Smoothie Central

When I was contacted by the folks at Vega to see if I’d like to try their new line of smoothies, I jumped at the offer. I currently have a tub of their vanilla performance protein at home and enjoy that post-workout, so I was excited to see what their smoothie powders were like.

I love smoothies, but I never make them. It isn’t that I’m too lazy to make them, rather the majority of recipes I find online involve one fruit I just can’t stomach – banana. I realize banana can easily be omitted from most recipes, but most of the time they’re used for texture rather than taste, and I’m too much of a smoothie novice to know what would be a good replacement. I’ve tried packaged smoothie mixes before, and have always been left feeling like they were missing something, so I was looking forward to see what Vega had to offer.

So, when I learned about Vega’s pre-made smoothies, I couldn’t help but wonder if they would really have the same level of both nutrition and “yum” factor as a fruit-blended drink. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was skeptical. I mean, how could something with ingredients like pea protein powder be made to taste like vanilla and almonds? Or fruit? Well, I don’t know how they did it, but the smoothies are good enough just with water! Each serving contains two servings of veggies, 10 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of omega-3. I was impressed with those stats, considering it’s just a bunch of powder. The best part (in my opinion) is that it’s completely plant based – so when you look at the ingredient list, they’re all things that you can pronounce, and more importantly, you recognize.

While the directions say to just add water and shake, I wanted to do a little more than that. Instead of using water, I decided to give their Vanilla Almondilla a try with some Cheribundi tart cherry juice. Since I typically drink some type of protein mid-afternoon at work (you know, to help me reach my buff arms goal), I swapped this out on Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised. I loved that I could just bring the individual package to work with me and make it whenever I wanted. And, the cherry and vanilla almond combination was delicious; I gave myself a little pat on the back for coming up with that one. I had my husband try the Mango Tango, and he was equally impressed with the flavors, and he’s a tough critic!

I’m looking forward to sampling the last few flavors, and I’m trying to come up with something creative for the unflavored package I received. The bottom line is that I would absolutely recommend these to someone looking for a quick, easy, and tasty way to get in some extra nutrients throughout the day.

Would you try these quick & easy smoothies?
Do you have any non-banana smoothie recipes that you like and want to share? 

Disclaimer: Vega sent me these protein powders to try at no cost to me, and all opinions are my own.