Smoothies and Green Drinks

That's right, I said "Green Drinks."

I'm hooked on green drinks! Ever since I got my Vita Mix blender, I just can't stop making them. I am now up to 2 a day, which equals over 1 pound of raw leafy greens + 1 pound of fruit. Leafy greens are the most nutritious foods in the world. But I won't get into that, you can read all about it here or even better, here. I make a green drink for breakfast, and one about an hour before dinner.

After many many mistakes, I have come up with a couple of yummy, basic green smoothie recipes. Many of the ones I find online are (in my opinion) too sweet, or have too many things added to them (also adding in the calorie count). I want to keep it simple, so here are my top recipes:

2 cups water + 2 romaine hearts (or 1 head) + 1 apple (cored and sliced) + 1 lb frozen pineapple

2 cups water + 2 romaine hearts (or 1 head) + 1 lb frozen mango

1 cup soymilk + 1 cup water + 10 oz baby spinach (one Ready Pac bag) + 1 banana + 1 lb frozen blueberries

1 cup soymilk + 1 cup water + 6 oz greens (I mix 2 of the following: kale, mustard, turnip, & beet) + 1 banana + 1 lb frozen strawberres + 1 pitted date

Put in the blender in the order given above. I usually put my liquid and greens in first, blend, then add my frozen fruit slowly. The above recipes are enough to fill 2 big glasses (about 16 oz each).

I chose the above greens because they are the most affordable. My WFM sells a 6 pack of romaine hearts for $5. Ready Pac baby spinach is $1.99, and a 12 oz bag of mixed greens is $4. But when something else is on sale, hey--I buy it. In the summer, I can buy fresh fruit and greens from the farmer's market as well. Also, it's easy to grow spinach and chard in your garden!

Frozen fruit is great. It is picked when the fruit is at it ripest, and even if you choose not to buy organic, the fruit is not sprayed with fungisides (like fresh conventional fruit might be). It is so much cheaper than fresh, and it eliminates the need to add ice. Remember that if you have fresh fruit laying around that is getting over ripe, just throw it in a baggie in the freezer and use it for smoothies (bananas too!)

I know it sounds expensive, but remember that when you eat this stuff regularly, you are less hungry and don't need to snack as much. I was sure that my grocery bill was going to go up when I started drinking these twice daily, but it has not at all. I just replaced some of the other food I was eating with this stuff.