You make a lot of smoothies. You find yourself loading them up with superfoods. Measure some chia seeds and hemp seeds. Oh, yeah, don't forget the gelatin and vitamin C and several other things!
Before you know it, you've dipped in and out of a half dozen containers, dirtied a few measuring spoons, and made a powdery mess on the counter. Not to mention that this process takes time.
This has been my experience, too. But then, I had a light bulb moment. Why not make a mix of all the dry superfoods I regularly add to our smoothies? Then I can dip into just one container when it's time to make smoothies!
And that's how our Superfood Smoothie Mix came to be. It's so handy and it makes loading up smoothies really easy! And cuts down on the mess. 🙂
Before I share my exact recipe, I want to tell you more about the thinking behind it. These points will help you adapt and create a smoothie mix that meets your own needs or preferences.
My superfood smoothie mix might be different than yours.
You'll see what I'm (currently) adding to our smoothies below. You might want to add different ingredients, working around your nutritional needs or allergies.
How much is a single serving of each ingredient?
Personally, I go by the suggested serving size from the superfood supplement packages. Or, I go with my intuition or outside knowledge on what amount I would like to add to each smoothie.
Serving size of mix depends on what's in the mix.
The first time I created a mix, I did a preliminary measurement step — I mixed together a single serving of all the superfood supplements and measured the total yield. (I got 1/2 cup.) That's how I figured out to add 1/2 cup of the mix to each smoothie.
(This should be determined for your mix if you're using different ingredients than I do — and re-determined each time you change up what's in your mix.)
At that point, I could then scale up the amounts of the individual ingredients to make a large batch of the mix. No matter how big a batch, I still know that 1/2 cup of the mix will put 1 serving of each superfood into a smoothie. Make sense?
What can go in the mix?
The mix will contain dry ingredients only, and organic wherever possible. The possibilities include, but are not limited to: whey protein powder, hemp seeds, chia seeds, whole food vitamin C, gelatin (here or here), green veggie powder, desiccated liver powder, mineral supplement, psyllium whole seed husks, bee pollen, maca powder, probiotic powder, or other superfood supplements you like. Plus, the mix can include dry sweeteners and cocoa powder, discussed below.
Some ingredients need a bit of explanation.
Regarding whey protein powder, this non-denatured one from Radiant Life is the only one we recommend due to its high quality and minimal processing. Hemp seeds provide excellent protein and can be ground into a powder for a protein powder substitute.
Psyllium whole seed husks should be used sparingly and only if additional fiber is needed. You would want to test small amounts to determine your body's ability to handle it without digestive discomfort before adding it to the mix. Also, each family member may be different. For this reason, I add separately to individual smoothies when it's needed.
Before adding a daily amount to your smoothie mix, family members should be acclimated to bee pollen through consuming a granule a day and working up to 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon per day — all slowly and over time. You might consider not putting this in a smoothie mix for general family consumption, given that people can tolerate different amounts.
I haven't added desiccated liver powder to my smoothie mix yet because I want to test the effect it has on taste. If anyone has tested this, please share your results in the comments!
It's important to take it slowly with probiotic capsules or powder, especially if your gut health is compromised. Here's more info.
What about sweetening?
Dry sweeteners such as coconut sugar can be added to the mix (and the serving amount adjusted accordingly), but I choose to add sweeteners separately and only if the smoothie needs it.
Think about your smoothie base. If using raw milk, you may not need to sweeten because raw milk is sweet. If using yogurt, you'll probably want to sweeten. If using sweet fruits in the smoothie, reduce or eliminate sweetener. And so on.
Lately, I add stevia to taste at the very end — not in the mix.
Additional Flavors
We like cocoa powder in smoothies, so you'll see my mix includes it. Then I don't have to measure it out. If you don't want that, omit it and adjust the serving amount accordingly.
What's the smoothie base?
Use 2 to 3 cups of raw milk, homemade nut or seed milk, yogurt, kefir, fermented coconut water, or any other liquid base you'd like. Add sweeteners, fruits (especially berries), coconut oil, egg yolks, avocado, and/or ice. Blend everything together in your VitaMix or BlendTec and serve!
Superfood Smoothie Mix
One day, when making my daily smoothie, I had a light bulb moment: Why not make a mix of all the dry superfoods I regularly add to our smoothies? Then I can dip into just one container when it’s time! That’s how our Superfood Smoothie Mix came to be. It’s so handy and it makes loading up smoothies really easy! And cuts down on the mess. Makes 12 servings.
Ingredients
- 12 scoops protein powder approximately 2-3/4 tablespoons per scoop
- 1-1/2 cups Capra mineral whey
- 3/4 cup sustainably-sourced gelatin
- 3/4 cup chia seeds
- the contents of 12 Bio-Kult probiotic capsules
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon whole food vitamin C
Instructions
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Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight jar in a cool, dark cupboard. Or the refrigerator if you’re using any ingredients that should be stored cold.
