blended and you end up with a nice berry color.

After you pour your tasty smoothie, top off with a sprinkle of hemp seed and fresh blackberries.

Truly you can add any fresh berries as garnish. We just happen to have hundreds of blackberries ripe for the pickin' right now and need to make use of them every opportunity we get!

                                                                       
                                                       Blackberries from our back yard

At first I was a little concerned that the bitter taste of the green juice would over power the smoothie. However, the Vanilla Mountain High Yoghurt provided just the right balance of sweetness to offset it and gave the perfect smooth finish. You can get your coupon to give Mountain High Yoghurt a try here.

Adding the hemp seed to the smoothie adds some extra protein. Protein is filling. Plus, I enjoyed the nutty flavor of the extra hempseed on top.

Give this smoothie recipe a try! I'd give it 5 out of 5 stars!

You can find other great smoothie recipes by following Mountain High Yoghurt on Pinterest. Or follow them on Instagram to find out when their Simplicity Tour will be making a stop near you!

Owen was especially pleased with the results!