I originally shared this recipe for what I cheesily dubbed a “power smoothie” back in 2012 when I was pregnant with my youngest (who turns 8 and the end of June, and I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m FINE, thanks for asking.) I still love it, but the pictures needed a makeover and the recipe needed some slight tweaking (I cut down on the sugar and upped the fat a little to balance out the macros). If it’s too tart for you, feel free to add a little drizzle of honey or agave! Read more after the recipe!
Kate's Power Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup orange juice preferably the good stuff, like the not-from-concentrate orange juice
- 2 tablespoons steel cut oats or oatmeal
- 3/4 cup 2% or full-fat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
- 3 cups baby spinach leaves
- 1 1/2 cups crushed ice
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in the jar of your blender and blend. You will probably need to run it through twice. Serve immediately.
- Makes 1 giant smoothie, 2 smaller smoothies, or 3 snack-sized smoothies.
Notes
nutrition information (for 2 servings using 2% greek yogurt):
Calories: 211Fat: 3
Carbs: 36
Sugar: 22
Fiber: 7
Protein: 12 This also has 211% of your Vitamin A, 116% of your Vitamin C, 37% Calcium, and 19% of your iron--not too bad for a snack! Tip: To help your blender out, you can soak the oak groats in the orange juice overnight (either in the jar of your blender or in in a glass). This will make it easier to blend and will also eliminate a lot of the grittiness from the oats.
step in the way-back machine to 2012
Yeah, I know, that’s probably the cheesiest recipe title ever written. I’m sorry. I generally have a zero-tolerance policy for cheesiness. And yet…here we are. This smoothie and I have a special relationship and like all special relationships, there’s room for a little PDA, right, schnookie wookums?
I’m also trying really, really hard not to make every single one of my posts about being pregnant because I realize that the world is not pregnant with me and I also realize the world does not revolve around my pregnancy and me (unlike my first pregnancy when it did–just ask my sister Annie.)
That said, food and pregnancy are inextricably related, at first for the aversions and then for the cravings. Throw in the fact that, at least for me, a little too much salt, sugar, or fat can send a perfectly good day to a very bad place and I spend a lot of time thinking about food (and, let’s face it, I think about food a lot to begin with).
When I’m growing babies (let’s see how many euphemisms for “pregnancy” I can come up with in a single blog post), breakfast is a tricky meal for me. I need a lot of calories, I need them fast, I need complex carbs and protein, and I hate eggs. Also, I’m dead tired and trying to get two kids up, dressed, fed, not looking like orphans, and sent to school with a decent lunch as well as trying to get a dog to do her business rather than be distracted by the mean neighborhood cats that like to taunt her.
breakfast while gestating a human
I’ve dabbled in different breakfast options here and there, but most things either leave me feeling weighed down, starving, crashing, or filled with inexplicable road rage an hour later when I’m on my way home after taking my kids to school. (Sidenote: my husband just loves gestating Kate. I do believe I’m painting a lovely picture of myself right now).
So anyway, I started making this power smoothie a few weeks ago and it has changed my life. Totally not being overly dramatic here. I’ve tinkered with proportions and I still do from time to time, depending on how I’m feeling and what I’m in the mood for. No, it’s not super low in calories or sugar (although it’s not an over-the-top dessert smoothie made with ice cream or sherbet or frozen yogurt). Yes, it has a juice base, which I realize is not super cool or hip in the smoothie-making universe, and yet…I don’t really care. It does, however, keep me satisfied, energized, and feeling really great for a good three hours (at least). Like…it makes me feel like my batteries have been charged. (Yes, I know, we’re moving back into cheesy territory).
If I make and drink a full-sized smoothie (I usually cut it down by at least 1/3), it has 6 grams of fat, 14 grams of fiber, 24 grams of protein, and is loaded with potassium, Vitamin C, folate, calcium, and iron. It has a serving of dairy, 3 vegetable servings, and 4 servings of fruit (plus some change). Not too shabby, plus it’s freaking delicious. (On the downside, a whole smoothie has quite a bit of sugar…this smoothie is designed to serve 2).
how to make it
So what’s in this magical concoction of a power smoothie? Orange juice (try and get the good stuff, like the not-from-concentrate good stuff, not necessarily the fresh-squeezed good stuff, which you are often required to pay for with your firstborn child), 2% or whole plain Greek yogurt (I love Fage; make sure it’s actual Greek yogurt with twice the protein, not Greek-style yogurt that uses thickening agents), frozen blueberries, baby spinach, crushed ice, and steel cut oats.
Steel cut oats are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and help stabilize your blood sugar. They help keep you feeling full and satisfied. Plus, you don’t have to cook them, which is always a bonus in the morning. You don’t have to use them, and they will add a grainy texture to your smoothie, but I don’t mind it–the oats are sweet and they make me feel like I’m tangibly doing something good for myself, like running on the treadmill or giving up Teen Mom (neither one of which I’ve done lately).
In the jar of your blender, add your juice, 
oats (you can actually do this the night before; soaking them will make them less grainy).
yogurt, blueberries,
spinach (you can’t even taste it, I promise), and ice.
Should we talk about this ice for a second? I hated our freezer ice machine (Louisiana water is terrible, but my freezer icemaker is unfiltered. Throw in the fact that my ice always tasted like freezer because it was exposed in the freezer and I never used my ice because it was gross). I finally got this Igloo countertop ice machine from Sam’s Club. I still have to transfer the ice to the freezer, but I can store it in a freezer bag and only make it when I need it, so old ice doesn’t sit in my freezer for weeks. I thought it was silly at the time, but it’s seriously probably my favorite kitchen appliance right now!
Anyway. Blend thoroughly–my Blendtec handles it well on the smoothie setting, but you may have to run it through twice.
This is a serious smoothie. Take it with you when you drive your kids to school. Road rage crises will be averted.
(These bamboo straws come from Grove, which is hands-down my favorite place to get natural cleaning, home, and beauty products!
Kate's Power Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup orange juice preferably the good stuff, like the not-from-concentrate orange juice
- 2 tablespoons steel cut oats or oatmeal
- 3/4 cup 2% or full-fat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
- 3 cups baby spinach leaves
- 1 1/2 cups crushed ice
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in the jar of your blender and blend. You will probably need to run it through twice. Serve immediately.
- Makes 1 giant smoothie, 2 smaller smoothies, or 3 snack-sized smoothies.
Notes
nutrition information (for 2 servings using 2% greek yogurt):
Calories: 211Fat: 3
Carbs: 36
Sugar: 22
Fiber: 7
Protein: 12 This also has 211% of your Vitamin A, 116% of your Vitamin C, 37% Calcium, and 19% of your iron--not too bad for a snack! Tip: To help your blender out, you can soak the oak groats in the orange juice overnight (either in the jar of your blender or in in a glass). This will make it easier to blend and will also eliminate a lot of the grittiness from the oats.
Questions & Reviews
If using steal cut oats in place of oat groats, is the nutritional comparison of the two the same? Meaning an equal exchange?
Going to make one for my teenage son who works out everyday, plays basketball everyday, is so trim abd thin (not fair!) and is ALWAYS starving and looking for high protein foods.
Thanks!
Some people will tell you that it’s not–they say that because steel cut oats are chopped up groats, they lose some of their nutrition when they were cut (after being exposed to oxygen, not because you’re, like, chopping up vitamins and minerals, haha!). This may be true to a certain extent, but I think for all intents and purposes, steel cut oats are probably just as good as groats. 🙂
Delicious recipes aside, I love your little anecdotes as well. Your description of not sending your kids to school looking like orphans made me laugh out loud because I often think the same thing when I’m trying to get my three wee ones up and out in the mornings, looking and feeling groomed and fed. No easy task!! Keep up the great work and the wonderful sense of humor, you’ve got a great thing going!!
Thanks Kate!!! I am so glad you posted this, because guess what! You’re NOT the only one pregnant in the world! So am I! I’m still early in my first trimester, but this is EXACTLY what I need. This is my fourth child and I know what busy mornings feel like with kids and school schedules. Thanks!
Can you use a regular blender or do you have to have a juicer?
Yep, you can use a regular blender! I just added a tip to the printable recipe to make things easier on your blender with the groats…
I’m prego too and need a quick breakfast this smoothie would be great if I didn’t get horrible heartburn. Any suggestions on a different juice rather then OJ? Thanks
You can play around with the juices that work for you; apple is much more mild in flavor, but it’s also great at taking on the flavors around it, so that might be a good option. Juice in general can be pretty acidic (and I completely relate–I get really bad heartburn, too).
I can’t have orange juice because of the acidity, I made mine with apple and it was great 🙂
Thanks for sharing this one Kate! I’ve been doing pumpkin protein shakes based on the OBB pumpkin milkshake recipe since Thanksgiving and adding oatmeal to the top, so I’m excited to try this new version! Went right out today and found oat groats as well as steal cut oats in those big bins at Winco. This is going to be a great summer version 🙂 All your January posts have been FABULOUS … I’m making pretty much every-single-one of them, you girls are the best!!
I wonder if you’ve read up at all on what happens to these “fresh, nonconcentrated” orange juices? They’re stored for months on end, then rejuvenated with some mysterious “flavor packs,” in order to get the flavor they want. It sounded almost worse than buying frozen concentrates. At least those are processed and frozen at the peak of the season.
I have…and I worry about it to a certain extent. But as far as I can tell, the only major company that doesn’t do it is Whole Foods and we don’t have one nearby. Concentrated orange juice does something similar. I love OJ and fresh-squeezed isn’t realistic for me. I don’t know exactly what’s in the flavor packs, but some “insiders” have said it’s the pulp, oils, rinds, etc. from oranges that have been juiced more recently and if that’s the case, while it’s not ideal, I personally don’t find it the WORST thing in the world. A lot of materials I’ve read on it have had a very fear-mongering, one-sided tone to them, so until I see a little more balanced literature on it, I’m not going to freak myself out about it (but I’m also not going to drink excessive OJ. 🙂 )
Since I’m already 33 weeks pregnant, I wish you could have found and posted this recipe sooner! 🙂 Can’t wait to try it.
Kate–You got a Blendtec! Congratulations. When did this happy day occur? I’m jealous of course. (Yeah, you don’t know me. I’m Sara’s friend from the PacU days 🙂
It was a magical day in July and my life has been better since then, hahaha!
This looks so good! I really enjoy smoothies, but so many recipes contain banana, and I can’t stand bananas. Even the smell turns my stomach, and no, I’m not pregnant. Great idea to “sneak” in some greens, too.
I’m so glad I’m not alone! The only time I like banana in smoothies is with chocolate, and that hardly counts as a smoothie, haha! 🙂