How to Make an Easy to Choke Down Green Smoothie

I love the idea of green smoothies. Low calorie breakfast or snack, get a bunch of veggies- it’s a great deal. However, when I first started, some of the recipes I tried were just SO bad. I think it’s something you need to work up to. The first thing I did was buy a six pack of 16 ounce mason jars. Having cute jars to easily bring them with me and make several at a time made it much easier.

I also have an amazing blender. I wanted to get the Vitamix like all the other cool bloggers, but holy wow is that thing expensive. I found the Oster VERSA (Amazon affiliate link, if you purchase this I will get a small commission) to be a great alternative. It was about $200 when I bought it, but Amazon has sales all the time. The one I linked to is the low profile, which is better for short girls like myself. This is a big blender and if I had bought the regular version I think I might need a footstool! This blender is tough enough to pulverize the greens, and has been a trooper so far. I’ve burnt out the motors of blenders before, so I know that I need something strong!

Here is my basic smoothie recipe that I find to be a) simple b) if not delicious, tolerable. This recipe makes two 16 ounce smoothies, give or take a little. I use organic produce whenever possible.

• two large handfuls of greens (spinach may be the easiest to start with- other ideas are collards, chard, kale, lettuce, or cilantro)
• one small banana
• one cup frozen fruit (I usually do strawberries or peaches)
• 12 ounces of water
• (optional) 2 Tablespoons ground flax seed for omega 3s

Throw it all in the blender until pureed and pour into jars. They will keep for two-three days, but I try to drink them the day of (or the next day, since I try to do prep the night before for a day’s food to take to work). Another thing that I have trouble with regarding green smoothies is texture. If the thick texture bothers you, just add more water. When I first started drinking them, making the consistency more like juice really helped me get used to it. If you want to drink them every day, switch up the fruit and the greens to get a better variety of nutrients. I always put in the banana for sweetness, but that is optional as well. The fruit is really only to make it taste good.

Note: if you buy a bunch of greens, then find a few days later that you didn’t get as into smoothies as you thought, you can wash and freeze them! I didn’t realize this at first and wasted some veggies, but you can freeze them to save for later and just throw them in the blender frozen. This tip was great for me, because I’m no longer afraid to buy the greens and possibly waste them.

Enjoy- let me know if you try it!

Jillian