In the spirit of saving time and cash while maximizing taste, I challenged myself to whittle my usual 10+ ingredient morning smoothie recipes down to five ingredients. A wise friend pointed out that by doing this, I’ve also created recipes that are great for people who are new to the world of smoothie-ing (yes, I just made that word up).

Believe it or not, I wasn’t always an experienced smoothie-ist (while we’re making up new words). I made the mistake of trying to blend too many different ingredients together from too many different food groups (ginger-kale-papaya-carrot-bark-goji-cinnamon-berry-chicken-chocolate-protein-chia-hempseed anyone?) and making way too much at once.

Here’s what I learned from my mistakes (so you don’t have to make them):

• Just because your fancy blender was super expensive doesn’t mean you should put one of everything from your kitchen in it. Resist the urge to blend it all in one go; it’s just not going to taste good.
• Smoothies can take on unintentionally earthy flavors. Unlike a fine wine-tasting note, this flavor will stop you in your tracks, take you to your knees and cause you to immediately compost the entire thing in the nearest garden.
• Don’t forget to pit your dates. Three words: Shards. Of. Glass.
• When you add too many ingredients, your well-intentioned breakfast can quickly transform into something that looks like the bottom of your shoe after a long hike through a muddy German meadow.
• Smoothies don’t keep well in the fridge or freezer, no matter which container you choose. Try it if you want to amplify that stellar consistency I mentioned in point 4.

And now without further ado:

Oli’s Smoothie Recipes

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Pro tip: Add your favorite protein powder or soaked seeds (chia, flax, hemp) for an extra boost.

Enjoy!