Smoothie Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Protein Smoothie Bowl – Spirulina vs. Collagen Protein Powder

Protein smoothie bowl is dreamy color-enhanced with healthy anti-inflammatory powder supplements like spirulina, that’s also high in protein… and that you can learn more about below. Plus, how to blend in the superfood powder to make a tasty bowl (and not just a healthy one!).

Spirulina if you don’t know, is algae. It sounds like what you and I may have studied in school under a microscope or saw floating in a pond. I saw both in my journey.

Today, it’s no longer controversial in food and as a food ingredient. It’s also no longer a hold-your-nose-to-swallow healthy food that tastes like medicine when you find the right mild one that’s much easier to come across and source online today.

…Because I remember when I tried to source blue spirulina before 2020, and it was not online ready yet. But back then, I did buy green algae spirulina that quickly brought me back to the smells of living next to a pond and walking into a pet store, getting closer toward the fish aquarium sections.

But I blended some of the powder into my green smoothies with a bunch of pineapple to try and sweetly mask the taste.

And then one day I noticed the blue spirulina powder on the market. I had seen the powder in a bowl coming out of a smoothie place years earlier.

I was excited for getting the powder because I knew what aqua bright colors it could make.

…And so I did! And you too can make a breakfast protein smoothie bowl into a mermaid blue…

With the concentrated spirulina powder I had, I added a few drops of healthy plant-based Pandan gel that I discovered had been available for a while. It’s the vanilla extract of the east. And has an earthy taste and dark green color if you’re not familiar.

With the blue powder and green gel combined together, you get a cool blue-green aqua shade. Is it blue or is it green? That’s between your color mix and cones’ perceptions in your eyes.

And whatever the soothing end color, for me this has become a loved yogurt smoothie breakfast morning bowl. It’s also one of my site colors for daily inspiration.

Spirulina Protein Powder

But more than color, spirulina is also more than half protein! Between 57-70 grams in 100 grams that you can add to your grocery healthy protein list.

it’s an alternative for a protein powder if you don’t like whey (that comes from dairy).

Or collagen powders (that come from animals).

Spirulina is plant-based, and has other benefits like it’s a high antioxidant potency for anti-inflammatory health. The blue-green algae colors are filled with chlorophyll, that are especially good for body immunity and detox.

Blue spirulina is great for smoothies or a protein smoothie bowl. It makes for a fun healthy drink or bowl with natural colors.

Blended up with yogurt or milk white as the base medium, you get a lighter shade. It’s really an eat-from-the rainbow drink because white contains all the colors.🌈

But you can also go deep green or deep blue marine blue by blending in blueberries to blue spirulina.

And if you want to go wild purple, you can even make a deep purple color by also blending in strawberries or raspberries. Now that’s one royal bowl. 👑

And if you’re deciding which powder to add based on protein amount, here’s the healthy skinny…

Spirulina vs. Collagen (vs. Whey) Protein

Collagen is animal protein and has about 90 grams of protein per 100 grams, so it’s more than plant-based spirulina. Hydrolyzed collagen is the finer version of collagen.

In case you’re wondering, bone broth has less than 10 grams per 100 grams, since it’s diluted (vs. powder supplement). Collagen is a type of protein found in bone broth.

Fun fact: Even though you hear fitness people talking about and taking whey powder commonly for weight lifting and muscle building, you’d think it came from an animal source. But it’s actually 70-90 grams of protein that comes from dairy (as in separating curds and whey in the cheesemaking process)… and milk is not just for babies.

So the choice is yours… you can add whey, spirulina, or collagen into a protein smoothie bowl if you’re trying to rack up more protein points.

You’d never know in a pretty Tiffany blue bowl that you can dunk a spoon in… maybe even today?

And if you like this dreamy color and healthy idea, you’ll probably like this idea too, to make a healthy blue frosting you can have for breakfast (and feel good about feeding your body)… and/or a berry yogurt smoothie you can make in seconds with a Magic Bullet.

You can also turn a protein smoothie bowl into a drinking smoothie by simply blending in the liquid portion of the yogurt, milk, or other liquids.

protein smoothie bowl with healthy yogurt blue spirulina and matcha collagen powders.

