Green Matcha Mango Ginger Smoothie

Yum!! I'm back on a smoothie kick, but instead of just randomly throwing a bunch of stuff into a blender like we used to, my husband and I are actually following recipes for delicious smoothies and it's been amazing! Instead of tasting like a fruity mix of everything with a resulting puke hue and consistency, we actually have been making some crunchy smoothie bar style smoothies that I would actually pay money to have someone make for me! But better yet-- we can make them ourselves! This recipe is from Angela Liddon's book: Oh She Glows Everyday (have I said how obsessed I am with this book yet?!)

This green matcha mango ginger smoothie has a bit of natural caffeine to help you kick-start your day and also contains ginger which does about a ZILLION amazing things for your body including aiding with digestion, being anti-bacterial/anti-fungal, blood thinning/aiding in circulation, acting as an expectorant (cough medicine/mucus thinner), being a natural anti-inflammatory, relieving menstrual cramps, reducing fevers, anti-oxidizing, and increasing the bio-availability of other herbal medicines and nutrients in your bloodstream. If all that doesn't convince you that you need more ginger in your diet than I don't know what will! Smoothies like this are a delicious way to enjoy ginger.


Ingredients
(makes 3 cups/2 small smoothies or one large):

1 cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk
2 ripe mangoes pitted and flesh scooped out, or equivalent in frozen mango chunks (~2 cups)
1 frozen banana
3/4 teaspoons of matcha powder or to taste
1 teaspoon grated ginger or ginger powder
1/2 teaspoons lime juice
2-3 ice cubes
optional- kale, baby spinach, or spirulina powder to make this a mean green smoothie

Directions:

Blend everything together in a blender until smooth. Enjoy!