Green Smoothies

Spring Fever in January?

January 7, 2012 By Deanna

Today was absolutely glorious! My car registered 63 degrees at one point! I really got a case of Spring fever and it’s only early January.

We threw Faith’s bike in the back of the truck, loaded all the dogs in the car and headed up to the track to get some exercise and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. It was delightful!

Once we got back home, I decided to try out a new smoothie recipe I found recently, with my own adjustments, of course!

I was dying to try this new recipe I found for a Cherry Chocolate Smoothie. Cherry and chocolate? Yum! I couldn’t think of anything better. Of course, I love to sneak my greens in a smoothie somehow – so I chose to add spinach since it doesn’t affect the taste.

Well, it was as good as if not better I thought – absolutely divine! I haven’t been adding fruit to my green smoothies lately, so this was a sweet treat. Here’s the recipe:

Cherry Chocolate with Sneaky Greens Smoothie

Serves 1

8 oz. of milk (for mine I used unsweetened vanilla coconut milk and for Faith’s we used skim – use the milk of your choice)

5 fresh strawberries (although the recipe called for 5 frozen, we had fresh)

1/2 cup of frozen cherries (oh so yummy!)

1/2 scoop of chocolate protein powder (my favorite is Plant Fusion)

A handful of ice cubes (add more or less depending on your desired thickness)

A few handfuls of spinach

I used my favorite kitchen gadget, my vitamix to blend away. This smoothie was so delicious and is now a new favorite!

Have you ever tried a green smoothie? Start with spinach. I swear you won’t even taste it! Add blueberries or cherries to your smoothies and your kids won’t even know it’s there! Try it and let me know what you think!

Here’s the original recipe: Cherry Chocolate Smoothie – thanks for the inspiration!

4 Comments Filed Under: Food & Wine, Green Smoothies, Things I Love, Wellness Tagged With: Green Smoothies, healthy eating, nutrition

Orange Creamsicle Green Smoothie

July 3, 2011 By Deanna

I am just in love with green smoothies. There are so many reasons, of course and the various health benefits are at the top of the list. Just in my time drinking these delicious creations I’ve noticed a difference in my skin texture, the health of my hair and my energy level – but surely the list can go on and on.

Beyond all of that, these are super fun to create because the sky is truly the limit. Sometimes, though I do find myself stuck in a “Green Smoothie” rut, where I tend to want the same thing each day. It’s best with green smoothies to rotate greens frequently for the most health benefit, so I was googling around last week and found some really fun recipes that inspired me to make some of my own creations.

I found a site called, Simple. Healthy. Tasty. that had some really interesting creations for some new green smoothies that I wanted to try out. The first I tried was the Creamsicle Green Smoothie.

From Simple. Healthy. Tasty. -

Creamsicle Green Smoothie
1 cup water

1 cup Rice or Almond milk

2-3 LARGE spoonfuls of Orange juice concentrate

1 Large bunch of Spinach

1 teaspoon vanilla

Frozen Peaches (about 2 cups)

I like to modify and make my own creations based off of these inspirations so here’s what I did:

Orange Creamsicle Green Smoothie

3/4 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Hempmilk
1/4 cup water
2 scoops of Amazing Grass Orange Dreamsicle Green Super Food
Baby Collards to fill my Vitamix (probably about 4 cups worth)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup Frozen Peaches

My recipe was a single serve size, whereas the original can probably render 2 -3 servings. I typically like to start with my liquid and then add the greens to blend. After that I add any additional items. I love to work with frozen fruit because more often than not, I don’t need additional ice.

I also used Amazing Grass Orange Dreamsicle Green Super Food instead of orange juice concentrate. I am a BIG fan of Amazing Grass. It’s amazing and delicious and the best part is my nearly 10 year old just loves it. It’s packed with so many good nutrients and is Vegan, Dairy free and Soy free.

Yum!

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Green Smoothies, Things I Love, Wellness Tagged With: Amazing Grass, Baby Collards, Green Smoothies, Hempmilk

Adventures in Green Smoothies: Mint Chocolate

May 15, 2011 By Deanna

This weekend I decided to mix things up a bit. When you are drinking green smoothies, it’s definitely a good idea to have variety. Mix and match greens, fruits, and vegetables. So, I was googling around for some recipes and came across various versions of a Mint Chocolate Green Smoothie. Wow, okay that sounded way too yummy!

So, I gathered my list of items and started to blend. Here’s what I did:

2/3 cup of skim milk

1/3 cup of unsweetened vanilla hemp milk

2 scoops of Amazing Grass Chocolate Super Food

1 cup of spinach

a handful of fresh mint leaves

about 10 ice cubes

I typically like to blend my greens with liquid first, so I added my milks and then added the spinach and mint. I then added the Super Food and ice. It was good – more of a slushy type consistency than most of my green smoothies turn out to be. I wanted to use Cacao powder or Cacao nibs, but couldn’t get any yesterday. I used what I had, which was the Chocolate Super Food. I much prefer the Kidz Chocolate Super Food from Amazing Grass, which would have made this even better. It was good, but I’m going to try it again with the Kidz SuperFood and one with Cacao nibs. It was a great start and a refreshing treat!

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Green Smoothies, Things I Love, Wellness Tagged With: Green Smoothies, spinach

Adventures in Green Smoothies: Love at First Sip

May 15, 2011 By Deanna

Ok, so I’ve discovered Green Smoothies and I am just in love. I was covering a screening of Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead for work a little over a month ago and we were sampling Green Smoothies. I had tried a little taste of one only once prior when I first started my job. The first one I tried had spinach. I couldn’t believe how good it was and that I was “drinking” spinach! The one we were sampling at the screening was a tropical recipe and was so yummy and refreshing. I gave my husband a sample and he, too was amazed!

I started researching the benefits of getting your greens in this fashion. I immediately ordered myself a Vitamix and have to say that I’ve used it nearly every day since I unpacked that box.

It has become a staple in our household. I make a “concoction” every morning. My husband is hooked, too. He told me that he feels so much better and much more energetic. I have to agree and I also have noticed changes in my skin and my hair.

We started our daughter on all fruit smoothies, knowing the green color may just turn her off, but we gradually started sneaking in vegetables – a few carrotts here and a few tomatoes there. She had no clue and was hooked as well.

One day, I was making my favorite smoothie – Pineapple, Ginger, Kale with Coconut Water and she asked to try it. Her eyes lit up and she asked for more! I thought I had died and gone to heaven! There was no way that she would have ever eaten kale on its own or as a vegetable side dish.

So, I thought I would begin to share my journey and adventures in Green Smoothies as I have some yummy fun along the way!

Here’s a link to the recipe I started with at Kristen’s Raw. I mix mine up a bit, but my recipe is all based on this original recipe. Aside from the liquid I don’t necessarily measure, but here’s what I do:

Pineapple, Ginger, Kale Green Smoothie

1 cup of liquid (I use pineapple coconut water, but you can use plain filtered water)

2 -3 leaves of Kale (depending on size of Kale leaves and your taste buds)

1 1/2 cups (or so) of pineapple (I use Whole Foods Frozen sometimes and then there’s no need for ice)

10 or so ice cubes (only if using fresh pineapple)

1 small knob of peeled ginger (my favorite addition!)

Make sure you have a very powerful blender. My Vitamix pulverizes everything. It’s an amazing machine!

If you try it, let me know what you think. I love being a mixologist with my Vitamix and will post recipes as I make them up!

Enjoy!

5 Comments Filed Under: Green Smoothies, Things I Love, Wellness Tagged With: Green Smoothies, Kale, Vitamix