Good Morning Green Smoothie :)

Good morning! Today I found myself still slightly sick from a sore throat, but having enough energy to feel ready to take on all that is life.  A standard morning in my shoes (when I'm not running out the door for work at 6 am) usually involves starting my day off with something green - and that green something is most often KALE.  This morning I grabbed some leftover beans & fresh cut tomatoes from my fridge thinking I'd just heat the beans on the stove, sautee the kale, and add an egg for an extra protein kick.  Upon returning from my garden with fresh picked kale I stood in my kitchen staring at that beautiful leafy green feeling stuck on whether my body wanted the original hot meal I had thought or if it wanted a cold raw smoothie... I was probably staring at the kale for 5 minutes going through this debate un-wavered when I just kicked myself out of it and went for the smoothie, as I haven't had one in a couple weeks and my body is feeling low so it is probably best to pump it with raw animal-protein-free love!  Green smoothies are one of my favorite things in life - they can be so versatile and are ALWAYS so delicious!  This is my basic go-to recipe:

Ingredients: 

- Almond, Coconut, or Hemp milk (or another non-dairy/non-soy based milk - I also try to stay away from rice milk so my only consumption of rice is in it's true form)
- 1 cup (approximately) Frozen Bananas
- 4-5 leaves of Kale
- 1 tbsp. raw cacao powder (optional - I just love chocolate ;) AND when chocolate is in this raw form it is actually AMAZING for your body and gives you a lot of energy to tackle your day!)
- 1 tbsp. Udo's 3-6-9 Oil (optional - as someone who's only animal-protein source is an occasional egg I know that my body needs an extra boost of those essential fatty acids - Udo's get's theirs from a plant-based source... even if you eat meat it is important to supplement with essential fatty acids, whether it comes from a fish source or plant)
- 1 scoop of Garden of Life's Raw Meal (optional - again, as someone who rarely eats animal protein, even though my diet is pretty well rounded and based in LOTS of vegetables and whole grains, I want to make sure my body is getting all that it needs and has the added boost to perform at it's peak performance)

Directions:
1. Blend bananas with non-dairy milk until smooth.
2. Add kale and blend until all kale is broken down.
3. Add cacao, Udo's oil, and Raw Meal. Blend until smooth.
4. Pour into a mason jar (or other available drinking vessel) for on the go usage... Enjoy!

*This usually lasts me either until lunch or to a later/lighter breakfast (the latter is usually on days when I'm up and going by 6am).

*Feel free to use a different green of choice (spinach is a great one!) and experiment with your own ingredients - I often get as crazy as adding: local bee pollen, pitted dates, goji berries, chia seeds, raw maca powder, matcha green tea powder, wheat grass powder, dulse flakes, etc. Go wild! You can also create a base with berries and water and/or a fruit juice - I did this for a long time starting out, which makes it much sweeter... it was too much fruit for my body to handle so now I pretty much stick to bananas as my only fruit.

Zucchini Banana Cacao Bread w/ Walnuts & Cinnamon Coconut Frosting (vegan, gluten-free, soy free)

Zucchini cacao bread is one of my favorite childhood recipes and has evolved with me as I've changed my diet over the years to vegan, and then to vegan/gluten-free, and then to vegan/gluten-free/soy-free... as well as the evolution of changing variables such as what is currently in my kitchen cupboard - or in this case, on the staff shelf at GreenStar! This past week about three huge boxes of bananas were put in our staff lounge because they were overripe and we can't sell them like that. But, this is the perfect state to find bananas in because (1) they are free!, (2) they are great for freezing in bags to put in smoothies, and (3) they are just perfect for banana bread. Instead of making banana bread I just used the bananas as part of my egg replacer. I made three loafs and froze two for gifts :)

The coconut cinnamon frosting is an invention from my good friend, who first introduced it to me when she layered and frosted the zucchini cake I made myself for my birthday this past September. Ever since then this has probably topped my charts as one of my favorite frostings! And it is the perfect frosting for zucchini bread - when you want an extra bit of sweet!

Ingredients:

Zucchini Banana Cacao Bread:
1 ½ Cups zucchini, washed and finely grated
1 ½ Cup Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten free baking flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ Cup mashed bananas, apple sauce, OR canola oil (I prefer them with bananas but they're a bit more moist with the oil - I did a combination of both)
½ Cup sugar
½ Cup light brown sugar, packed
½ of 1 banana, mashed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
⅓ Cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Cinnamon Coconut Frosting:

1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

1 Cup Coconut Oil (can use palm oil if allergic or don't have the extra $ for the coconut - but the coconut flavor definitely adds quite an amazing kick!)

4 tsp Cinnamon

*This recipe is practically allergen-free when walnuts and coconut oil are taken out of the equation (always check and double check if there are special cases though)!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and coat your bread pans with oil.

2. Grate zucchini into a large bowl.

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, raw cacao powder, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In a medium bowl, combine all other ingredients except the walnuts.
5. Combine both bowl's worth of ingredients and then add in the chocolate chips.
6. Fill the bread pans almost full with batter - leave about 1/2" of space from the top.

7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Note: if you use apple sauce instead of oil or bananas, your baking time will be much shorter, be sure to keep an eye on the breads.
8. While bread is baking, whip frosting ingredients together in a small or medium bowl.

9. Place bread on a cooling rack until cool.

10. Frost and enjoy!