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To use, blend 1/2 cup of the mix with each 2 to 3 cups of liquid base such as raw milk, homemade nut or seed milk, yogurt, kefir, or fermented coconut water.
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Optionally, blend with fresh or frozen fruit, sweetener to taste, coconut oil, egg yolks, avocado and/or ice.
What ingredients would you add to a superfood smoothie mix? Would a mix like this be helpful to your kitchen routines?
This post was featured in 31 Healthy Smoothie Recipes {a whole month's worth!}.
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I’ve used desiccated liver in my smoothies before! There is a slight taste difference, but that kinda of depends on what else is in there (typically mine have yogurt/kefir, berries, egg yolk, greens, coconut oil and maple syrup if yogurt/kefir is plain) or how much liver you add (I added 1 1/2 tsp for a full 2 c mason jar’s worth of smoothie). If you’re working with stronger-tasting ingredients than mine you may be able to mask the taste entirely.
Thanks so much for sharing! I won’t be so scared now. 🙂
I’ve been thinking of doing something similar, only it isn’t to include superfoods. I’ve been thinking of dehydrating berries, other fruits, or vegetables and powdering them, so that we could just open up a bag and stir it into our kefir. I haven’t messed around with it yet to come up with a recipe. Maybe over summer vacation
Elisabeth — That’s a great idea!
I cut up our pastured beef liver into 1T pieces, flash freeze them and keep in a baggie in the freezer. I use it raw in smoothies, but I don’t add them to milk based ones. Calcium affects iron absorption, so I try to just use it in smoothies with berries, pomegranates, avocado, and honey, adding water or coconut water to thin. It saves me a ton of time not having to dehydrate and grind the liver. I love your idea here!
Hey Kirsten! I didn’t know that about calcium and iron! I’m always amazed at your knowledge! 😉
Meats = heme iron = easily absorbed and should watch how much you eat to avoid dietary iron toxicity.
Vegetables = non-heme = not so easily absorbed, but unlikely to get toxic levels of dietary iron.
Calcium can block absorption of iron.
Vitamin C promotes absorption of iron (combine vitamin C supplement, broccoli, fruit, or other foods high in Vitamin C with any iron rich food to maximize absorption).
I became severely anemic due to eating very little meat (for cholesterol reasons) and my anemia got worse in spite of taking an iron supplement. Now I am eating liver and meats and managing the timing of my calcium supplement and having something higher in vitamin C with my vegetables/grains. I am feeling so much better.
Thanks for the tip about calcium and iron — I knew that but had forgotten!
Also thanks for the great tip about freezing the liver in 1 T pieces. How easy! I’m going to try that.
So do you taste the liver in the smoothie? I know it has a particilar taste and shile I like it, I am trying to imagine tasting it with strawberries and such…
So is it really okay to consume it raw? I have a couple packages of grass fed liver in my deep freeze, although i dont know if it would be smart of me to thaw them, cut them up, and then refreeze them…
The gelatin added into smoothies is a great idea… I have the Great Lakes kind and have been wondering what other uses I could find besides homemade marshmallows!
Can you write this up in a receipe format. I’ve always wondered how to make a good smoothie.
Are you looking for a smoothie formula/recipe?
Mine are like this:
-add fruits, fresh or frozen, to blender container (about 1/3 to 1/2 way) — fruit is optional
-add liquids – milk yogurt, kefir, coconut water, etc. to about 2/3 to 3/4 full
-add-ins go next (like the smoothie mix above)
-ice cubes on top (a dozen or so for a full-size high powered blender) – not needed if using frozen fruit or if you just don’t want ice and the other ingredients are cold
Blend. Enjoy. 🙂
I do something a little different – more “whole foodie”. 🙂 I take a quart of raw milk kefir (plenty of natural protein and probiotics so don’t need to add any more) and place it in a blender with a banana (pre-biotic), cinnamon (healing), raw honey (pre-biotic and healing), and a drop of vanilla (tastes good). 😉 Then I add any other fruit that I have on hand. Don’t need to add any Vitamin C or whey or cocoa but I might consider some chi seeds. 🙂
Wardee! This is GENIUS! I can’t believe I’ve never thought of doing this before!
Just a quick question (and this may be dumb ;)) How do you add cocoa powder to fruit smoothies? I don’t like bananas, and chocolate smoothie recipes almost always call for bananas. So for non-banana smoothies, how does the cocoa affect flavor? Does it have to be strawberries for a chocolate-covered strawberry flavor? This is something I’ve never been able to figure out.
And I didn’t know Radiant Life made a whey protein powder! I can’t wait to try that!
Lindsey — I only add cocoa powder to certain fruit smoothies. Like banana or berries. The other fruits — no way.
We haven’t been having a lot of fruit smoothies lately because we’re cutting down the sugars of all kinds. So I haven’t used a mix for a fruit smoothie yet. If I was doing more fruits, I would make a mix without cocoa powder.
