Classic Vanilla Smoothie Recipe + A Challenge With Almond Breeze #CoolerwithAlmondBreeze

The other day my daughter brought home an assignment she completed with her class. It was a brainstorm chart of the ‘needs’ they need to live. She read through them all to me and I was quick to notice, although they wrote under the ‘needs’ section heart they never once talked about health. This alerted me because throughout 2014 I have put my families health front and center. I was disappointed she didn’t notice the missing link to our human needs, either did her teacher.

Why do us Canadians avoid putting health front and center? 

Of course I share a long lecture of the importance of our health and she agreed right away that yes that word should be top and center. I never want to be the mother who voiced my judgement on her school work, nor am I. However the subject of health has become a passion of mine that I feel we all need to learn more about.

30 Day Almond Breeze Challenge

This month I have been challenged to integrate Almond Breeze into my recipes for 30 days putting our health front and center. I will be honest the only source of calcium you will find in my fridge is Almond Breeze. Although we don’t have a lactose allergies we do prefer to keep our recipes gluten-free and with minimal dairy. Plus we stock up on the cases of Almond Breeze shelf stable product which tie us over for our monthly trip to Costco.

Since we are talking about the a shelf stable product that can replace milk I thought it would be interesting to share a tidbit of information I have learnt about the main difference between Almond Breezes shelf stable product vs. refrigerated product.

• The shelf stable remains at a high temperature for longer than the refrigerated product during production, and is packaged in a tetra-pak designed for shelf stability prior to opening.
• The refrigerated product’s packaging is not constructed for shelf stability and must be refrigerated at all times.

There you have it, besides the packaging and the process the recipe is the same and that is why there is no taste difference between the two.

Smoothies with Almond Breeze

I have been enjoying smoothies for my breakfast for about three years now. When I first started to make them it was simple, yogurt, milk and frozen fruit. However over time I have learnt a few things along the way and you would never find dairy in my smoothies any more. Twice a day when I make my smoothies I topped them up with Almond Breeze and filled with goodness. There is something about the addition of almond goodness in each smoothie that makes it my perfect breakfast and lunch.

Classic Vanilla Smoothie

Makes 1 serving – double if you’re sharing.

Add the following ingredients to your blender. 1 cup of Almond Breeze Vanilla/ 1 frozen banana/ 1 prune (remove seed)/ 1 tsp of vanilla/ small grab of walnuts/ vanilla protein powder of your choice (use amount according to your package.) Blend and enjoy your classic Vanilla Smoothie!

Almond Breeze can be used for more than smoothies or the classic vanilla smoothie recipe I shared. This month I will tweet with #CoolerwithAlmondBreeze the ways our family of six has integrated Almond Breeze into our everyday. The end of February I will share another fab recipe with you plus a recap of our month with Almond Breeze. Maybe by then my goal of exercise will be underway too?

I dare you…

…to join me for the month of February and integrate Almond Breeze into your everyday. Share your experience using hashtag  #CoolerwithAlmondBreeze on your social media channel of choice. 

Thank you for reading In R Dream!