Gut Healing Mint Chip Smoothie Recipe

I always strive to keep a healthy gut because 80 percent of immunity lays there! While I don't consider heavy detoxing healthy for anyone, I like to fill my smoothies with immune boosting, gut-healing, and cleansing nutrients.

Instead of reaching for a peppermint mocha, I wanted to channel those flavors to a smoothie. This winter mint-chip dream has the perfect amount of detoxifying properties and energy our bodies need. Mint promotes healthy digestion while liquid chlorophyll supports detoxification of the GI-tract and supports blood-cleansing functions. In addition, this veggie-packed smoothie provides multiple servings of greens, is low in sugar, and high in protein.

My favorite part about smoothies is that they're super easy to meal prep with my stasher bags. Because raw vegetables tend to be harder to digest, I prefer to steam them before freezing. And they're eco-friendly! With so much waste around the holidays (i.e. wrapping paper and plastic bags), this is the least I can do to support no-waste.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup steamed then frozen zucchini
• 1/2 steamed then frozen peas
• a handful of spinach
• 6 fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 banana
• 1-2 cups vanilla almond milk (depending on desired thickness)
• 1 tbsp liquid chlorophyll
• 1 tbsp coconut butter
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• 1-2 tbsp raw cacao nibs
• 1 tbsp of collagen peptides

Prep

The night before making your smoothie, rinse, dice, and add fresh zucchini and peas into a stasher bag. For steaming, I prefer to use the half-gallon size so that the veggies have room to cool after. Place into a large pot of boiling water, cover with a lid and let steam for about 15-20 minutes or until tender. After steaming, let the veggies cool for a couple minutes and then lay them in the freezer flat in the bag.

Make it

When you're ready to make your smoothie in the morning, add frozen veggies and all other ingredients into your blender (minus the cacao nibs). Blend until smooth. Add cacao nibs and pulse until incorporated. Pour + enjoy!

Recipe created by Mara Davanzati.