The Organic Climber – Vegetarian running, cycling, swimming, rock climbing and raw foods.

Before I get started with the recipe, I have a plea. Visit my Kickstarter page and make a $5 donation. As you probably know by now, I am starting up a raw food snack company – Adventure Naturals. But in order to make it happen we need startup capital to pay our first months rent and buy our first batch of product. A simple $5 donation gets you a tasty energy bar. Just think, that $5 earns you a bar that will retail for $3, AND it helps bring nutritious goodies to the weary traveler, backpacker, rock climber, runner, swimmer, and you!

Anyway, here we go. I thought it would be fitting with the Christmas season upon us to create a Christmas themed smoothie. When I think of Christmas, the flavor that instantly came to mind was peppermint. So, I made a trip to Whole Foods earlier last week and picked up some peppermint extract to create this delicious smoothie. I also had a sweet tooth earlier in the week and created a raw ice cream that I will likely post the recipe to later this week.

The Recipe

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1/2 teaspoons of peppermint extract or flavoring
• 1 giant hand full of spinach
• 8oz of almond milk
• 8oz of water
• 2 TBSP of cashew butter
• 1-2 TBSP of agave nectar (optional)

Directions: Throw all the ingredients into your Vitamix (or high-speed blender) and process until smooth. This should produce two servings. If you happen to be considering the purchase of a Vitamix for a Christmas present, you can order through the link on my Vitamix page (use coupon code: 06-004609) and receive free shipping. Sure, those coupon codes are ALL OVER the internet, but if you order it through me I get a nice commission!

Anyway, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. I hope you enjoy the smoothie. It is certainly one of my new favorites that I will likely make year round. How else am I going to use up a bottle of peppermint extract?

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
adventure naturals, christmas, kickstarter, mint, organic, peppermint, RAW, smoothie
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The other day I randomly got the idea of using finely ground mate in a smoothie to create an energy drink. I got the idea after discovering a green tea powder some friends of mine had. I inadvertently put a scoop of it into our smoothie, and it was wonderful! So upon arriving at home after that weekend I decided I would try a similar drink with peppermint yerba mate, thus creating a raw energy drink.

Although mate is caffeinated, it’s only about the equivalent of 1/4 cup of coffee and is naturally caffeinated. The mate I used for this smoothie was by Explorer’s Bounty. The mint flavor was just right, and became a bit stronger the longer the drink sat. Mate is a common ingredient in a lot of recipes by Brendan Brazier, as well as my own Shot Blok recipe. Mate is an excellent source of natural energy.

The Recipe

• 1 large hand full of spinach
• 1 large banana
• 1 packet of finely ground (using coffee grinder) Peppermint Mate*
• 1 cup of water
• 8 cubes of ice

* You can use your choice of mint flavored tea if you don’t have mate. Also, if you want to increase the amount of mint flavor, simply add another tea packet.

Place all the ingredients in a high speed blender, (preferably a VitaMix), yes I am partial, and blend.

I can’t attest to how effective the drink is in providing energy, but combined with healthy greens and the sugar from the banana, I’m pretty sure it will be quite effective.

Also, if you have been considering a Vita-Mix you can get free shipping through ordering from my affiliate links. I do get a small commission on the sell to, so I would greatly appreciate purchasing through my site.

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
drink, energy, mate, mint, peppermint, RAW, smoothie, yerba
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