Start Your New Year Off Right with this Energizing Dairy Free Wild Blueberry Creamsicle Smoothie

I’m a believer in New Year’s resolutions. Although most of us are unable to stick to them long term, they can help you kick-start better eating and other healthy habits. Over the years, like many of you, I’ve learned to keep my proclamations a little more realistic and specific. Rather than saying, “I’m going to eat healthier every day,” I’ve written down  “add 5 new healthy foods to my regular weekly diet” and “swap my daily afternoon treat for a smoothie.” These new dietary goals should help me with my late afternoon workouts and that lull in energy I often feel later in the day. So as you make your resolutions for the New Year try being more detailed. You’ll find them more doable and easier to track.

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In the spirit of meeting those goals, I’ve come up with an indulgent but energizing smoothie recipe that will help me stay the course. I recently tried a blend of Wild Blueberries with orange and the combination was magical. The zesty orange and deliciously sweet-tart Wild Blueberries made my beverage come alive without the need for a long list of ingredients. Because I like my smoothies a little rich and fulfilling, I went the creamsicle route with a touch of coconut cream and vanilla. Overall, it’s a nourishing and rewarding blend.

For the best-tasting and most nutritious results, be sure to use frozen Wild Blueberries and freshly squeezed (not from concentrate) orange juice. Frozen Wild Blueberries guarantee far more flavor than the blander conventional blueberries you find in the produce section and they have twice the antioxidants too! Wild Blueberries have so much going for them. They occur and spread naturally on a wild landscape called the Barrens; they are never planted and haven’t been modified by humans in any way. The Wild Blueberries we buy today are basically the same as the ones that existed 10,000 years ago! You can’t say that about many foods.

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Wild Blueberries are flash frozen at harvest to lock in all of their goodness and they are available year round. I usually buy them in the freezer section at Trader Joe’s or I pick up the Wyman’s brand at stores like Smart & Final or Whole Foods.

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Here’s my New Year’s dairy-free indulgent and energizing smoothie.

5 Top Wild Your Smoothie Recipes

As we say goodbye to summer, one of the big takeaways was that it was unusually hot and steamy. Much of the country experienced heat waves, and staying hydrated, nourished and energized was critically important. Smoothies are a great way to start your day by getting your nutrition in one easy grab-n-go package.

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Over nine weeks this summer, we shared more than 25 new Wild Blueberry smoothie recipes developed by some of our favorite nutrition and healthy lifestyle bloggers. We also selected a number of additional recipes to share from our existing 120 smoothie recipes – a rich resource for any smoothie lover. So, which were your favorites? Below are the top five most shared, liked, and talked about smoothie recipes from our Wild Your Smoothie Summer:

  1. Matcha Wild Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie

Created by Danielle Omar, a leading registered dietitian, clean-eating coach, teacher, cookbook author, and blogger behind Food Confidence, this breakfast smoothie combines Matcha green tea powder, a trending ingredient known for its antioxidant, detoxing and weight loss benefits, with frozen fresh Wild Blueberries also known for being an antioxidant-rich superfruit. Wild Blueberries get their powerful antioxidant protection from anthocyanins, the flavonoids found in their gorgeous blue pigment. These flavonoids have the ability to neutralize free radicals and help prevent cell damage. Antioxidants also protect against inflammation, thought to be a leading factor in brain aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and other degenerative diseases.

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  1. Wild Blueberry Banana Hemp Smoothie

This colorful, layered, allergy-friendly, kid-friendly smoothie was created by Kelly Roenicke, one of our “Wild Your Smoothie” Recipe contest winners and author of The Pretty Bee: Allergy Friendly Eats blog. Kelly calls it “a treat for the eyes and the taste buds.” This smoothie features a pink bottom layer using blended frozen bananas and raspberries. Next comes the antioxidant-and fiber-rich Wild Blueberry layer. She tops it all off with hemp hearts to add more healthy fats and proteins. Not only is this smoothie delicious and fun, but it’s also naturally free of the top 8 allergens because of the ingredients she selected – frozen fruit, coconut milk and hemp seeds.

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  1. Wild Blueberry Coconut Lavender Smoothie

When Gina Matsoukas of Running to the Kitchen proposed a Wild Blueberry smoothie that included lavender as an ingredient, we were intrigued. She told us that lavender, also rich in antioxidants, could help promote gut health and reduce bloating. Combined with the frozen Wild Blueberries, this smoothie is an antioxidant powerhouse and a great way to start your day.

