Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Green Smoothies

So awhile ago, I posted about green smoothies, and how much I loved them. Unfortunately, I have gotten out of the habit of making them. I enjoyed sleeping in way too much. However, I'm trying to add one healthy habit a week into my life, and this week it is breakfast. I just happened to have all the ingredients, so I decided to make them this morning.

I started with these ingredients:


Normally I would use a fresh banana, but I had a bunch of bananas that were about to go bad, so I cut them up and froze them, and I actually like the way the smoothie turned out with the frozen bananas. That is about 2 handfuls of baby spinach, 1 small glass of water, and 1 apple cored and sliced, and about 1 banana (peeled and cut into pieces).

First you put the spinach and water in the blender. I kind of stuff the spinach down in the bottom, because I have a cheap blender, and it doesn't always get all the stuff blended smoothly. I use the liquefy option. It just takes a few seconds. Then I add the apples (usually in 2 batches - again, cheap blender). Few more seconds on liquefy. Then I add the bananas. The banana adds a creaminess. You can also add ice or more water at this point. Chris tends to like them a little thinner, so I added some more water.

And then you get this:


Yes it is green, yes it looks a little bizarre. But I can tell you that I can't taste the spinach. The banana and the apple provide almost all of the flavor. And I don't know what exactly it is, but I have some much more energy during the day after I have one of these. Chris is even a believer (mostly - he still thinks it is a blog fad, but he agrees that they really work). There are tons of combinations out there. The other ones that I have tried are kale instead of spinach and rainbow chard instead of spinach. I've also added frozen berries instead of the apple. But then they are purple smoothies. :) The kale and rainbow chard combos had a different flavor (and texture), and I think I will have to work my way up to those over time. I think I need a better blender to try kale again. It didn't liquefy as well.

The place where I first learned about green smoothies was Happy Foody. She has some great ideas (and inspiration) and even a link to a video on how to make them. Just google Green Smoothie, and you will find a ton of resources. Particularly on peoples blogs. If you try one, let me know!


3 comments:

Sue said...

i'm not sure i believe that you can't taste the spinach, friend. and honestly, as much as i love green (it's all over my walls!), it looks freakin' intimidating. :o

i've been making smoothies from kefir, banana (about half of one) and frozen blueberries - with a squirt of agave & a splash of vanilla. they totally rock, and the kefir totally ups the ante on the health-benefits. :)

Tiny Head said...

It does look intimidating. :) And I had to have an open mind. Cause it is a little different. But baby spinach has a very light flavor anyway, and the fruit overpowers it. If you start out with a smaller amount of spinach, that might convince you.

I dare you :)

yeah, after you mentioned kefir earlier, I've thought about picking some up from Whole Foods. Just haven't had a chance to yet.

Anonymous said...

I can taste the spinach! I can just tell that if i tryy real hard and concentrate that one of these times i'll be able to taste it. I just have to keep believing!!!!
:)

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