Green Smoothie---Beginners Version!
1. Start with spinach. Spinach blends really well. You can’t even tell it’s in there! I’ve been making our green smoothies with a $40 immersion blender. The spinach disappears. When you get comfortable with greens in your smoothies, try different dark leafy greens, like kale or swiss chard.
2. Gradually increase your greens. Don’t make your very first smoothie with two cups of packed kale. Start with a 1/4 of a cup of greens and gradually build up to as much as your taste buds will allow. Trust me, this will happen fast.
3. Start with a little bit of juice. Pete and I have been making smoothies for at least 6 or 7 years. They’ve really evolved over the years, but they started out with juice. I’ve slowly weaned myself off of juice, unless we have fresh apple cider, then I throw that in our morning smoothies. But start with juice and gradually add less juice and more water.
4. Use fruits you love when you’re getting started. I find raspberries make our smoothies super sweet and delicious. They happen to be my favorite fruit, so maybe that’s why they work so well for me. Apples and oranges also really help my smoothies taste sweet.
5. Throw in some dried fruit. I like to use goji berries or dates to sweeten our green smoothies. They’re naturally sweet and FULL of healthy goodness.
6. Start on an empty stomach. I have my green smoothie right after my lemon water in the morning. It’s such a sweet treat that you’ll find yourself bouncing out of bed for a green smoothie every morning (yep, I love smoothies so much that the mere thought of them helps me bounce out of bed…).
Ingredients
- Here’s my version of a green smoothie, the beginner’s version:
- I have to tell you that I don’t normally measure my ingredients. It changes day-to-day, based on who I’m making a smoothie for and what ingredients we have on hand.
- 2 cups water or juice (or a combo of the two)
- A handful of goji berries (or 2 medjool dates)
- 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
- 1/4-1/2 banana chopped into chunks
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries or raspberries
- 3 tbsp chilled nettle tea (a great source of potassium, calcium, and beta-carotene)
- 2 cups greens (I like baby spinach or kale)
- ground flax (ground chia makes my smoothies a little too airy)
- Add water to blender or immersion blender container. Add goji berries, blueberries, banana, strawberries, nettle tea, and greens. Blend until combined. Add ground flax and blend. Enjoy!
- Yield: 2 adult-sized green smoothies & 2 preschooler-sized smoothies
Preparation
Step 1
Add water to blender or immersion blender container. Add goji berries, blueberries, banana, strawberries, nettle tea, and greens. Blend until combined. Add ground flax and blend. Enjoy!
Yield: 2 adult-sized green smoothies & 2 preschooler-sized smoothies