I'm going to try my first green smoothie tomorrow

danikat15
danikat15 Posts: 113 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What do you all put in it? I'm going to try half a banana, a kiwi, some frozen mixed fruit (a medley of peaches, strawberries, grapes, etc),1-2 cups of spinach, and some unsweetened vanilla almond milk if it needs a little something.

I have no idea what it's going to taste like lol.

So what are some of your go to recipes? What have you found does not work? Have you tried to add a tea to it? Do you follow recipes or do you just throw stuff in the blender and hope it tastes ok, like I am doing tomorrow?

Replies

  • cappri
    cappri Posts: 1,089 Member
    It's going to taste like fruit only fresher. Spinach is so mild that it's completely covered up by fruit in smoothies. While green smoothies look scary, they are super yummy. Well as long as you use spinach. I'm not at all fond of the results when I use kale!
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
    It's going to taste like fruit only fresher. Spinach is so mild that it's completely covered up by fruit in smoothies. While green smoothies look scary, they are super yummy. Well as long as you use spinach. I'm not at all fond of the results when I use kale!

    I wasn't impressed with Kale, either.

    I usually just put a half banana, half a cup of skim milk, protein powder, splenda, and peppermint extract in with my spinach. It tastes like mint ice cream, and if you use vanilla whey, it looks almost like it, too. If I have calories to spare, I'll even add a few dark chocolate chips.
  • sterphy
    sterphy Posts: 68 Member
    It's going to taste like fruit only fresher. Spinach is so mild that it's completely covered up by fruit in smoothies. While green smoothies look scary, they are super yummy. Well as long as you use spinach. I'm not at all fond of the results when I use kale!

    I wasn't impressed with Kale, either.

    I usually just put a half banana, half a cup of skim milk, protein powder, splenda, and peppermint extract in with my spinach. It tastes like mint ice cream, and if you use vanilla whey, it looks almost like it, too. If I have calories to spare, I'll even add a few dark chocolate chips.

    Wow that sounds amazing! Definitely trying this!
  • oseinevergiveup
    oseinevergiveup Posts: 3
    I love green smoothie..you can't even taste the green..I add dry oatmeal too...you will like it.:tongue:
  • JustAGirlyGeek
    JustAGirlyGeek Posts: 149 Member
    Sounds delicious.
  • erice6911
    erice6911 Posts: 43 Member
    two words: kale taste like crap,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but its very good for you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,mint ice cream,,,, i gotta try that.
  • danikat15
    danikat15 Posts: 113 Member
    Oh David that sounds good!
  • KarenJean91
    KarenJean91 Posts: 283 Member
    This is my favorite recipe....... Kind of high in calories but it keeps you satisfied for a while. You can also add more or less of whatever you like.

    Serves 1

    Ingredients:
    1 frozen sliced banana
    1 Tablespoon peanut butter
    1/2 cup 0% Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt
    1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (or other kind of milk)
    4 cups baby spinach (or more, or less)

    Directions:

    Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

    Nutritional stats:

    350 calories, 10g fiber, 21g protein
  • danikat15
    danikat15 Posts: 113 Member
    That sounds delicious, too. I'm sure you could tweak it to make it lower calorie, but still keep the general taste.

    So did you guys just throw stuff in and see what tasted good? I'm wanting to experiment, but I'm kind of wary.
  • majordlite
    majordlite Posts: 266 Member
    I use 2 cups of baby spinach, about a cup of grapes, blueberries, cantaloupe, apple, whatever I have, 1.5 cups of unsweetened almond milk, one scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, 1 tsp chia seeds, 2 tsp ground flaxseed, sometimes a half cup of greek yogurt, and about 5 ice cubes. It's a huge glass and keeps me full for a while at about 325 calories with lots of calcium, protein, and fiber.
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
    I use a coup of handfuls of baby spinach, half a banana, almond milk, PB2 and protein powder with a little splenda. Delicious!
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
    That sounds delicious, too. I'm sure you could tweak it to make it lower calorie, but still keep the general taste.

    So did you guys just throw stuff in and see what tasted good? I'm wanting to experiment, but I'm kind of wary.

