Hey guys! I posted a pic of my green smoothie the other day on Facebook....
....and a lot of you were interested in how I make mine, so today I thought I would share with you my recipe. I make 2 basic types of smoothies when and if I make one: tropical and green. I have already posted my tropical smoothie recipe, if you hadn't seen it you can find it here. My green smoothie has a lot more stuff in it, and while I basically put the same thing in it each time I make it, the recipe can obviously vary slightly. That's the thing, if you decide to start making smoothies, nothing has to be exact. Just kind of toss stuff in, whatever you have on hand, and create a recipe that you like. It's trial and error, but usually no matter what you do you will end up with something that is quite good. I cannot take credit for this particular recipe, as it is largely inspired by a recipe I found in a book I read - Harley Pasternak's Body Reset Diet. If you are interested in learning how to blend your food, READ THIS BOOK. It is a wealth of information and he provides lots of recipes that are all yummy. He gives you basic recipes and encourages you to play around with them till you come up with a recipe that suites your taste the most. And so, this is my green smoothie recipe that I have tweaked and perfected to the perfect smoothie for my taste.
A lot of you are probably wondering, why blend? To put it simply, blending your food breaks down food particles to where they are what's called bioavailable. That basically just means that your food is broken down into little bits that are easily absorbed. Also, it would be impossible to sit down and eat all this stuff in a sitting - a cup of yogurt, an apple, half a pear,half an orange, a handful of grapes and kale, avocado, nuts, seeds, milk, etc. It allows you to take in all your servings of fruits and veggies all at once. Another thing I will mention - I highly recommend blending your food instead of juicing. (Harley Pasternak shares this belief as well). When you blend, your smoothie retains all of the fruit and veggie skins that have so many nutrients and fiber. Do what you like and prefer, that is just my preference. So anyways, here is how I make my smoothie!
Ingredients:
Plain, non-fat Greek Yogurt (around 1 cup)
1 small red delicious apple (cored)
1/2 small orange (peeled)
juice of 1/2 lime or 1 key lime
Kale (big handful, roughly)
1/2 Pear (cored)
Grapes (big handful, seedless, any kind)
Avocado (I use about 1/3 of one)
Almonds or almond flour (I usually use about 7 almonds or 1 TBSP of flour)
Flaxseed (about 1 TBSP)
Chia Seeds (about 1-2 TBSP)
optional:
water or milk (if you want to thin the consistency)
Truvia (or sweetener of your choice, if you want your smoothie sweetened)
According to the Body Reset Diet, your smoothie should have 4 components:
1. Liquid base - milk (dairy/nondairy), water, flavored water, etc.
2. Lean protein - plain nonfat Greek Yogurt, protein powder, etc.
3. Healthy fat - avocado, nuts, seeds.
4. High fiber carb - fruits and veggies.
(Side note: ingredients can overlap categories. Example - avocado is actually a fruit and a fat).
If you make a lot of smoothies I recommend buying a bag of small, red delicious apples. That is so much more economical than purchasing them individually. Most grocery stores have the small bags of them relatively cheap. Do not peel your apple! Just wash and core. I chop mine in big chunks and toss it in my Ninja Professional blender. (If you do not have a big, strong blender then you might want to chop your food in smaller bits before adding it in). My blender pulverizes anything I put in it, so I don't have to worry about throwing in big chunks of food.
It is crucial to the flavor of your smoothie to use ripe pears. It is my recommendation to buy pears a week ahead of making your smoothies to ensure they're good and ripe. If your pears are hard and unripened you could always add in some Truvia or other natural sweetener, but your smoothie will taste SO much better with a ripe pear. Again, I buy these in small bags at my grocery store. I prefer an Anjou pear, but use what you like. DON'T PEEL YOUR PEAR! I core mine and cut in big chunks and throw it in. As far as my limes go, I only use the juice of a half of one. I put the other half in a baggie in the fridge to use for my next smoothie.
This lemon/lime juicer thingy works great. Got it at Walmart forever ago.
If you buy and eat avocados regularly then you know they are at perfect ripeness for like a second. It's a veryyyyyy short window for - not ripe - ripe - over ripe. Don't fear, you can totally freeze avocados! I always buy them when they are still pretty firm. I set them out on my counter and give them a squeeze every day or so. When they begin to soften up (before they are mushy!) and are ripe I peel and slice them into thirds and toss them in the freezer in a freezer bag. That way I always have perfectly ripe, tasty avocados on hand for my smoothies. I usually put 1/3 of one in my smoothie.
This is the kale at my local grocery store....
...and this is the kale I get at my super Walmart. Hands down I prefer this big bag, as it is such a good quality kale and you get SO much of it. Way more economical. But anyways, just grab a big huge handful and toss it in. Nothing exact.
You will notice this is the same yogurt I used in my tropical smoothie. Use whatever you like, just make sure you are reading the ingredients. The ONLY things in this are milk (nonfat) and live and active cultures. That's it. I know it's tempting to reach for the flavored greek yogurts (vanilla, honey, etc.) but if you read the ingredients you will see that's when they start adding in artificial flavors and sweeteners and things of that nature. You don't want/need all that. You will get plenty of flavor from all of the stuff we are adding in. I eyeball it, usually adding in about a cup or so.
I prefer using actual almonds in my smoothies, as I enjoy the occasional crunch you get from them. I didn't have any on hand when I made this smoothie, so I just used about a TBSP or so of some almond meal/flour. If you are not using a big professional blender then the almond flour is a great option for you, as it's just ground up almonds. That's it. It's much easier on a smaller blender. This stuff is just good to have on hand too, that way if you run out of nuts (like me) you can just toss some of this in.
I have a full blog post on Chia seeds - why they're great, how I make drinks using them, etc. You can see that here. I use these in ANY kind of smoothie I make because they're just so good for you. I get mine at Whole Foods in bulk, I usually get around 2lbs or so at a time to always have on hand. Again, I just eyeball it, throwing in 1-2 TBSP or so.
I buy my Flaxseed at Walmart in the cereal aisle. This particular one is cold-milled, non-GMO, and you don't have to refrigerate it. I just toss in a TBSP or so.
I actually prefer my green smoothie without milk. It's kind of thick, but I really like that. But, if I am making it with David in mind I always add in some milk for him as he likes his smoothie a lot thinner in consistency. This is to taste, add in however much you like to get your smoothie as thin as you like it.
More often than not I usually add in a couple packets of Truvia. (Truvia is my favorite natural sweetener. I reallyyyyyyyy don't care for plain Stevia, I just think it doesn't taste good at all. Truvia is made from the Stevia plant, but it also contains erythritol - a natural sugar alcohol found in pears, melons and grapes).
Put all your goodies in and blend, blend, blend!
Total nutrition in a glass, people. This makes enough for about 2 full glasses. You won't drink all of this in one setting, at least I don't. So, I just put my pitcher in the fridge and drink on it throughout the day or even the following day. It stays good!
Alright guys, that's it! If you have any questions please feel free to leave them below. Hopefully I explained everything good enough. While I DON'T follow the Body Reset Diet, I do love the recipes in the book. I highly recommend reading it if you are interested in blending your food. Thanks for stopping by and I hope this recipe gives you some inspiration in creating your own green smoothie recipe!
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