Dreamy Protein Smoothie Bowl

This is a protein smoothie bowl you can make your dreamy delicious bowl with blue-green.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

thicker Greek yogurt
Pandan gel
Blue spirulina powder

Instructions

Add.your favorite (Greek) yogurt to a bowl. Then add a few drops of Pandan gel and blue spirulina powder until you get the color and amount you want.
Add toasted coconut, seeds, nuts, granola, berries, bananas, and other fruits... it's your dreamy bowl you can bring to your daily life!

Berry Yogurt Smoothie – Magic Bullet Recipe

Berry yogurt smoothie is one great breakfast starter that you can make quick and easy with your speedy and mighty Magic Bullet. With probiotic pro-gut health, you add good bacteria to your gut and you can feed the good bacteria with prebiotics like a banana, flaxseeds, oats, and chicory root.

These days chicory root is common in ingredients, like tea and coffee. It’s a prebiotic add to help your gut (good bacteria).

This all makes your gut happy, where a lot of the happy hormones are made that make you happy.

And if you’re looking for more prebiotic complements, you can give yourself an apple boost with an apple carrot paired (no pears in this one!) tasty smoothie.

The recipe below is filled with fiber and healthy fat options that give your body the healthy food variety it craves, and make great breakfast starters.

And teaming with your body, if you’re someone with a sweet tooth, this is a celebrational start as a party in the mouth.🥤🍓 An amuse bouche.

And the best part is you can make this smoothie in 5 minutes with a blender. And if you have and use a Magic Bullet blender or similar, you can even use the top capsule to keep the smoothie in a cup (or temporarily store in your fridge).

How easy is that!?

Gathering your ingredients will be the heaviest lifting you’ll do for this treat that looks like a milkshake.

But this is a berry healthy starter that won’ weight you down, and has natural sugars (fruit, yogurt, honey, etc.).

Cranberries also add a tartness that pairs great with orange juice, and superfood wild blueberries pair well with lemon juice. Or you can make a hybrid pairing of these flavors!

Or mixed wild berries that can be turned into home berries.

And they’re all healthy Vitamin C adds. Cranberries also have a natural ability to protect against bacteria along the gut and urinary tracts.

So, how can you say no to the tart berry that you can store frozen in the freezer?

And to this berry yogurt smoothie you can enjoy today!

Berry Yogurt Smoothie - Magic Bullet

This fruit and yogurt smoothie is an easy and healthy way to start your morning with fiber and prebiotics.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Total Time 5

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

1 Magic Bullet or blender

Ingredients

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (medium thickness or some thick and some liquid/whey)
1-2 Tbsp berries (blueberries, strawberries, cranberries)
1 banana (optional)
1 tsp raw honey
2 tsp splash of orange juice or lemon juice
1 tsp flaxseed (optional)
1/4 tsp shredded coconut (zhugh)

Instructions

Add juice and berries to blender and pulse blend once.
Add in yogurt and banana (if adding). Pulse blender several times until smooth.
Stir in honey and seeds with a spoon.

Notes

To thicken your smoothie and/or add another flavor dimension, you can add natural peanut or almond butter for a healthy fat. And if you do not have flaxseeds (or other seeds), you can also add a healthy gluten-free flour such as coconut flour, for additional fiber, healthy fat, and minerals.

Coconut Chocolate Smoothie – 3 Ingredients Easy

Coconut chocolate smoothie is a refreshing, low-sugar smoothie that tastes like a chocolate bar you drink, but without all the calories. And is anti-inflammatory in the unsweetened ingredients below.

In a smoothie, you get a smooth and satisfying taste of chocolate decadence with a little coconut vibe. 🥥

Coconut milk works best but you can tone down the coco-nutty tastes with other milks or nut milks like almond milk. And you can make your own coconut milk if you don’t have any on hand.

You can also make your own nut milk like almond milk or pecan milk.

It’s like milking your own cow or cashew. 😊

Or you can make dairy-free oat milk that can be as good as store-bought for a substitute, or homemade oat milk in case your power goes out. You make it ahead of storms, then store refrigerate and/or freeze. Frozen, it will stay good for at least a couple hours.

