I’ve never been much of a breakfast person. Usually, for me, ‘breakfast’ means hastily shoving a bowl of children’s cereal down my neck (this month’s choice is Sugar Puffs, last month it was Weetos) whilst scrolling through Bloglovin’ in the spare 5 minutes I have at my desk before I start work. So when the lovely people at Indigo Herbs got in touch to ask if I would like to try some of their supplements, that’s when it hit me – I could do breakfast in LIQUID FORM.

I’ve been trying (and failing) recently to be more healthy. Healthy not as in I-want-to-lose-all-the-weight-for-no-apparent-reason, but as in making the right food choices (sweet potato chips instead of fries with my burger, for example :P) eating way more fruit and veg, and cutting down on kid’s food, which meant waving goodbye to my morning Weetos. I’m also not too great at eating anything solid first thing in the morning (my mouth only copes with coffee until about 9am), so my blogger’s daydream of cooking a beautiful Instagram-worthy breakfast as soon as I wake up are dashed by my odd eating habits. I’m also not a massive fan of fruit, and whenever I take it to work I always leave it rotting in my drawer in favour of something else.

I liked this smoothies for breakfast plan for two main reasons – 1. it forced me to eat fruit, and 2. I could chug it in the car on the way to work. WIN-WIN.

Indigo Herbs were incredibly generous with what they sent me. In my box of treats I got:

• Choco Spice Tea
• Wheatgrass Powder
• Banana Powder
• Spirulina Powder
• Raw Cacao Powder
• Bee Pollen Grains
• Acai Berry Powder
• Maca Powder

… plus a tote bag, a pad and a pen for my recipes, and a sippy cup/shaker to transport my smoothie creations in. Amazing!

Monday

I started off the week with a fairly simple recipe, which on closer inspection is clearly just a banana and strawberry milkshake (but filled with SUPERPOWERS!). Recipe as follows:

• handful of strawberries
• half a banana
• small pot of yoghurt (or roughly 2 tbsp)
• 1/2 pint skimmed milk
• 1/2 tsp bee pollen granules (*)
• 1/2 tsp acai powder (*)

I started off my ‘dosages’ pretty small; I’ve never added any supplements to my food, nor am I a regular taker of vitamins, and so I was a little concerned my junk-fuelled body might reject all this goodness being pumped into it. I started with these two as they intrigued me the most – the bee pollen is the very definition of superfood, not only does it have vitamins A, C, D, E, K and B complex, but it is rich in folic acid and has 10 essential enzymes. Phew! Acai is a known superfood, rich in antioxidants and a natural energy boost. Plus, it gave my smoothie the loveliest colour.

Tuesday

I was rather hoping that Monday’s smoothie might fill me up til lunch, but because of my greedy nature I was hungry by 10am. The week was off to a good start though, and I immediately felt quite a bit more nourished than I usually do. In order to combat my hunger pangs, I created this monster, which I like  to refer to as my ‘raspberry cookie’ smoothie:

• handful of rasperries
• 1tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 banana
• 300-400ml almond milk
• 1 tsp maca powder (*)
• 1 tsp raw cacao powder (*)

I was getting a bit bolder with my teaspoons. I’ve never heard of maca before, but it is apparently a root vegetable which has stress-busting properties, and promises to increase energy and stamina. The raw cacao is obviously chocolatey, but because it hasn’t been processed it’s nutrients remain intact, and it is high in magnesium and also an antioxidant. This thick bad boy definitely had me filled up til lunch, and it was a bit of a challenge to drink it all!

Wednesday

After my rich Tuesday breakfast, I was in the mood for something a bit lighter, and juicier. I opted for the following:

• handful spinach leaves
• 1 kiwi
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• 1/2 small melon
• 1 tsp wheatgrass powder (*)
• 1/2 tsp spirulina powder (*)
• apple juice (just enough to cover everything in the blender)

This, despite looking like pond water, was pretty good. I’ve had wheatgrass before, so was pretty bold with this one – it’s also got a list as long as your arm of all the goodness packed into it, including essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids and chlorophyll. The spirulina I wasn’t such pals with. On first sip this smoothie was delicious, I could taste the melon and the kiwi and knew that all the spinach was doing my tum good. As it began to warm up in my car though, the main taste was a little reminiscent of sushi, so I had trouble finishing it off. Turns out, on closer sniff and inspection, spirulina has quite a bitter seaweed-y taste to it, and on reading the packet it’s clear why – it’s an algae! Weird. I’m going to have to learn to like it though, because this is the best for you out of the lot – it’s got all the B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6 and B12) plus is a really good source of protein, which is guaranteed to keep hunger locked up ’til lunch.

Thursday

I was having a rummage around my cupboards for some smoothie-friendly ingredients, when I happened across this coconut milk powder. Suddenly, I had visions of a delicious pina-colada inspired recipe, but my hopes were dashed when I realised I had no pineapple. So I threw what I had in the fridge into the blender:

• handful of blueberries
• a banana
• 1 tsp bee pollen granules (*)
• 1 tsp acai powder (*)
• 1 tsp banana powder (*)
• 1 tsp coconut milk powder (available from most world food aisles)
• 400ml almond milk

… plus, I chucked about a tbsp of porridge oats in there, in order to fill me up. I kind of wish I hadn’t, as this smoothie was a bit of a disaster because of it. There was a strange rusk taste about it, which initially was quite nice but began to get a little too sweet after a while. This may well be because of the banana powder – it’s a natural sweetener, rich in potassium and also a good source of carbohydrates. Don’t let my smoothie disaster put you off though, it’s delicious – when I first opened the bag, it was the smell which got me first, it’s absolutely incredible; my kitchen was soon filled with the most amazing deep banana bread smell. I’ve got another recipe up my sleeve which I’m saving for a rainy autumn evening – hot milk with banana powder and cinnamon. Mmm.

Friday

Yay Friday! After the week’s experimentation and Thursday’s questionable recipe, I opted for a very simple recipe of my favourite things:

• handful of strawberries
• handful of blueberries
• 1 tsp wheatgrass powder (*)
• 1 tsp acai powder (*)
• fancy cloudy apple juice to cover

This was evidently delicious, and I had drank it all by the time I got to Brislington, which is pretty good going. The acai and the wheatgrass are my favourite two supplements from all of them in the box – they pack a serious nutrient punch, plus their tastes aren’t too offensive, so you’re bound not to notice if you slip them into your morning smoothie. As well as all of this, you’re safe in the knowledge that all of Indigo Herbs powders and supplements have been freeze dried to keep all of the natural nutrients in tact, and everything they sell is of the highest quality. This equals more tasty goodness for your belly.

So, what’s the verdict?

I’m most definitely a smoothie convert – now I finally have something which I can commit to every morning which is going to fill a small stomach gap whilst providing me with some much-needed grown up nutrition. Plus, I have my sweet-as sippy cup to transport them in, and if that’s not an incentive to drink more smoothies, then I don’t know what is.

I’d like to say a massive thank you to Indigo Herbs for being so generous, and helping me on my quest for a healthier lifestyle!