Key Lime Pie Smoothie

A creamy, healthy and delicious Key Lime Pie Smoothie recipe made with spinach, avocado, almond milk, lime juice, honey and Carnation Breakfast Essentials Classic French Vanilla Powder.

There’s something very special to me about the first few weeks of Spring.  The birds chirp louder, the colors of the flowers are more vibrant and the sun seems to shine brighter.   It’s been a long winter, that’s for sure and I’m welcoming the upcoming warm weather months with open arms.

There probably isn’t a food in the world that reminds me of warm-weather days like a Key Lime Pie does.  The sweet, tart flavor always transports me to the warm, breezy beaches I’ve tucked away in my memories.  I’ve been on quite a Key Lime Pie baking spree lately.  Truth be told, I’ve baked at least six Key Lime Pies in the last three weeks. Some might say I’m a little obsessed, but I like to think of myself as simply key lime preoccupied.   A good KeyLime Pie is heavenly and if it’s got the perfect balance of tartness and sweetness, it’s simply divine.

They other morning, when my Key Lime craving came calling for breakfast, I decided to incorporate my love for Key Limes into a luscious (and healthy) Key Lime Pie Smoothie.  

Smoothies can be made quickly in the morning for breakfast and they make healthy and delicious after-school snacks.  By adding in lots of fruits and vegetables to your smoothies, they become a wonderful source of vitamins and minerals.

For this creamy Key Lime Pie Smoothie, I use spinach, a half of an avocado, almond milk, lime juice, honey, a few cubes of ice and my secret ingredient, a packet of  Carnation Breakfast Essentials Classic French Vanilla Powder.  Carnation Breakfast Essentials Drink Powders provide the perfect base for many of my smoothies.  They help to thicken the smoothie while giving it more of a nutritional boost.

The fresh spinach I use in my Key Lime Pie Smoothie is an excellent source of Vitamins A, C and B and is high in Folate, Calcium and Iron.  The avocado is also high in nutrients and low in calories and helps make the smoothie extra creamy.  The spinach and avocado together blend to give the Key Lime Pie Smoothie a naturally beautiful green color.

I often use the juice squeezed from key limes for my Key Lime Pies and Smoothies, but since I can’t always find them, regular limes will do just fine.  I’ve even purchased small bottles of key lime juice, but unless you’re planning on making a bunch of Key Lime Pie Smoothies or Pies, stick to the regular limes.

Because no Key Lime Pie or Smoothie would be complete without a graham cracker crust, covering the rim of the glass with crushed graham crackers (similar to salt on a Margarita glass) does the trick.  To do this, you can crush graham crackers in a food processor or put a few graham crackers in a ziplock bag and crush them with the back of a spoon.

The trick to coating the rim of the glass with crushed graham crackers is to first add a couple of teaspoons of honey to a small plate and then dip the top of the glass into the honey, making sure the rim is well coated with honey.

Next, on a separate plate, scatter the crushed graham crakers and dip the rim of the glass into graham cracker crumbs.

Simple and pretty.

Now pour the smoothie into the glass and add a topping if you’d like.  I added whipped cream and sprinkled crushed graham crackers just to add a little flair.

Key Lime Pie Smoothies also make deliciously healthy popsicles too.

Just pour some of the smoothie into your popsicle molds and freeze.  One nice touch is to add a little of the crushed graham cracker crumbs to the smoothie mix before you pour it into your popsicle molds.  The graham crackers taste great in the Key Lime Pie Popsicles.

On busy mornings, it’s so convenient to just add a packet of the Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder to milk and your choice of fruits, blend and create a nutritious and delicious smoothie.  The Breakfast Essentials Powders are tasty in milk alone too!

These great tasting powders come in many flavors, such as Rich Milk Chocolate, Classic French Vanilla, Classic Chocolate Malt, Dark Chocolate, Strawberry Sensation and my favorite, the Variety Pack which has an assortment of flavors.

In addition to the regular and sugar free drink powders, Carnation Breakfast Essentials are available in a variety of Ready to Drink Shakes and Bars too.  The powders contain 21 Vitamins and Minerals, 13 grams of Protein and as much Calcium as a 6-ounce cup of yogurt.

For this recipe, I shopped and purchased Carnation Breakfest Essentials Powder at our local Randalls store which is part of the Safeway family.   Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder tastes great and you can use them in all your smoothie recipes.

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe?  I’d love to know about it!

Key Lime Pie Smoothie

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Total: 5 minutes mins

Servings: 2 smoothies

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A creamy, healthy and delicious Key Lime Pie Smoothie recipe made with spinach, avocado, almond milk, lime juice, honey and Carnation Breakfast Essentials Classic French Vanilla Powder.

Ingredients 

• ▢ 1 packet Carnation Breakfast Essentials Classic French Vanilla Powder
• ▢ 1 cup fresh spinach
• ▢ 1/2 small avocado chopped
• ▢ 1 cup almond milk (you can also use regular milk soy milk or coconut milk)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons lime juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
• ▢ a few ice cubes

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Instructions 

• Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
• Top with whipped cream and crushed graham crackers, if desired.

Notes

This recipe can easily be adapted to suit your tastes. If you'd like your smoothie to be a little sweeter, add more honey to sweeten and feel free to use whatever type of milk you enjoy (skim or whole milk, almond, soy or coconut milk)

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