And then for the coconut chocolate smoothie dry ingredients:

You can grind coconut into fine coconut flour. This is from the coconut meat, same as shredded (or desiccated coconut). But much finer ground into flour.

These days, it’s easy to source the gluten-free flour at the grocery store.

And if you’re wondering what to do with the extra coconut flour you have in a bag after you baked with it (like in a gluten-free fruit cake), then a coconut chocolate smoothie is an even better (maybe novel?) idea.🧋

Cacao is the second dry ingredient. It’s a superfood and less processed than cocoa (Dutch processed). They’re related.

I recommend unsweetened cacao as the raw pure tastes come through in the smoothie. If you think cacao is bitter, you can also add a drizzle of raw honey to sweeten.

Both cacao (loaded with healthy catechins) and coconut are anti-inflammatory foods that are good for soothing the skin.

If you have dry skin common in weather climate changes, this smoothie supports healthy skin.

These are the simple ingredients for the magical smoothie with healthy Almond Joy tastes:

1 cup coconut milk

2 tsp cacao powder, unsweetened

1 Tablespoon of coconut flour

Shredded coconut for zhugh topping

This is the smoothie recipe formula I use and is delicious, but I think if you eyeball the ingredients you’ll do just as good. Smoothies are forgiving.😊

That’s something to love about smoothies!

They will turn out delicious even if you don’t exact measure like in baking. Because the individual ingredients are tasty (the parts make up the sum or whole).

And in this Coconut Chocolate Smoothie, coconut and cocoa are the amazing pairing duo. This makes it great for an afternoon chocolate fix or a bright start to the morning.

If also you want to make it a trio (or add some healthy fat), then nut butters would be a good add. You can add 1 teaspoon of your favorite natural nut butter that will thicken the smoothie.

A banana (or half a banana) also is an optional flavor layer that will add the unique banana fruit sweet taste that only the tropical fruit can do.

And if you take fat-soluble vitamins (e.g. Omega-3), this is a good time to consider what healthy fat is in your smoothie?

Is there a nut butter? Is there coconut milk fat? Is there shredded coconut in smoothie (…yes, counts as healthy fat)? Are there seeds? Or did you add avocado 🥑 (…another wildcard add option!)?

These are other options…

These are all healthy fat decisions you can make to your healthy and happy (joyful) smoothie.🧋

If the answer is no, you can choose to add a little MCT oil that supports more energy and weight loss. For higher MCT versions, you can look for “coconut” as an ingredient. That’s high in saturated fat, but metabolized quicker for energy.

And if you’re starting your year or season with new friend or healthy groups, this smoothie joy is one that you can sip on while you think of these fun or interesting facts:

Coconuts are not nuts, but look like them with a hard shell like walnuts. They’re fruit, and specifically drupes (stone fruits). And the candy bar Almond Joy was named after the almond nut and coconut where the “nutty” pairing 2-ingredients represent “joy.”

You may have seen “joy” defined in the Bible, where it’s seen over 200 times.

Joy gives us hope, and this is a hopeful drink you make your own.

Add this little bit of full joy and hope smoothie to the smoothie guide challenge! 🌟

Easy coconut chocolate smoothie with 3 ingredients.

Coconut Chocolate Smoothie - 3 Ingredients Easy

This is a smoothie that has chocolate, almond, and coconut tastes.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk
2 tsp 100% cacao powder, unsweetened
1 Tbsp coconut flour
1 Tbsp shredded coconut flakes, unsweetened (plus additional as zhugh on top)
1/2 banana (optional)

Instructions

Blend ingredients and enjoy!

Notes

The main ingredient for a magical Almond Joy chocolatey-coconut smoothie beverage, is coconut flour, and can be gluten-free. If you don't like coconut, then make a chocolate smoothie beverage without the coconut ingredients.

Pear Strawberry Smoothie + Healthy New Year 🎉

Pear strawberry pair for a delicious and healthy smoothie. And I’m always looking for a new smoothie taste… you too?

