I am a huge believer in inner beauty—that happiness, love, and radiance starts on the inside and makes you glow on the outside. One of the ways I strive for inner beauty is through the food I put in my body. I find that breakfast is the key to starting my day off on the right track. I’ve come to really enjoy the ritual of making a smoothie in the morning. It gives me this amazing burst of energy that gets me ready for work and motivates me to stay healthy throughout the day.

My smoothie obsession started a few years ago. I received a Vitamix for Christmas that completely transformed my breakfast routine. Now it is one of the most exciting parts of my day. For the past few months, I’ve been sticking to the same simple recipes, usually using Clean Program’s Chocolate Essentials powder mix (or even Moon Juice Beauty Dust). It’s been a great routine, but it’s time to shake things up.

To be honest, what really pulls me out of bed in the morning is two-fold. It’s the quad almond latte from Stumptown that’s crazy addicting and my smoothie that follows shortly after. I am aware that four shots at 7:30 probably isn’t the best thing for me, but hey, everyone has their vices, right? In an effort to consistently improve the way I eat and drink, I have considered a new source of caffeine: Matcha.

Matcha is a special form of Green Tea that literally means “powdered tea.” One of the major health benefits is that it delivers a mega dose of antioxidants. It also boosts metabolism, burns calories, detoxifies, calms and relaxes the mind, enhances moods, and ever aids in concentration. The crazy part is that I don’t love the taste of normal green tea, I kind of love matcha. Dying to add this magic powder into my breakfast routine, I adapted this smoothie recipe from Love and Lemons, the Matcha Kale & Peach Smoothie. I like to use frozen fruit, because I don’t have to worry about it spoiling and it creates an icier texture. Also, it eliminates having to use ice, which I never really like to do. I also love to use mangos as a fruit base because they create a creamy texture similar to bananas.

Matcha Kale & Mango Smoothie (for glowing skin)

Serves: 1 smoothie 

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• ½ cup water (filtered if possible)
• 2 teaspoons (5 grams) Matcha Green Tea (I found this one at Lifethyme)
• 1 handful kale, steams removed (I buy fresh kale, remove the stems in advance and keep it frozen)
• 1 cup frozen mangos (or peaches)
• Optional 1 teaspoon of Moon Juice Beauty Dust
• Optional 1/2 banana for added creaminess

Instructions

• In a high-speed blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth.