Green Smoothies

It all depends on how "green" you want your smoothie to taste. Greens like spinach, spring mix and romaine are all very mild and will usually disappear in smoothies, but greens like kale, collard greens - hell, even broccoli - are pretty robust, but certainly not unpleasant, especially when paired with other "strong" flavors like pineapple or peanut butter. Just make sure you blend it all very well until it comes out nice and smooth!

I've discovered a love for green smoothies, and I would never touch spinach before! I normally use 1 cup of coconut water, 1 cup of spinach, 1 cup of frozen mixed fruit (pineapple, strawberries, peaches) 1 tblsp coconut oil, 1 tbl ground flax and a touch of Truvia. I've been loving it! Sometimes I throw in 1/2 a banana too and some ice if I want it thicker. The recipe I had called for 2 cups of spinach but I found it to be too overwhelming of spinach flavor for me. Spinach is so good for you, so I played around with it until I got something I would enjoy. I've never tried kale, though I've been tempted to give it a go. I hate to mess around with something I already like so well!

I just broke down and bought a VitaMix since I "killed" my blender and almost my Magic Bullet. I made my first green smoothie in it this morning and now I see what all the fuss was about. It really is amazing...I HATE most veggies but I stuff them all in the blender and I am golden! Dayquasar, those sites are fantastic thanks for sharing!

the "skinny green monster smoothie" from skinnytaste.com is delicious! i've made it twice now

A couple of my favourites:

2 c. spinach
1 navel orange
1/2 med banana
1/2 cup dry curd cottage cheese
1 cup low fat milk.


Another:
2 c. spinach
1 c. frozen blueberries
1/3 long english cucumber
1/2 c. dry curd cottage cheese
1 cup low fat milk

any greens really, even romaine. I like to throw in romaine sometimes because it makes it taste more refreshing. But yes, spring mix will work. I usually get a bag of something and freeze it and use those and keep it from my regular greens.

You can get ideas from smoothie shops, like most have a tropical smoothie, just get a tropical frozen fruit bag and throw some in with some orange juice. Or if you don't do juice, do tea or water. I really like to use tea instead.

So, I've been thinking of making some green smoothies. I make regualr fruit ones so I was just goingt o throw a few greens in with it.

What greens are best? I know spinach and kale can be used but what else? I currently have some spring greens sitting in the fridge, will they work?

Recipes ideas welcome

yep they sure will. also you can just keep your bag of greens in freezer to keep since its just for smoothies anyway.
my favorite smoothie is

1/2-1 cup almond milk
1 cup grapes
2 cups spinach
1 tablespoon almond butter or peanut butter
1 banana frozen

you can use just water as well instead of almond milk. if you like add more nut butter...I just try to keep calories a bit lower

the "skinny green monster smoothie" from skinnytaste.com is delicious! i've made it twice now

I love this recipe also.
I substitute Coconut milk for Almond milk and Almond butter or PB2 for peanut butter
Sometimes If I don't have yogurt, I'll used cottage cheese or Vanilla Whey protein powder
but if you don't do artificial sweeteners don't use most flavored protein powder as they usually contain aspartame (equal) or sucralose (splenda).

Green smoothies are awesome. I generally use spinach and kale. I love the color of them. And the look on co-workers faces when they ask "What are you drinking??!!" is priceless.

A few ideas that no one else has mentioned yet is to add a few of the following to your green smoothie....

1/4 cup of raw quick oats (i love the flavor and it makes them very filling)
a few mint or even basil leaves (it really changes the flavor and the mint is so refreshing)

It is so fun to experiement with the different flavors to keep it interesting.

Enjoy!!

I love my green smoothies. I just make a whole blender and then I have it ready to go everyday. This week I used 4 c.of Kale, 1 c. of English cucumbers, 1 c. - carrots, 1 - banana, 3 T Chia seeds, 1/2 c of 2% milk, 1 c of water, 1 c of blueberries, and 3 scoops of protein mix. I also add a little lemon juice. This gives me 1-2 smoothies everyday. Healthy and low cal.

I thought I would hate kale when I found a recipe but absolutely love it now. My husband hates seeing the blender every time he opens up our fridge, but oh well.