This is the single most important thing I eat almost every day. I don't love greens. I can eat plenty of broccoli, but kale, spinach, and collard greens? Not so much. I can eat a little spinach in a salad, but I'm not a huge salad fan and the amount of spinach is negligible. In a smoothie I can fit 2 full, packed cups of greens and not even flinch.
I started out with less spinach while I acquired a taste for the smoothie, which doesn't have any added sweeteners. So if you aren't sure about it, start low and work your way up. I use my Magic Bullet blender for this, which is perfect for a good-sized 16 oz drink. You can use any blender of course, but you have to watch how much of each thing you use, or you may end up with a 32 oz smoothie, which is more than any person should drink, unless you want to spend all morning running to the bathroom to pee over and over again (yes, I know from first-hand experience). I chop and freeze my fruit in advance, as soon as my bananas and strawberries start to turn. You don't want to use barely ripe fruit because it won't be sweet enough to cover the taste of the spinach. And never EVER use frozen spinach! Blech...
Ingredients:
Spinach (a little or a lot)
1 medium banana, peeled, chopped, and frozen
1/2 cup of chopped strawberries, frozen
3/4 cup of non-dairy milk (I prefer almond)
Rinse your spinach and stuff it into the cup. Add the milk and twist on the cross blade lid. Blend for a minute or so, or until there are only small specks of spinach left. Take off the lid and add half the fruit. Replace the lid and blend until there is no more grinding sound and only a whirring sound. Repeat with the remaining fruit. Use a little more milk to thin it out if needed. The frozen fruit gives it a wonderfully frozen, creamy texture and you don't have to add ice, which just takes up space without adding nutrition.
Enjoy!
You can, of course, play around with the ingredients, based on your preferences. I find the frozen banana to be necessary because of the texture it gives it and also because the flavor is strong and overpowers the spinach. Toss in any kind of berries. I've used peaches before. Try any other greens. Kale is especially nutritious. Add a little ground or whole flax seed if you don't mind a little crunch (I don't like it myself, but many people do). Add in any very nutritious fruits and veggies you don't prefer and otherwise wouldn't get enough of. I find it makes greens SO much more palatable and now I get plenty of them.
I started out with less spinach while I acquired a taste for the smoothie, which doesn't have any added sweeteners. So if you aren't sure about it, start low and work your way up. I use my Magic Bullet blender for this, which is perfect for a good-sized 16 oz drink. You can use any blender of course, but you have to watch how much of each thing you use, or you may end up with a 32 oz smoothie, which is more than any person should drink, unless you want to spend all morning running to the bathroom to pee over and over again (yes, I know from first-hand experience). I chop and freeze my fruit in advance, as soon as my bananas and strawberries start to turn. You don't want to use barely ripe fruit because it won't be sweet enough to cover the taste of the spinach. And never EVER use frozen spinach! Blech...
Ingredients:
Spinach (a little or a lot)
1 medium banana, peeled, chopped, and frozen
1/2 cup of chopped strawberries, frozen
3/4 cup of non-dairy milk (I prefer almond)
Rinse your spinach and stuff it into the cup. Add the milk and twist on the cross blade lid. Blend for a minute or so, or until there are only small specks of spinach left. Take off the lid and add half the fruit. Replace the lid and blend until there is no more grinding sound and only a whirring sound. Repeat with the remaining fruit. Use a little more milk to thin it out if needed. The frozen fruit gives it a wonderfully frozen, creamy texture and you don't have to add ice, which just takes up space without adding nutrition.
Enjoy!
You can, of course, play around with the ingredients, based on your preferences. I find the frozen banana to be necessary because of the texture it gives it and also because the flavor is strong and overpowers the spinach. Toss in any kind of berries. I've used peaches before. Try any other greens. Kale is especially nutritious. Add a little ground or whole flax seed if you don't mind a little crunch (I don't like it myself, but many people do). Add in any very nutritious fruits and veggies you don't prefer and otherwise wouldn't get enough of. I find it makes greens SO much more palatable and now I get plenty of them.
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