Matcha Green Tea Smoothie

I love bananas. They're the perfect snack on the go because they come prepackaged (thanks, nature!). Bananas are loaded with sweet nutritious energy, so they are a perfect pre-workout snack to fuel your body (try eating one an hour before your workout). 

I just described bananas as perfect, twice. But I'm not gonna change it because they really are.

And although delicious alone in their natural form, bananas are food superstars because they can also be used as a binder in baking recipes, make a beautiful soft serve ice cream, and they are the perfect ingredient for smoothies. I don't typically use any milk in smoothies because as long as I have a banana, it is creamy enough with just some water. 


Unfortunately, there is one not-so-great thing about bananas. They are are not local. Never heard of a banana from New Hampshire. Or Colorado. They're so available and common and I forget they are a tropical fruit and that it probably took a whole lot of energy to get them to me. Here's why we should all try to eat locally.

With that said, I'm still not ready to eliminate bananas from my diet. They are just so... perfect. <3

The other star ingredient in this super smoothie is the matcha green tea powder! 

This is hands down one of my favorite ingredients, ever. I don't remember the first time I had matcha, but I know it was love at first sip. Matcha is the result of grinding green tea leaves into a fine powder. Green tea has a plethora of health benefits, most notably it's high antioxidant content. But matcha is even better for you than green tea steeped in water (bagged teas) because you are ingesting the leaves, as well as the dietary fiber and chlorophyll.

The antioxidant content found in one cup of matcha is equivalent to 10 cups of brewed green tea!

By the way - the green tea frapp I used to love getting from Starbuck's has nothin' on a home-blended matcha smoothie. Their matcha powder mix actually has more sugar in it than green tea (yuck). Then, they add even more sugar. Then, they charge you five bucks for it. Then, you end up with a stomach ache and/or an energy crash. Then, you say "I've had it with this crap, I'm making my own green tea smoothies from now on!"

And you will.

Matcha Green Tea Super Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1 scoop green superfood powder (this!)
1 scoop green tea powder (find on Amazon, at a health food store or Asian grocer)
Almond milk (or soy, coconut, hemp, oat, rice milk), amount desired
Ice
*Optional: Sprinkle with coconut shreds, hemp seed, or goji berries


Combine ingredients in a high-powered blender, and blend.
The banana and pineapple were sweet enough so there was no need for any extra sweetener. 
I kept adding almond milk a little bit at a time so I don't know how much I actually used in the end. It's always safer to start slow with the liquid, adding more as needed.
You can also use fresh spinach or other greens instead of the superfood powder. I like having the powder on hand, it's a great boost for any day.