The smoothie has become a popular topic as superfoods and raw foodism have gained more and more attention. You can find photos on social media of friends and celebrities flaunting flamboyant fruits and expensive blenders, but being a smoothie master is actually very simple if you have even the most basic of tools.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to make the mistake of blending up fruit-only sugar bombs that only leave you feeling hungry and jittery fifteen minutes later, so here are five easy and nutritious recipes to get you started.

Banana Nut Bliss Smothie

Ingredients: One banana, spoonful of peanut or almond butter, tablespoon cacao powder, vanilla, ¼ tsp Maca powder, enough water or milk of your choice to make it liquid.

This is a meal of a smoothie. Packed with protein and energizing cacao and maca, it’ll carry you through the day with some real power. Spinach also hides well in this smoothie (though it makes the color a little strange) if you want to add some green power, too.

Green Dreams Smoothie

Ingredients: One apple, peeled and chopped; ¼ cucumber, peeled and chopped; ½ a ripe avocado, handful of romaine, enough water or milk of your choice to make it liquid.

A true green smoothie, you might get some funny looks carrying this one around. The protein and fat from the avocado will fill your belly, the cucumber helps to hydrate, and surprise! Romaine lettuce actually has a good amount of minerals like calcium and B Vitamins.  When you fill the blender, be sure to get the avocado in first for ease of blending.

Spice It Up Smoothie

Ingredients: One apple, peeled and chopped; two carrots, peeled and chopped; 2 handfuls of spinach; one small knob ginger root, washed; enough water or milk of your choice to make it liquid.

Ginger packs a little spicy punch while the veggies bring the vitamins. This smoothie is less sweet than some you might be used to, but the carrots and apples are just sweet enough to make this a nice treat. Consider adding some turmeric root too if you have it available, and be sure to blend this mix for at least 30 seconds for texture.

Nothing But The Greens Smoothie

Ingredients: The greens! Handful of spinach, kale, Italian parsley, ¼ cucumber peeled and chopped, one apple peeled and chopped, 4 dates, pitted. Consider adding coconut water to texture, or use regular water with a little bit of agave, Stevia, or maple syrup. Add dandelion greens or other greens if you’d like.

This is truly a power-packed salad in a glass. Expect to really taste the greens, but also expect to feel the flood of nutrition once your body has a chance to absorb them. Blending the fibers of the greens in a smoothie makes the nutrients more easily accessible to the digestive system, and if you add a bit of extra chlorella or some mint extract, this smoothie is nature’s best medicine.

Chai Warmer Smoothie

Ingredients: 2 frozen bananas, 1 tsp. tahini, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp cardamom, ½ tsp powdered ginger or a small knob of fresh ginger, ~2 cups of milk or nut milk warmed on the stove, dash of nutmeg, and a spoonful of coconut oil. Be sure not to overheat the nut milk or the steam could be dangerous!

Who doesn’t love a good chai? A great smoothie for winter, the spices in chai are warming and grounding while the tahini gives some added calcium and protein. Warming the milk ahead of time prevents that chill of frozen fruit from getting into your bones. So cozy up with this one whenever you want a healthy pick-me-up.