Pumpkin Spice Smoothies

I love breakfast food, but never ever have the time to make myself breakfast in the morning.  It has always been a challenge to get that first meal of the day in.  Lately I have been so much better because I have been combining my morning protein shakes with some yumminess in order to create what I like to call Super Protein Shakes!  I have always loved drinking smoothies for breakfast, but it can be hard to make a combination that tastes good while keeping the calories in check.

I always use my protein shakes as my base.  The ones I have been using have been from Costco and have 30 grams of protein and 160 calories per serving.  The brand is Premier Nutrition High Protein, in Vanilla.  When I use powder protein, I usually mix with unsweetened almond milk due to the low calorie content.  Then to add some thickness, I have been using cottage cheese (thanks to the idea I saw in a Cake Batter Shake on Dashing Dish) which is about 70 calories and another 12 grams of protein. I realize this sounds disgusting interesting, but when it is well mixed you cannot tell AT ALL that there is cottage cheese in there.  At times I also use Greek yogurt depending on the type of smoothie I am making.  This makes up my base to which I add ingredients for the smoothie I am craving.


My recent favorite:
Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
Protein Shake (or 1 scoop powdered protein with 1/2 cup** of almond milk)
1/2 cup cottage cheese*
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (no sugar added)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
12 ice cubes (use less for a thinner smoothie)


Cals: 270* Fat: 3.5g Carbs: 18 Fiber: 7 Protein: 43
*depends on protein brand


*I tried making this with 1/2 cup Greek yogurt. Yuck! It added a sourness that I did not enjoy!  I find that Greek yogurt tastes best in fruit based smoothies
** I adjust this from 1/4-1 cup of almond milk depending on how much liquid I need to add in order to get to my desired thickness