This pear-straw amuse bouche is a great easy way to kick off healthy, brightening intentions for a blessed new year… after a holiday partridge in a pear tree.

Strawberry or strawberry lemonade is a great summer drink, but in the cool months, I found a strawberry pear-pair is a great sweet one.

The tastes seasonally complement. And you don’t need to add any more sweetness.

Because the juicy pear does the trick. 🍐 Not a prickly pear (cactus) but a regular sweet pear like a Bartlett pear. Anjou and Bosc are also common pears.

…And there’s just a ‘lil prep work that’s worth waiting for.

Like a few weeks after you buy (or pick) your pears.

As the pears ripen to a softness at room temps, you can squeeze the pear juice out. You can speed things up by putting pears near other ripe fruit (like a banana or apple), and even better put in a closed brown paper bag.

A soft pear looks the same on the outside, but inside it’s so soft that you don’t need a knife to pierce in.

You can push into the pear flesh and make pear sauce (like applesauce) if you wanted to.

And it’ll look like (and have the consistency) of juicy mashed potatoes.

That’s when it’s ripely good for a pear strawberry smoothie.🧉

Where you decide to add frozen (or fresh) strawberries.

Strawberry is the new banana in this smoothie.

Like the one here zhughed with shredded coconut… oui?

For the smoothie consistency, if you don’t have bananas around, are tired of them, or just never liked the taste of bananas, then the soft textures from frozen strawberries brought to room temps will do the trick.

Pull them out a day or two beforehand, so they can cold thaw in the fridge into useable mushy smoothie strawberries.

Then fire up your Magic Bullet, blending up your smoothie nice and smooth… and bottoms up!

So refreshing and sweet.

Spices also can enhance the pear tastes, and help remind you and I of the season we’re in… like winter, and if you’re feeling Kapha, ginger anti-inflammatory spice add a punchy but mild flavor.

And pinches of cinnamon for any Vata anxiety.

As someone who lives anti-inflammatory year-round, pears are full of fiber and are a low glycemic index food.

And strawberry is a superfood that has more Vitamin C than oranges!

So you’re doing a world of good by having a pear strawberry smoothie in your day.

Fruit, as in seeing what yields, is what keeps us going and growing and a smoothie can be the metaphor.

With a new year, we can use juicy winter fruit as a healthy symbol for what’s ahead.

I like seeing fruit in trees as a visual.

Bright berries are especially inspiring because you can find them out in nature even in the winter. Nature is not all dormant.

And fruit is abundant… and seasonal.

Fruit is a good metaphor for abundance. And what we all want is not just enough, or enough in the new year.

We want more than enough.

Because in overflow, we can give more to the world.

And by leaning into nature’s fruits, we can bring a little abundance into our daily smoothie drink.

For dominant Vatas (who love variety), seasons pose a garden backdrop of sweet fruits that help define what’s available and fresh to eat.

They show up in your kitchen and smoothie up!

And when you’re out and about…

Instead of reaching for a beverage, you can use a juicy apple (or in-season pears) to quench your thirst.

Apples and carrots are winter in-season healthy foods, and with the abundance, you can amp up in a apple-carrot smoothie with coconut tastes.

Or eat them raw if you don’t want to stop for restroom breaks.

Fruit also act as a mouth-teeth cleaner.So bringing a fruit snack with you in your travels make healthy sense all around.

And if you’re a hiker like me, they weigh little on the back.

They make for a happy and healthy snack break.

And if eating healthy today (with a healthy weight) and less sweets is your new year intention… and you have a natural daily sweet tooth craving, you can pair this pear-straw smoothie with a low-sugar berry shortbread cookie (no-bake), no-bake matcha cookie, low-sugar fruit pastry tart, gingerbread cookie, or low-sugar cinnamon donut and other low-sugar recipes.

Beet Herbal Smoothie – Fasting For Gut Detox

Beet herbal smoothie is a delicious one that is soothing. Rose petals are edible flowers that you may have seen dried for herbal tea.

