Leap Smoothies & Smoothie Bowls!

As any regular Vegan Crunk reader knows, I drink A LOT of smoothies — mostly after my morning runs as a way to get in a large dose of protein for muscle recovery. Smoothies are also gentle on my tummy and don't leave me feeling super-stuffed in the morning.

I'm always trying out new smoothie powders, and I was excited to try Leap Smoothie powders when they reached out to me about doing a review. They shipped me three smoothie powders and three instant smoothie bowl packets. Both the smoothies and smoothie bowls came in the same three flavors — Green Revive, Blue Zeal, and Red Power.

Each packet contains at least four servings of fruit and veggies! These powders are made with organic, whole foods, and ALL of the ingredients are real foods that you'd recognize. No weird additives or preservatives. For example, the Green Revive ingredient list has banana, coconut milk, pumpkin seed protein, mango, pea protein, pomegranate, maitake mushroom, chlorella, spinach, and kale.

The main difference between the smoothie powders and smoothie bowls seem to be the calories, protein, and quantity of powder. Because smoothie bowls have less liquid (to make room for toppings!), the instant smoothie bowl powders come in smaller packets and have less calories and less protein than the smoothie powders. Because I tend to forget about smoothie bowls, I was most excited about these powders because they encouraged me to get creative and dream up some awesome bowls!

Here's what I made with the powders. The Red Power base has raspberry, goji berry, macqui berry, strawberry, beet juice, pomegranate, kale, coconut, pea protein, pumpkin seeds, and hemp protein. For the Red Power Bowl, I combined 1/2 cup of cashew milk, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, and the powder in the Vitamix, and then I topped with an almond-mulberry trail mix, shredded coconut, a crumbled coconut Wunderbar (raw fruit & nut bar), fresh strawberries, and chia seeds.

For the Red Power Smoothie, I used a frozen banana, a cup of cashew milk, and a 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries. Very similar to my bowl but without all the toppings! The Red Power powders had a tangy berry flavor, and I really loved these.

Next up, Green Revive! I listed all of those ingredients above, but the base is heavy on banana, coconut, and fresh greens. For my Green Revive Bowl, I made a base of 1/2 cup cashew milk, Green Revive powder, and a frozen banana. The bowl was topped with Purely Elizabeth granola, fresh banana, fresh strawberries, fresh kiwi, and a trail mix of almonds, walnuts, pepitas, goji berries, and raisins. YUM! I had this one day a couple weeks ago when I had a cold, and I really felt like I was putting good-for-me stuff into my sad, sick body.

For the Green Revive Smoothie, I added one cup of cashew milk, 3/4th cup frozen mango, and a half a frozen banana. I love how this powder makes for a thick and creamy smoothie.

Finally, the Blue Zeal! This powder is made with pineapple, coconut, banana, pea protein, lucuma, apple, mango, goji berry, pumpkin seeds, kale, and pomegranate! I had the Blue Zeal Smoothie Bowl with a base of 1/2 cup cashew milk, 1/2 frozen banana, and 1/2 cup blueberries. That was topped with fresh berries (blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry) and a trail mix of walnuts, almonds, goji berries, raisins, and pepitas. I rarely eat that much fruit in one sitting (1 1/2 cups of berries total!), but it felt so good to get so much fruit in to start my day.

For the Blue Zeal Smoothie, I had a similar base of powder, 1 cup cashew milk, 1 frozen banana, and 1/2 cup blueberries. For some reason, the Blue Zeal smoothie powder has less protein than the Green Revive or Red Power (10 grams rather than 15 grams). So I enjoyed that on a lighter workout day (after a gym class).

Leap powders are available on their website, and the packets cost $3.15 each for bowls or $4.49 for smoothies. You can also sign up for a subscription and save 10% on the cost.