This morning I woke up and started moving through my routines. Lately, I have begun noticing that I don’t feel very hungry on mornings when I have a lot going on. I didn’t want to make a standard coffee after my morning gratitude the way I have been, so I got to thinking about what could be nice to fill the gap since both eating and hot coffee felt off the table.
Suddenly, an espresso smoothie I’d recently tried from a local shop called Makama came to mind. I wasn’t sure exactly what ingredient ratios they used, but I decided to pull up their menu to get a description of the one I’d ordered. As it turned out, I had everything I needed to give it a shot.
The smoothie the shop serves is great, but I wanted to adjust it into something more satiating and higher in nutritional value, especially since it was becoming my entire morning meal.
A quick shuffle through my kitchen and a short blend later, and I can confidently say…
I have unlocked the morning hack to hack all mornings!
I have not leaned into smoothies in the past because I find them difficult to enjoy all the way through. They are fine for a few sips and then I am completely over it. It never really occurred to me to make a coffee smoothie until I tried Makama’s.
I’m sharing the final recipe I landed on because it came out wonderfully. Not once did I get tired of drinking it. In fact, I’m genuinely excited to tie this into many mornings to come!
Welcome to my new hyper-fixation:
COFFEE MOCHA BANANA PROTEIN SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
1 cup milk of choice
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4 cup strong coffee, cooled
2 scoops of protein powder (I used Earth Chimp, vanilla)
1/2 cup frozen bananas (I happened to have chocolate-dipped bananas in the freezer and I highly recommend using them here!)
2 tbsp of hemp hearts
2 or 3 dates
1/2 cup of ice
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients and blend for 60 seconds.
This recipe yielded a 22-ounce smoothie.
I would have included a photo of mine, but it is gone already. (YES. It was that good.)
You can expect it to look something like this:
Photo credit: sweetpotatosoul.com (this is not my photo).
A Couple of Notes
Milk: I used whole milk with a teaspoon of coconut oil. You could absolutely swap this for coconut milk if you want something extra thick and creamy with a coconut flavor. I didn’t have any on hand, so this was a great workaround.
Dates: Omit them if you want it less sweet or if you don’t enjoy the texture. Personally, I love the added body they bring. This smoothie would still be very good without them, I promise!
Protein Powder: Use any brand or flavor you’d like. Chocolate works well with coffee and bananas, but you should feel free (and are encouraged!) to experiment. I decided to use vanilla this time since I already had chocolate on the frozen bananas.
I personally love the Earth Chimp brand of protein powder because it’s organic, vegan, nutrient-dense, contains 1 billion CFU probiotics per serving, and is a great source of fiber.
Beyond the nutrition, the company itself really stands out:
They donate 10% of packaging costs to remove discarded plastics from the oceans… AND…
They partner with Eden Reforestation Projects to plant a tree for every bag purchased.
To claim your tree, send an email to the address on the bag. The owner responds personally. I now have trees planted in Madagascar (where their vanilla comes from) and Mozambique! How cool is that?!
Earth Chimp is a smaller company based out of Dublin, Ireland, founded by Dave McGeady in 2019. Since then, they’ve grown exponentially, and I truly believe that speaks to both the quality of their product and the integrity behind the brand.
If you’d like to read more about them, you can find their official site here:
https://earthchimp.com/pages/about-us
And just to be clear, this is not paid or sponsored in any way. I simply love this company. That said, because I admire what they’re building, I’d absolutely be open to working with them in the future!
I’ve included a photo of the nutrition label below in case you’re curious:
If you are someone like me who struggles to eat in the mornings sometimes and still wants to feel satiated throughout the day, give this recipe a go and let me know what you think!
Don’t forget to share your favorite recipes in the comments. I love to see what other people are trying — especially in other countries.
Thank you so much for reading. I’ve been enjoying sharing things here and I look forward to next time.
Take care until then!
A Girl Trying Things
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