I’ve been on a smoothie kick lately. It started when we were stuck with a whole watermelon in our fridge because it wasn’t quite ripe enough. I also had bananas, strawberries and yogurt, so I decided to make smoothies with it. I crushed some ice to mix in, and added splenda and vanilla extract to sweeten it (the yogurt was unsweetened), and it was delish! Since then I’ve been experimenting with different combinations of fruit and loving it. Cantaloupe, strawberries, peaches, pears, etc. Whatever is on sale, mostly. I haven’t made a bad batch yet.
I had also been reading about green smoothies and wanted to try these as a way to get more leafy greens in my diet. I found that frozen, bagged spinach adds a nice texture (makes it thick and cold) and has a mild, grassy flavor when mixed in with the fruit. I just toss in about a cup, straight out of the bag. I actually really like the taste. I tried to get Josh to have one but he can’t get past the green color and the idea of the spinach in it. I plan to try other greens, and I really want to try adding kale, just because of all the great health benefits, but I will have to start small with that as I’m not sure I will like the taste.
I guess the Green Smoothie thing is big among “Raw Foodists”, and incidentally, frozen spinach is blanched before it is frozen, so it doesn’t exactly count as “raw”. I’m not a Raw Foodist though and, like with anything, I think some people tend to be a little extreme. I don’t believe in defining how I eat as a “lifestyle”; I just try to make healthier choices for the most part. I try to eat as many raw fruits and veggies as possible, but I care more about eating minimally processed foods, at least for the majority of my diet. (I still fit in junk every now and then!)
Anyway, if you are interested, you can find a lot of videos on youtube that show you how to make green smoothies, and talk about the health benefits to having them every day. Personally, I think it is a great thing to do for your body, as long as you enjoy them. I think they are tasty, and fun to make, so I’m going to keep doing it.
Update: I’ve been making green smoothies with fresh kale or spinach (alternating) each day since writing this. I’ve been experimenting with mixing different fruits with it, and I feel great! Lots of energy, no problems with digestion, less “bloat” and fewer skin breakouts (which may be due to hormones, so I will have to wait and see how I look in a couple of weeks! 
)
I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to improve his or her health. I know it might sound gross to you if you are not used to it, but if you go slow, blending more fruit than greens at first, and add sweetener to taste (I use one or two packets of splenda, depending on the sweetness of the fruit), I’m sure anyone can enjoy them! For example, I just use two leaves of kale (removed from stem), with a banana and a couple other fruits, and add a little cold water and/or ice. This usually makes two servings and I have one in the morning and refrigerate one for later.
Some of my favorite fruits to mix with greens are watermelon, peaches, kiwi, banana, any citrus fruits (oranges and limes are great), and pineapple. (Not all in one smoothie though!) Strawberries are good too, but make the color a little less appetizing!
YUM !!!!!
We do smoothies and home made iceblocks also.
Are “iceblocks” the same as popsicles? I thought about making popsicles.
mum used to make what she called ‘Fizz Gig’ during summer – was a tin of fruit salad plus a few apples, banana’s, oranges chopped up and blended in the blender with a few icecubes
YUM!
Your mum was ahead of her time! She was the original smoothie maker.
Thanks birdpress for posting this. I asked my wife NOT to plant kale this year cause we’d plant it, it would get HUGE and we’d end up not even eating it. Smoothies could help with that!
Or you could use it in a juicer!
I freaking love smoothies. I don’t have a blender though. *sigh* Maybe it’s time to invest in one?
Mine isn’t the best. I’m saving up for a vitamix blender. They are like $400 though, so it’ll be a while!
Oh man! You got me on this one! When you said “green smoothies,” I was thinking “green” as in environmentally “green” and I thought HUH??? I’m cracking myself up because I’m such a blockhead!!!
My 9 year old granddaughter is really into smoothies lately so I’m going to get some fruit and let her go at it. It’s really a good idea and I love widdleshamrock’s idea about freezing some. They would all love that. Thanks BP. I’ll try these for sure. We are having a summer recipe share on my blog right now. If you have anything you’d like to share on there, let me know. This one would be great.
Hmm, I haven’t used a recipe because I just throw in what I like until it looks like enough, LOL. I could probably estimate.
