Smoothies!

[JamieS_Wisco]

Recently I joined the "Green Smoothie" Trend.   Gotta say I'm pretty happy with the results.  Personally, I use this as my first breakfast.  Second breakfast being Steel Cut Oats.

1/2 cup frozen fruit (I have done multiple types.. usually what I can find on sale)

1/4 cup greek yogurt (Vanilla or Unflavored, again... I look for sales lol)

1 cup Kale

1 scoop whey protein (Vanilla)

1/2 medium banana

2-3 oz of water to make sure everything mixes.

I have the Wal-mart cheapy version of the bullet to mix everything up. I sometimes have to start mixing it, then shake it up about half way and mix it again to get everything in.  Then I throw it in the freezer for 15-30 minutes to make sure it's good and cold.

My entire life I have been anemic or borderline anemic.  With the kale being super high in iron, I am doing great.  I went to go give plasma the other day and they told me that my iron levels where at max they could accept.  First time for everything 🙂

[modelmalina]

Congrats! Great news.

I have just started on the smoothie trend. I am going to try your reciepe.

Keep them coming.

M.

[A_Lurker]

I don't think I will ever suck up the enthusiasm to make a green smoothie, however, Oh She Glows has a number of them:  http://ohsheglows.com/categories/recipes-2/beverages/green-monsters-beverages/

[JamieS_Wisco]

I promise they don't taste "green".  The kale has little flavor and is masked easily by the fruit.

[A_Lurker]

Oh, I'm sure your recipe is good.  I don't do yogurt, banana either.  When I do make smoothies they are protein powder, water, fruit, and some ground up oatmeal for a stick-to-your ribs drink.

[DerrickS]

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@JamieS_Wisco wrote:

I promise they don't taste "green".  The kale has little flavor and is masked easily by the fruit.

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I can vouch for @JamieS_Wisco's comment about hiding kale's taste, it's super easy since it doesn't have a strong taste.Your green smoothie has actually has a lot of the same ingredients as the one I make.

If you haven't tried already, I'd recommend experimenting with freezing the banana before blending your smoothie. Freezing the banana gives the smoothie a really good texture.

[JamieS_Wisco]

I haven't tried freezing the banana.  But I like that idea expecially as it will help with the shelf life of the bananas.  Thanks for the tip! 

[scubatim84]

Hmm, good idea on freezing the banana, I'll have to try that. I have a Vitamix and it doesn't mind frozen fruit at all.

My green smoothie recipe is:

1.5 oz of Organic Power Trio Baby Chard, Kale and Spinach by Earthbound Farm

1 banana

1 oz. fat free plain Greek yogurt

6 oz. Organic Triple Berry Blend frozen berries from Costco

8 fl oz. of Harvest Bay coconut water

3 tablespoons of Superseed Blend w/coconut by Nutiva, which is a combination of hemp seed, flax seed and chia seed

Tastes fine and yeah I don't notice the kale or "green" taste at all. 🙂

[jessica88]

It's not green, but it is delicious: 

• Bananas
• PB2 powder (powerdered peanuts basically - I guess you could do real peanuts, but my blender sux)
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Almond milk 

Tastes like a freaking liquidized peanut butter cup. 

[GiuseppinaMaher]

Nice information.

[Bhuvana]

For the last couple of years, smoothie is my breakfast. I have tried all kind of fruits and greens along with my protein powder. Since I have my vitamix, either frozen or fresh, it blends well. Here are some of my favorites

1) 1/2 Banana + 1 cup almond milk + 1 tbsp Peanut butter + 1 scoop chocolate protein powder

2) 1/2 banana + 1/2 Avocado + Spinach + Kale + 1 scoop of Vanilla protein powder + 1 cup of almond milk

3) 1/2 banana + 1/2 pumpkin puree + 1 cup of almond milk + 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice + 1 scoop chocolate protein powder

[MarlenS]

Thanks for the recipes everyone! I'll try them all  The one I like to drink in the nights is:

- 1/2 Cucumber

- 1/4 Pinaple

- 1 Lemon

- Celery (up to you)

- Ground flaxseed (up to you)

[MarcoGFitbit]

Smoothies for breakfast is an excellent idea @Bhuvana!

I know there are lots of us that don't have much time in the mornings to cook and smoothies are so easy and quick to make and your recipes sound delicious!. Is it possible to freeze them the night before? 

[Bhuvana]

Thanks @MarcoGFitbit. please try it and let me know what you think. Also if you any other ideas, please share too.. 

Usually I make it in the morning and take it with me to work. Within that couple of hours, I see there is some decrease in amount as the froth all settled well. This discouraged me to do the previous night. I think I did couple of times night before. But I am not happy with that. 

[MarcoGFitbit]

I've never tried mixing bananas with spinach but I'll definitely try it and let you know @Bhuvana, thanks!

Usually what I do is dice pinneapple, watermelon, papaya and cantaloupe, then freeze them in separate containers; that way I always have fruit at hand to mix & match with other ingredients

[Bhuvana]

I made the following green smoothie for my breakfast this morning. It was fantastic.:)

Fresh Kale, Fresh Spinach, Frozen Mango, Frozen Pineapple, freshly squeezed orange juice and Whey Powder. I used my Vitamix to blend. Literally, it was a slush and was awesome. 

[Dominique]

@Bhuvana: I’m sure it’s delicious, but even if the color is greenish (from kale and spinach), with mango, pineapple and orange juice, it’s quite a lot of sugar. Have you calculated the caloric content of that breakfast smoothie? I used to squeeze oranges, but I now eat them whole instead (more bulk).

[Bhuvana]

@Dominique: Do you know what, I didn't think about the sugar content at all. Thanks for pointing this.

The calorie count for this one is 290 calories. 1/4 cup of mango has 7 g of sugar and 1/4 cup pineapple has 6 g of sugar.  I think all together it will be around 20 g of sugar. Some smoothies combinations, I make it once in a while. This is among them.