The Green Smoothie

A green smoothie toast to McKell for writing this up just in time for her baby to be born! Congratulations!

Have you ever tried filling all your daily requirements from every food group in one day? It can be hard to do! Especially in the fruit and vegetable category. Two cups fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables are the recommendations per day (for women) according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

A couple years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to "the green smoothie". I think I closed my eyes when I took my first gulp, but surprisingly, it wasn't bad. Actually, I liked it. When she told me how good it was for me I liked it even more! Four cups of green smoothie equals about 15 servings of fruits and vegetables!

My green smoothie is packed with insoluble plant fiber capable of carrying many times its own weight in toxins out of the body. Leafy greens have a powerhouse of enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. Kale assists with weight loss! Spinach has tons of healthy protein. By blending the greens it helps to unlock all the nutrients so our bodies can easily digest and make use of all the good stuff. Have I convinced anyone yet?

I've continued drinking "green smoothies" ever since I was first introduced to it two years ago and I love it! Bridger (my two year old) and Devin (the husband) even like it! I try to have one large glass a day. I love how it can fill in the gaps of my diet; it tastes good, and makes me feel good!

The key ingredient to green smoothies is spinach. I’ll go through a 2.5 pound Costco bag of spinach in about a week. You can also add kale or chard to your smoothies, but they have a stronger taste, so I only add a little. Try taking your favorite smoothie recipe and adding some spinach. Give it a try!


Here is my favorite daily recipe:

2 cups water (can also substitute fruit juice)
1 Tlb Chia seeds (optional)
6 cups Spinach
sometimes I add 1/2 a carrot
…Blend well in a high powered blender

Add:
1 cup Fruit Mix or more or less to taste (I like the Sunshine Fruit Blend from Costco or Wegman’s bag of Mixed Fruit with strawberries, pineapple, peaches, and mango)
¼ cup OJ Concentrate
… Blend

(If you are scared of the green color, you can add raspberries, blackberries and blueberries which will turn it more purple in color. I like lime and a banana in my berry smoothies.)

**News Article Link: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=18916048&nid=1010&title=green-smoothies-going-green-never-tasted-so-good

This guy seems to enjoy it!