So MANY people light up my social media when I post a picture of green smoothies.  We drink them MOST every day.  The only reason we don’t drink them every day is when we travel and stay in a hotel.  Hotels make it tough.  And the Jamba Juice stuff ain’t legit.  Bad grammar – good theology.

If you’re gonna drink it, you want low cal, low sugar great nutrition.  Let’s face it – it’s not ice cream, no matter how you mix it up!!!!

So I’m going to write three blogs this week to break it down and make it easy.

• One about the fruits and veggies.
• One about the powders we put in.
• And one about the liquids we use.

And for those visual learners out there (like me!), I included pictures! (SEE BELOW)

One Disclaimer:  I’m not a nutritionist.  And you will find different opinions among the nutritionists you talk too.  Mix up your recipe everyday say some.  If you’re on blood thinners, there are some veggies and supplements to stay away from.  If you have had Diverticulitis, you can’t have any fruit with seeds.  Basically, I wanna say – if you’re doctor told you not to do it, DON’T, until you talk to them about it.  #SmartStuff

WHAT WE DO:

• We buy everything at one time.  (If you buy a case of anything, you can usually get a discount.)  We make 1-2 months worth at a time, but we also have an extra freezer in the garage.
• Wash it and chop it all up and put it in single serve portions (our single serves are for five people,  so we use a gallon size bag).
• We freeze the contents of the bag so that nothing ever goes bad and there is no waste!
• Put a small handful of each in the baggie.
• We buy everything frozen that we can.  It’s cheaper that way!

Last and super important:

• We buy ORGANIC.

Your argument to this is, ‘it’s more expensive and harder to find or get to!’  I agree.  But it’s worth it.  This is a whole blog itself.  But the super short and simplified  version is this.  Non-organic fruits and veggies get sprayed with pesticides.  Pesticides break down into estrogen in the body.  Estrogen feeds cancer cells.  Fighting cancer is a HUGE reason we drink the green stuff in the first place.  Plus, organic fruits and veggies are cheaper than chemo and medicines any day (period).

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WHAT WE BUY:

Feel free to Google each ingredient and see exactly why it is so good for you.  If I list that here, this blog will start to feel like a science book….zzzzzzz.

Frozen Veggies

• Broccoli Florets
• Spinach
• Kale

Stuff I usually can’t find frozen

• Parsley
• Turnip Greens
• Bok Choy
• Cilantro (use SPARINGLY – it’s STRONG!)
• Rainbow Chard (or Swiss Chard)
• Collard Greens
• Mustard Greens
• Dandelion Greens
• Avocados
• Cucumbers
• Lemons (Or you can use lemon juice)
• Oranges (these make the flavor great in my opinion.  I don’t use them everyday)

Frozen fruit

• Bananas (buy them fresh, peel them, break them in half and throw them in a baggie and freeze them for later – never let a banana go bad again!)
• Cranberries
• Blackberries – OR –
• Berry Blend (by 365 at Whole Foods is nice and makes it easy and less to buy)
• 0R/AND
• Tropical Blend – this is by 365 at Whole Foods (both companies – you are welcome for the shout out!).  It has strawberries, bananas (one of the things you NEED when you are starting green smoothies and cut back on to barely any as you get used to it.  Bananas are calories and sugar – neither are good for you)

REMEMBER: 

More veggies.  Less fruit.  You can start with more fruit.  But back it down to the least amount that you need for those calorie and sugar reasons.  If w are gonna drink these things (and we are!) we oughta at least get skinny in the process!

Lastly, you need a SERIOUS big, bad daddy blender.  Vita-Mix is what we use.  I heard the Ninja and the Bullet work well, but we haven’t tried them.

This I know – make that smoothie liquid and cold.  NO CHUNKS!

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NEXT BLOG:

So go buy your fruits and veggies and put them in ziploc baggies (the zipper kind are easiest for me).  And the next blog will talk about adding powder supplements.  The blog after that is about the liquids. If you wanna blend one up before then, my best advice – a LOT of liquid.  You will burn up your blender with your new frozen mix and no liquid to make it possible for your blender.

Gotta a question?  Comment below the pics of healthy goodness and we will try to hit questions in another blog.

Happy Green Smoothie!