This is really cool, but way too much work for yours truly
I always stock up on the Bolthouse Farms’ Green Goodness fruit/veggie drink. Tastes like fruit, good like green! I’d like to make my own smoothies though – maybe when I have more counterspace I can get myself a blender 
Oh, but it is so much better for you to make your own fresh ones! I like controlling the ingredients. I thought it would be too much work at first too, but now I’m like addicted to making them. It’s fun!
mmmmm…and I still have frozen strawberries. I have the containers to make your own freeze pops too! On a hot day what a treat!
Kale can be pretty bitter. I usually peel the leaf from the stem and boil it a bit first. The stem part is tough and if you boil it first it won’t be so nasty.
I make kale chips too. Bake the leaves in the oven, seconds count or it is ruined. Add a bit of sea salt, or kosher salt. I’ll munch on these instead of a bag of chips. (I sprinkle on a bit of natural apple cider vinegar) Yummy!
I haven’t been using my juicer lately, now you have me all geared up…thanks!
I have heard about making kale chips but never tried it. I went and got some kale today and added some to my smoothie. I removed the middle stem. I mixed it with cucumber and melon, and some splenda to sweeten it. It was pretty good! Not the same as the fruitier ones, but good in a different way. I have a whole bunch left though, so maybe tomorrow I will try the kale chips. Thanks for the idea! Any idea how long or what temp to cook them for? I can probably google it…
http://www.recipezaar.com/Kale-Chips-110071
Really watch them, seconds count with this one. They will be terrible if you over cook them. Reading the comments will give you a few ideas.
Oh, cucumber and melon would make it sooo refreshing I bet!
Thanks!
Birdy,
I green-juiced for awhile. I had lots of energy. Now, I am back to wine. JESUS JUICE.
So unhealthy!
There is no hope for me.
Love,
SB
Hmm… I’m not sure wine would work in a smoothie.
I love me some smoothie, but even though I grew up in a very green-eating family I have never tried the green smoothie. I haven’t even tried a wheat grass shot. I have a ton of swiss chard growing in my back yard, but it really tastes better after it’s steamed. I think it would turn into goo if I blended it after steaming… However, I might get curious enough to try blending it raw one day, it’s in the beet family and has a pink stalk. Speaking of beets, why not try blending those? They’re kinda sweet and you’d end up with a really wicked color in your smoothie.
That’s a good idea! I wonder if it would just mix with the green and make it brown? I may have to add beets to a non-green smoothie just to see what color I get! My MIL makes beet juice in her juicer though. I forgot about that.
Yes, I would imagine it would look a lot better mixed with other fruits. My MIL likes to mix carrot juice with apple juice, and it doesn’t taste that bad. She tries to trick the grandkids into drinking it like that, but they still don’t go for it. Kids are hard to fool.
I like carrot juice. It kind of depends on the carrots though. Sometimes it is sweeter. It’s good mixed with fruit though. I remember my mom had my nephew drinking carrot juice mixed with something – maybe orange juice, from her juicer. He loved it.
Ok I thought we drew the line with mustard in potato salad but this is wayyyy over the line. Where does the chocolate fit into this?
Hmm… I could try to make it chocolate-flavored. Seriously, I’m getting good. I bet I could do it!
Yuck, you are a brave girl. Never do I want to drink lettuce and such. I used to make smoothies all the time back in my Vegas days, I love an old fashioned strawberry and banana with yogurt, and a banana split one when you needed a dose of chocolate. I have no room here in my tiny condo for my juicers and blenders. you inspire me to make smoothies again, thanks!
Sneak some greens in there; you won’t even notice if you blend it enough! They are sooo good for you… But even if you just use fruit, that is good too. Use frozen fruit and you can have faux-ice cream that is much better for you than real ice cream!
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Sure!
This is a really good idea, I’ll have to give it a try! thanks for the video and the lots of energy that sounds good to me!
Thanks for stopping by, and I am glad you liked the idea. You’ll have to tell me if you try it. I don’t think I’ve convinced many people on the greens yet! I’m convinced though.
I love making smoothies and spinach and kale are some of my favorite veggies. I just got a new blender not long ago and it is one of the really powerful ones – I’m having a lot of fun playing with it!