Green Monster Smoothie w/Chia Seeds is a healthy green smoothie to kickstart your year on the right foot. It’s loaded with healthy spinach, nutrient-packed chia seeds, creamy peanut butter, almond milk, nonfat yogurt, and a sweet banana. It’s perfect for breakfast or as a mid-afternoon snack!
Raise your hand if you overindulged over the holidays! Ok, so that’s pretty much all of us. Including me, I won’t lie. I’m pretty sure I’ve made more batches of cookies than I can count in the past three months. And while it’s perfectly fine to indulge during the holidays, it’s also important to get back on track once they’re over.
That’s why I’ve been enjoying this Green Monster Smoothie w/Chia Seeds. It’s packed full of healthy nutrients from wholesome ingredients like spinach, chia seeds, banana and yogurt. There’s also a kick of protein from peanut butter, which makes this smoothie taste more like a peanut butter banana smoothie than greens!
Speaking of holidays being over, I’m writing this post (while sipping this green monster smoothie) in front of my still-standing Christmas tree, with my cat Jupiter sleeping on top of his new toy. Here’s my favorite photo of him enjoying the catnip we sprinkled on it.
I thought this was too cute not to share. It’s become his favorite sleeping spot!
We still haven’t gotten around to taking down all of our decorations. This year just seemed like a whirlwind of things to do and places to be. That, and Andrew is insisting that the decorations don’t come down for at least 12 days after Christmas. Is that really a thing?
Yet somehow we’ve managed to get everything done, and life can calm down to normal once more. It’s the perfect time of year for a little bit of me time. Or, we time, since it’s both me and Andrew.
I started a new fitness routine in the end of November, and I’ve been very diligent about going to the gym several times a week. Andrew has even joined me, being supportive in my fitness goals. I’m doing Jamie Eason’s Livefit Trainer, and so far I love it! But now that I’m on month two, it is kicking my butt a little bit.
That’s why I really need to start focusing on wholesome, nutritious foods. Without them, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get through my workouts!
And I’m 100% focused on achieving my goals. This is not just a New Year’s resolution for me, since it technically started a month beforehand, but it’s also about much more than that. My health, which I’ve promised myself will be prioritized this year.
And this Green Monster Smoothie is the perfect thing to do just that!
The best part about the green monster smoothie – and one of the reasons I love love love it – is that while it looks green, it doesn’t taste green. You’re going to get all of the benefits of a green smoothie, with the flavors of banana and peanut butter. Personally, I don’t like things too sweet, so I used plain yogurt here. But if you want to kick the flavor and sweetness up a bit, you can definitely add some vanilla flavored yogurt instead of plain.
2 More Smoothies for After Your Green Monster Smoothie
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake – Here’s one with a few more calories than the green monster smoothie. It’s perfect for when you’ve been doing an intense workout routine and you need something extra. Or for when you just feel like having some chocolate and peanut butter in your life!
- Breakfast Pumpkin Pie Smoothie – This one tastes just like pumpkin pie, but with way fewer calories! It’s pretty much the best way to have dessert for breakfast, while still keeping it nutritious.
I definitely plan on including more wholesome and nutritious recipes on my blog coming up in the future. Don’t worry, I still have a few indulgent things in mind (ahem, Nutella cookies). But I’ll be adding a more healthy things into the mix that I think you’re really going to enjoy. I know I will!
Happy New Year, I hope 2017 is the best one yet!
Green Monster Smoothie w/Chia Seeds is a healthy green smoothie to kickstart your year on the right foot. It's loaded with healthy spinach, nutrient-packed chia seeds, creamy peanut butter, almond milk, nonfat yogurt, and a sweet banana. It's perfect for breakfast or as a mid-afternoon snack!
- 2 cups spinach leaves fresh
- 1 medium banana
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup ice cubes
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt fat free
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
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Place all ingredients in blender and blend until thoroughly combined. Serve cold.
Use vanilla yogurt for a sweeter smoothie.
Bethany
January 30, 2017 at 11:15 pmHi Jacqui,
Found you via Pinterest, this recipe….mmmm.
I’m going to try this one.
Also, I just finished the Live Fit trainer with Jamie Eason. I highly suggest you try her recipes for the protein bars. She has several on there. Did you get her app for the trainer? It helps a lot!
I’m a personal trainer and so very impressed you are doing Jamie’s program! Six days a week and month two is brutal…2 hour workouts when I did it with a partner. Month 3 gets easier. Stick to it, keep making these healthy smoothies and you will see major changes!!
Going to keep my eye on your blog!
Jacqui
January 31, 2017 at 12:37 amHi Bethany, let me know what you think of the smoothie! I just finished day 58 and you’re right, it is brutal! I’m using the BodySpace app from Bodybuilding.com to track the workouts, myfitnesspal for food, and I’m re-watching the videos on her site to make sure I’m doing everything right. It’s great that you’re a personal trainer! I’m starting HIIT training today, wish me luck! lol I’ll definitely check out the protein bars recipe, thanks for the tip!
Cindy
January 31, 2017 at 2:59 pmOmg this was so good I doubled the recipe and used frozen bananas and frozen spinach cubes I substituted almond milk for oat milk. It was great my 4 year old approved of this one after many fails. Thanks for a great smoothie.
Jacqui
January 31, 2017 at 3:01 pmSo glad you liked it! Frozen banana sounds great, I’m going to try that! 🙂
Anna
May 10, 2017 at 5:49 pmLooks Great. Also found it on pinterest. I do a similar smoothie for breakfast with almond butter, flaxseed(rather than chia) and add a little vanilla.
Hester
May 25, 2017 at 5:14 pmThis sure sounds like a yummy smoothie. I definitely will give it a try!
Just wanted to make a comment about the “keeping decorations around for 12 days after Christmas”. It actually exists. I’m from The Netherlands, and we have something called Driekoningen, which is January 6th. I looked for a translation, it says “Epiphany”, “Twelfth Night”, “Three Kings Day”. I grew up with the Christmas tree going out (either on or the day after) the 6th.
I’m sure through the years this tradition has disappeared, and peeps toss out their trees when ever they feel like it.
But it is always good to know,when a time comes you still have your tree up on say, January 4, and people criticize you for it. Just look at them and say “Hello?? Three Kings Day!!?!” for the heathens they are 😉
Donna
January 14, 2018 at 4:17 amGreen Monster Smoothie, Sound interesting. I think the kids will love it. Honestly, I love green smoothies. I’ve seen you’ve put all the great smoothie ingredients together, like- Spinach, Banana, and chia seeds etc. Thanks for your great recipe.
Paula Richardson
August 29, 2018 at 2:07 amDelicious,!,! I didn’t have any yogurt so I added one more TB of peanut butter. I also used super greens as I didn’t have spinach. I like to use the super greens because they are less expensive and last longer. Great buy at Costco. This is going to be my go to green smoothie. It’s so easy and I love peanut butter. I also like that you can have “2” cups of greens and not! Taste them. Thank you for Sharing
Paula Richardson
August 29, 2018 at 2:17 amDelicious!,, I didn’t have yogurt so I added one more TB of peanut butter (even more delicious?). I loved that you can use 2 cups of greens (I also used Super Greens instead of spinach) and you can’t taste it.. So easy to make. Thanks for sharing Jacqui