Green Smoothies

My new favorite thing - Green Smoothies! Isn't it serendipitous how life can be? You see, I had read a couple of times in the past of these weird vegetable and fruit smoothie combos and balked at the thought of drinking a smoothie with vegetables in it. As I sip on one now, I wonder what made me go from thinking "eeewww!" to "Gotta try one of those?"

I attribute it first to my current state of mind. In my attempt to be more health conscious, I find myself being open to things I would have turned my back on in the past. I am more willing to try new things, and if I don't like it, I don't ever have to do it again. I have also been trying to find new ways to get my 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Even with eating better, my diet is very grain and protein heavy, and so this helps combat that problem. Finally, I decided to give it a whirl when I read on one of my favorite beauty blogs - Clumps of Mascara - of the delicious goodness these smoothies hold.

So what exactly is a green smoothie. The premise is to blend a vegetable such as spinach or kale, or a combination of vegetables with fruit till smooth. I have used different combinations. I decided to add a bit of almond milk in my smoothies and I always use frozen bananas for that iciness. The combo I tried tonight had a frozen banana, fresh spinach, about 1/2 a cup of almond milk, a small mango and a can of crushed pineapple. I added a touch of honey and a sliver of ginger and blended till smooth. My first attempt was a bit chunky because I didn't blend thoroughly enough, so do blend until the mixture is pretty smooth.

There are endless combinations. I have done a berry one with strawberries, blueberries, spinach and bananas, etc... Whatever fruit I find, I throw them in.

The results? I supplement some of my meals with these smoothies. For instance, tonight, I didn't feel like a whole meal so I made a smoothie instead. I find that my cravings are greatly reduced, I am satisfied without feeling full, I have a lot more energy and well, with the extra fiber, let's just say things are moving along my digestive system nicely.

Doing a google search will yield a ton of recipes. Do give them a whirl and let me know what you think.

XoXo.

Lara