    I was a little scared to try it, at first. The spinach really doesn't change the flavor at all. I just followed the recipe I had for a mint shake, and added spinach to it, too. Chocolate protein makes it a greenish brown color. Vanilla comes out just green. They both taste good, but the vanilla looks more like mint ice cream. (With a good blender, another half a banana, and less milk, it comes out thicker, like ice cream. Throw some lite cool whip on it, and a small amount of sugar free chocolate syrup for a sundae.) I also tried adding frozen broccoli to it, once but the broccoli had too strong of an aftertaste. Another shake that I've tried was: putting a few baby carrots in my orange dream shake. There was a small carrot taste to that, but it was acceptable.
  • briannadunn
    briannadunn Posts: 841 Member
    Got to love the spinach smoothie, I use 1 frozen banana, 1 cup almond milk, 2 tbsp of peanut butter, 1 cup strawberries and 4 cups spinach. Yummy, taste like peanut butter with strawberries..or cut out the peanut butter. NEVER do I taste the spinach.
  • danikat15
    danikat15 Posts: 113 Member
    Ok! I just tried it and it was delicious! I ended up sweetening up just a tab, but I hope to eventually cut that out. Also, I froze everything but the spinach and milk and it was a tad hard to mix, so I'll have to adjust that as well. Overall, I think I'm going to try to do this every day. My smoothie is huge and only 200 calories!
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
    Ok! I just tried it and it was delicious! I ended up sweetening up just a tab, but I hope to eventually cut that out. Also, I froze everything but the spinach and milk and it was a tad hard to mix, so I'll have to adjust that as well. Overall, I think I'm going to try to do this every day. My smoothie is huge and only 200 calories!

    I will usually buy a big thing of spinach from Costco. Then, since I can't eat it all before it goes bad, I will blend it with a little bit of water, (just enough to get it to blend, then freeze it in a muffin pan. Pop out the frozen spinach, put it in plastic baggies, and use one, or two for each shake. I found the idea on Bodybuilding.com. It will make your shakes colder, and should reduce the need for ice cubes.
  • ferb03
    ferb03 Posts: 82
    Ok! I just tried it and it was delicious! I ended up sweetening up just a tab, but I hope to eventually cut that out. Also, I froze everything but the spinach and milk and it was a tad hard to mix, so I'll have to adjust that as well. Overall, I think I'm going to try to do this every day. My smoothie is huge and only 200 calories!

    I will usually buy a big thing of spinach from Costco. Then, since I can't eat it all before it goes bad, I will blend it with a little bit of water, (just enough to get it to blend, then freeze it in a muffin pan. Pop out the frozen spinach, put it in plastic baggies, and use one, or two for each shake. I found the idea on Bodybuilding.com. It will make your shakes colder, and should reduce the need for ice cubes

    Doesn't the spinach get stringy and unpleasant once frozen? When mine starts to turn I usually end up throwing it all into one smoothie.
  • allegram
    allegram Posts: 117
    I pretty much toss in whatever I have but a word of caution: don't let one bad smoothie put you off forever! Sounds like yours turned out well, and feel free to experiment with different additions!
    I like Miranda Kerr's recipe-- it just shows you how much good stuff you can fit into a breakfast smoothie!
    http://www.koraorganics.com/blog/live-in-my-skin/all-things-organic/organic-certification/a-really-nice-healthy-alternative-for-breakfast-or-a-snack-at-any-time-of-the-day-if-you-wish/
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member

    Doesn't the spinach get stringy and unpleasant once frozen? When mine starts to turn I usually end up throwing it all into one smoothie.

    It's not much different. My blender doesn't like blending frozen things that big, so it takes it a while to break it up, and I prefer the taste of fresh better, but it is better than throwing it away, or running out when I want more spinach in my diet.
  • kristelpoole
    kristelpoole Posts: 440 Member
    I chopped up a bunch of stuff last night and threw handfuls of it into the blender this morning so it's a little bit of everything!

    Collard greens
    Kale
    Fennel
    Beet greens
    Spinach
    Snap peas
    Tangerine
    Banana
    Apple
    Pear
    Celery
    Lemon juice
    Ginger (fresh)
    Almond milk
    Coconut syrup
    Stevia

    You can totally add more green veggies besides spinach and still have it taste good, yall!
  • staceyb13
    staceyb13 Posts: 12
    I've been doing green smoothies all week and I've done different variations of fruit and/or other types of food.

    I used:

    sliced apples
    mixed berries
    mango
    bananas
    also threw in some avocado
    tofu

    and that's about it for now. I tried a 3 day smoothie cleanse but only made it completely through 2 days. I want to try it again. I have decided to incorporate a smoothie into one of my meals a day. I only use spinach at this time. You can use any green leaf type of food. Today I have 2 green smoothies, one for breakfast and lunch. Good luck!!
  • mkwongh
    mkwongh Posts: 279 Member
    good idea about freezing the spinach.. this is a must try!
    Ok! I just tried it and it was delicious! I ended up sweetening up just a tab, but I hope to eventually cut that out. Also, I froze everything but the spinach and milk and it was a tad hard to mix, so I'll have to adjust that as well. Overall, I think I'm going to try to do this every day. My smoothie is huge and only 200 calories!

    I will usually buy a big thing of spinach from Costco. Then, since I can't eat it all before it goes bad, I will blend it with a little bit of water, (just enough to get it to blend, then freeze it in a muffin pan. Pop out the frozen spinach, put it in plastic baggies, and use one, or two for each shake. I found the idea on Bodybuilding.com. It will make your shakes colder, and should reduce the need for ice cubes.

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