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  1. Savory Wild Blueberry Green Smoothie

Another beautiful layered smoothie, this one is packed with both Wild Blueberries and green veggies (spinach). According to its creator, registered dietitian Kara Lydon and the voice behind The Foodie Dietitian, this savory Wild Blueberry Green Smoothie is good for you because there’s no sugar added and it’s a good source of fiber, protein and healthy fat – the ultimate nutrient trifecta for lasting energy and satiety. So if you have a fear of green smoothies because you think they’ll taste bad, this is a good one to try because using Wild Blueberries will mask the bitterness without having to add sweeteners.

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  1. Wild Blueberry & Beet Freeze Breakfast Smoothie

Beets were another “hot” ingredient this summer. We think it’s because – like Wild Blueberries — beets are a beautiful deep purple food with excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. To showcase this fun ingredient Danielle Omar of Food Confidence combined it with frozen Wild Blueberries to create a refreshing and stunning smoothie. Danielle says it’s perfect for breakfast because of the cleansing qualities of beetroot combined with the fiber-richness and sweet-and-tart taste of Wild Blueberries.

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So if you love healthy smoothies, keep a supply of frozen Wild Blueberries in your freezer all year long. And if you’re looking to change up your smoothie routine and “wild” your smoothie try to one of these amazing smoothie recipes. For more recipes visit our Wild Your Smoothie Recipes.

Nutrition for the Entire Family with Smoothies Gone WILD!

On August 3rd, an enthusiastic group of registered dietitians (RD), foodies and moms joined us (@WildBBerries) and the RDs over at NutriBullet Living (@NutriBulletUNI) for a LIVE Twitter chat about Smoothies Gone WILD with Nutrition. Using #WildYourSmoothie, we talked about everything from upping the nutrition in smoothies for back-to-school, to the versatility of NutriBullets, and of course, Wild Blueberries.

The number one goal of the chat was to make sure parents had some awesome nutrition information to make great smoothies to help fuel their kids as they headed back to school. . With busy mornings, smoothies are often the perfect nutrient rich grab-and-go breakfast solution even for the pickiest of eaters.  Smoothies loaded with important nutrients like Wild Blueberries can provide kids a great start to their day and get them through a long day of learning by helping them to improve their focus and concentration in the classroom.

We also learned about the NutriBullet University program taking place in schools across the country to help educate children about how to eat better and stay health. If you haven’t heard about this amazing program, you can read about it here!

During the #WildYourSmoothie chat, we discovered that our profound love of smoothies was shared throughout the Twitter-verse. The crazy busy on-the-go lifestyles that so many of us share make smoothies a fabulous option, especially when everyone is trying to get out of the house on time. NutriBullets are also a great tool for families on the go – they can blend 1 – 2 servings at a time, and are so easy to use and clean up.

We asked our Twitter Chat attendees how they made sure their smoothies were tasty AND healthy which lead to a debate over whether taste or nutrition should take top priority when making smoothies. The answer was surprising – neither!  Our attendees said it doesn’t matter how good a smoothie tastes, or how healthy it is – unless the color looks appealing. Interesting! If the color of the smoothie was yuck, kids said forget it!

Since several attendees admitted to hiding vegetables like spinach or kale in their children’s smoothies, we at Wild Blueberries had to let them know that adding just a half a cup of Wild Blueberries per serving is a nutritious way to camouflage those dark green colors (and flavors), allowing kids to drink up! Mixing the smoothies up in a NutriBullet also helped to create a smooth, consistent texture, perfect for palettes of all ages!

When smoothies become a part of your daily routine, people often stick to the same recipe and don’t play around with different ingredients as much. The RD team at NutriBullet Living had some great ideas for ingredients to have on hand to keep smoothies fresh and inspiring. Things like chia seeds, hemp seeds and spices like turmeric, cardamom and even fresh ginger were top of their list. #WildYourSmoothie attendees were also eager to share some of their favorite smoothie making trends – turns out spicy smoothies are totally in vogue! Jalapeños were a universal favorite.

Huge shout out to everyone who came and tweeted along during our #WildYourSmoothie Twitter chat – especially the team at NutriBullet Living (Gigi, Sarah, Krista & more!). If you have any questions about smoothies, frozen Wild Blueberries, back to school nutrition, or anything NutriBullet related, including their in-school NutriBullet University program, feel free to send us a tweet at @WildBBerries or the NutriBullet Living team at @NutriBulletUNI and include #WildYourSmoothie in your tweet!

Check out our original #WildYourSmoothie Twitter Chat blog post here, or catch the Storify archive here!