I think it would be cool to have a cocoa and a non-cocoa mix in the cupboard. 🙂
Ok, so basically you’re making a chocolate milkshake? 😉 My kids do fruit smoothies all the time, but I can’t have fruit at all. I can have raw milk and everything else you mentioned, and stevia is my only sweetener. So, I would use a base of raw or coconut milk, add the smoothie mix with cocoa powder, then eggs, coconut oil, avocado, etc., and sweeten to taste with stevia? Then it’s a chocolate milkshake, right? (Just want to be sure I’m understanding this before I try it and screw it up. Ha!
Lindsey,
Yes, I guess you could say that! It’s raw milk or yogurt, the smoothie mix, the other things like egg yolks or whatnot, and sweetener to taste (stevia for me, too). And ice if needed. (I usually don’t for me – the cold yogurt is enough.)
I doubt you could mess it up! 😉
I’ve been making superfood smoothies for my husband to freeze, then take to work (he’s currently working 3rd). He puts the frozen smoothie on his workbench and it thaws and by 2am, it’s ready to eat. He eats other veggies and snacks and the smoothie and he’s satisfied. I put in Maca powder, green powder, camu camu, sometimes matcha tea powder, flax/chia/oat bran mix (my own mix), alfalfa powder (to help his high blood pressure), grassfed gelatin. Then I use 1 C kombucha, fresh greens or frozen squares if fresh isn’t available, 2 eggs, fresh or frozen fruit, sometimes avocado, and mineral drops. I usually don’t have to add sweetener, but if I do, it’s stevia or raw honey. I’ve been thinking about mixing up all my powders like you are. I’ll have to figure out the amounts. Because of his high blood pressure, I also have him taking cayenne pepper capsules and raw fermented garlic also. It’s been helping! Love when the husbands are totally on board with the wives’ healthy habits.
Awesome Amy!!
You sound like a ‘Master’!!
Ha! Ha! Thanks. Just trying to get my family as healthy as possible. It’s hard these days!
I’ve been thinking of doing something similar – but with ALL the ingredients I tend to use as the “base” for a smoothie – and popping “smoothie kits” in the freezer.
This is an even better idea, though, because you don’t even have to worry about freezer space.
Question about the non-refrigerated probiotic:
How is it still alive if its not refrigerated?
I was always told not to buy it un refrigerated.
But, I’d love it if that was not the case and there was some good research to back it up! 🙂
While not as efficient, I have a different method. I use small mason jars so each jar gets the exact amount of ingredients. I make some with cacao and some without. I make a weeks worth at a time.
Sue, I also have been doing the same as you and agree it’s not as efficient. I think it’s more time consuming and takes up a lot more space. Need to simplify, so I think I’ll try this one mix method. Thanks, Wardee.
I love this idea, especially when traveling!
My dry mix would include Nutritional Yeast, Maca Powder, Turmeric powder, gelatin, cinnamon, dash of salt and 3 turns of black pepper.
Then I add almond milk, full fat coconut milk, banana, fruit in season, spinach or lamb’s quarters, crispy walnuts, and lately I’ve discovered that 1/4-1/3 cup well cooked sweet potato is amazing!
I’ll be making a mix for my Thanksgiving trip, thanks for the idea!
I have some turmeric left over from a detox experience and it is so “HOT”. I can not picture using it in a smoothie. How much do you use in a single serving and how spicy does it make the smoothie. I am very sensitive to the heat level of spicy hot foods and wouldn’t be able to deal with it–I can find other ingredients with health properties that aren’t spicy hot.
I do not know why I never thought to pre-mix for smoothies and I drink them all the time. Such a great idea. I do pre-mix my flour for baking muffins and other flour based things. I had to stop with the white flour and rice, etc when I was diagnosed with type II diabetes. I especially make a great muffin (that’s how I started this mix. You do need some white flour, but not as much. I measure out 1/4 cup A/P flour, 1/2 cup White whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup Oatmeal flour. I then add a pinch of salt, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda, vital wheat gluten. I make up 1 cup increments that I can use for anything. I also add chia seeds, ground flax and wheat germ to the mix after I take out my 1 cup. I keep them in the frig. It is so handy not having to pull out multi bags of flour.
Please update the part about the “un-denatured” whey power. ALL whey powder is denatured, it must be made from pasteurized milk. Why would I eat whey protein if I avoid pasteurized milk? All “un-denatured” means is that it hasn’t been pasteurized twice.
Hi, Amy. When I say non-denatured above, I am quoting the description of the particular protein powder I’m recommending:
They state the Vital Proteins whey is:
“Vital Whey is a proprietary, non-denatured, native whey protein produced to maintain the full range of all the fragile immune-modulating and regenerative components naturally present in fresh, raw milk! The milk for Vital Whey comes from cows that are grass-fed and graze year-round on natural pastures. Our whey does not contain genetically engineered materials. It is hormone-treatment-free, pesticide-free, chemical-free, and undergoes minimal processing. No wheat, gluten or preservatives.”
I totally get your point about pasteurizing, though! You’re right – that’s denatured. 🙂