Chai Spiced Smoothie

I love the flavor of Chai Spice, but caffeine not so much.  Actually, I haven't drank coffee or caffeinated tea in over 30 years.  Whenever I would consume caffeine, I felt like I wanted to jump out of my skin and no matter how early in the day I would drink it--I'd be up all night.  So this smoothie tastes like a Chai Latte, but without the caffeine kick.  If you want it caffeinated, then I would steep whole spices (cardamon pods, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and fresh ginger) with a good quality black tea, strain the tea and chill it in the fridge and then add a 1/4 cup of the flavored tea to the smoothie and blend. 

In a small bowl mix the following ingredients together:

• 1 tsp Cardamon
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ginger
• 1/2 tsp Allspice
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg

Start off by adding 1-2 teaspoons of spice mixture to the smoothie.  You can always add more if you want more spice.  Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 small seedless orange (optional, but I love the flavor combination of cardamon and orange)
• 1 medium banana
• 1/2 cup crushed ice

For protein add vanilla or plain brown rice protein powder, soaked white chia seeds or hemp seeds!