Berry Green Smoothie: Post Partum, Breast feeding, Post Workout Friendly

After I gave birth to my third child, Noah, as with every pregnancy, my appetite came back with a vengeance and I wanted to eat everything at once. 

But with a newborn who wanted to drink all my milk at once, that left me short on time to fix meals for myself. The mister did stay home and help me of course, but with two other kids to tend to, I didn’t mind making myself or grabbing quick snacks to help me get by until I had a prepared meal. 

Now that I could get back to my beloved Vitamix and actually not be mentally tortured by mixing ingredients up, smoothies we’re reincorporated into my diet. 

Today I’m sharing the smoothie I made that was quick, filing and 

nutritional for breastfeeding, post partum, post workout and  even in between meals. 

Recipe:

1.5 cup almond (any dairy free) milk

1 handful of spinach 

1 cup of berries (frozen or a mix of fresh and frozen)

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup of oats 

1 scoop of protein powder  (I use this plant based brand) 

2 tbs of raw honey 

*ice is optional  

 

Benefits in smoothie:

Berries: 

antioxidants, boots immunity, tons of vitamins and minerals, and packed with dietary fiber which is great to help keep your digestion steady. CARBS! 

Protein powder: 

increase strength, regulates blood sugar (great for when you need a quick fix and don’t want to feel hungry and/or have low glucose levels), essential for milk supply, helps with postpartum recovery (cell regeneration.)

Oats:

Known galactagogue to help increase milk supply and after 3 babies, I believe oats personally helped me maintain my supply, but not necessarily increase it per say. I would notice a difference but nothing drastic. Try flax meal or seeds and brewers yeast for supply increase and additional nutritional benefits. 

Spinach: 

Iron (great to have after postpartum blood loss and breastfeeding), detoxing, copious amounts of vitamins and minerals and another source of protein. 

Honey:

Immunity boosting, packed with vitamins and minerals, immunity boosting (childbirth does a number on your immune system, so anti fungal and anti viral foods are key). 

Almond milk: (or whatever nut milk you have on hand)

Dairy free calcium and vitamin d substitute. 

Baby may not respond well to dairy through your milk, so dairy free options are a great alternatives. 

You can add ice to make the smoothie extra cold and not as thick. 

*this smoothie makes a lot, so it definitely can be sipped though a newborn feeding session, which always takes about 30 minutes plus sometimes for breastfeeding mamas. 

What are/were some of your favorite quick postpartum snacks? 

-xo Natasha