And this is a good way to open up your gut after fasting…

Fasting (temporarily) is a way to do gut detox (…more on this below). And then appreciate preferred foods like a rose smoothie… with beet or strawberries, or both that’s berry-hard-to-beat. 🫜🍓

Fasting is a practice that I’m proud of.

…I no longer freak out when I haven’t eaten. I look at not eating differently than my younger self would have.

I now know it’s healthy detox.

So now it’s my choice to fast occasionally.

And fasting is a form of empowerment.

(…And it can be for you too if you choose).

It’s a smart move.

Because living today, we are exposed to so many daily toxins like microplastics, bacteria, and pesticides.

And they end up in our gut and food.

That wreaks havoc on our gut health and how we daily feel.

So an easy way to at-home detox is to simply fast: to not eat temporarily and occasionally.

Fasting is countercultural to western world upbringings where we eat, eat, eat. And snack, snack, snack.

…Which never gives our bodies a break.

But fasting once a week or even once a month does a world of good for the body.

If you choose a day to stop eating at a certain time like 4 pm (like I do) and then resume back at 9 am the next day in time for breakfast (to break the fast), you’ll have turned your body into a healthy cleaning machine.

And it’s really not that difficult from a discipline perspective since you’re sleeping (and not eating anyway) for most the time.

It’s more about breaking old habits and mindsets.

You probably (surprisingly!) won’t even be hungry in the AM… and could even go to the afternoon or 24 hours if you had a reason.

Those additional hours of fasting reaps even more healthy body benefits.

But I find that a 16-17 hour fast is the sweet spot, doing wonders, and doesn’t disrupt my life.

Around that 17th hour mark (that’s more or less for some people), the body switches energy sources from glucose (blood sugar) to fat.

You may have heard of this process (ketosis) from the Keto Diet. But fasting is not about a Diet (with a capital “d”). Because in fasting, you’re simply not eating, temporarily.

Then when you start eating again, it’s about resuming regular eating… hopefully with healthy foods like in an anti-inflammatory food diet.

…Where the type of healthy food matters most (when eating)… much more than counting fat and protein calories, and avoiding high carbs that can cause a yo-yo diet effect.

You lose weight from not eating at all temporarily (when fasting) and not because you’re eating less carbs and calories.

And while fasting is helpful for losing weight, I don’t fast to lose weight… I do it for the healthy benefits.

It’s good for anyone.

Even thinner people (aka Vatas) like me can use a beet herbal smoothie like this. 🥀

…It’s like doing some cardio is good for anyone with a beating heart.

And fasting is part of a healthy lifestyle.

…And one that’s changed my life.

I no longer freak out when I haven’t eaten for some hours on a day I choose to fast.

I look at not eating totally different than I was taught growing up.

And if I have low blood sugar during the day when I’m not fasting, but because I don’t have anything in my stomach or I forgot to pack a snack, I know I’ll be fine.

…Because I know I do the same thing when I purposefully fast.

I’m not eating in both cases.

But the body doesn’t know if I’m choosing to be hungry for fasting healthy reasons or if I forgot to pack a snack.

But my calmed mind does. And I do.

As long as my mind and I know, that’s all that matters. And my body is happy with me.

I’m letting it do its full reset and cleaning job, uninterrupted.

Then the next morning, my body rewards me.

I wake up feeling refreshed… like I’d slept for days.

That’s when I’m humbly reminded of how it feels to have energy without needing cups of coffee to get going!

Without missing a beat, I’m also never more excited to taste a beet smoothie 🫜and start my day, besides this rose and beet herbal smoothie.

And I know I’m not the only one. 😊 Roses are a lovely start. I learned about edible flowers from my catering days. They are also pretty on a food table or pressed as art. 🏵️

Herbal Rose Smoothie

Rose is a soothing herbal element and rose petals are edible and can be added to a smoothie.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

Magic bullet or similar blender

Ingredients

2-3 oz beets, cooked (or whole strawberries)
1/2 tsp rosewater, splash
4 oz water
1-2 rose tea, dried and crushed (for zhugh)

Instructions

Blend cooked beets and rosewater. A splash is strong. You can find rosewater in international grocery markets.
Zhugh with rose petals that are used for tea.