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This Green Smoothie Does NOT Taste Like Grass

March 21, 2011   40 Comments

Snack Girl has had MANY readers tell her to try "green" smoothies. Well, before last Tuesday, I had one word for them - YUCK!

Green Smoothie Recipe

Yes, I had been open to green smoothies and then I tasted them. I felt like a cow chewing her cud (and I already feel like a cow for other reasons).

But, Stacie, changed my mind with this comment on the Beauty Diet:

I drink a green smoothie (fruit plus some kind of greens) every day for breakfast, with a couple tablespoons of ground flax. Not only does this allow me to start the day with about 4 servings of fruits and veggies, I notice such a huge difference in my skin and nails when I follow this routine.

When I fell off drinking smoothies, my forehead broke out and my skin looked dull - but after a week of drinking them, the acne cleared up, my skin is really glowing, and the weirdest thing is that the whites of my eyes are whiter! Try it - I virtually guarantee you'll see a difference!

Wow! That seems like a lot for a smoothie to do, so I e-mailed Stacie for her recipe. I was concerned about whether my blender was up to snuff, because she used a "VitaMix" blender.

So, I used a conventional blender, and I skipped the flax seed and I made her smoothie and handed it to my lab rat (AKA husband) who pronounced it delicious!

I had to agree. I didn't notice the kale and I wasn't missing yogurt, honey, or anything else. It tasted fresh, healthy, and I wanted MORE!!!

My husband added some maple syrup because he wanted more sweetness. That is the great thing about making your own smoothies - they are totally customizable.

Try this on your kids and watch them slurp down the most nutritious green vegetable on the planet. They will get 207% of their daily value of Vitamin A, 10% of their DV of Iron, 12% of their DV of Calcium, etc.

Got any green smoothie recipes? Please share.

greensmoothieb

Green Smoothie Recipe

1.5 from 6 reviews

(1 serving)

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Ingredients

1 cup frozen mixed berries
1 cup kale
1/2 banana
1 cup water

Instructions

Tear kale leaves off of stems and tear into small shapes. Put berries, kale, 1/2 banana, and water into a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

166 calories, 0.7 g fat, 0.0 g saturated fat, 37.5 g carbohydrates, 17.2 g sugar, 3.6 g protein, 7.5 g fiber, 37 mg sodium, 7 SmartPts

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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40 Comments:

Yes! I love green smoothies and would totally agree about skin, nails and the unexpected benefits. Might also sound crazy but I swear my teeth are whiter too-they also feel cleaner when I wake up in the morning( does that make sense?) Here's some more recipes if you're interested: http://fithealthyandbeautiful.com/smoothie-mania/

Best,

Liz

Awesome! I can't wait to try this!

Check out my Blog and youtube videos :) I have a bunch more that I will be adding to my blog :)

Blend.Sip.Smile :)

Don't you need to use ice to give it the smoothie texture, or do the frozen berries do that? thanks!

@Christine - the frozen berries give it the "smoothieness" - it really works! Thanks for your question.

I've tried spinach in green smoothies and I really don't like them! Does the kale make a difference? Does the taste really blend in? I'd love to add veggies to our smoothies, but I haven't found a non-offensive way to do this yet. I've never tried kale before, so I don't know what the flavor is like.

@Renee - I really didn't notice the kale - which shocked me - I used very fresh kale and it didn't taste like anything.

Keep in mind that the bananas can be frozen, too. I break bananas into chunks and put them in baggies to freeze. They also help my smoothies feel thicker (and so will the flax seed). You can use use coconut water or rice milk for the water and/or add a scoop of a high quality protein mix. Kale is a great "green" to add and so is spinach. Honestly, you don't taste either one ;-) Happy slurping!

I start every day with a smoothie! to make yours a complete and balanced meal, add a small handful of almonds (good fat) and a scoop of protein powder.

What about putting protein powder in the mix? This picture looks like a chocolate/banana protein shake. Doesn't look berrylicious to me. :) Just curious.

This is very intriguing, and I will have to give this a try. I just picked up some kale yesterday and was looking for new ways to prepare it. Plus, this will give me an excuse to use up some of the frozen blueberries in my freezer.

Love my green smoothies! I use kale, swiss chard and collard greens or broccoli rabe as my greens and frozen berries, banana, a little apple juice. I am going to try almond milk tomorrow. My toddler loves them too, which is a huge bonus. :)

Hey girls :) Look at the Green Smoothie I just made its a Green Tea Fruit Smoothie with lots of greens :)

@strong mommies I add almond milk all the time soooo yummy,

Looks delicious! Cannot wait to try this! What I'm curious about is how much ground flax seed does Stacie use? I love the stuff and would add it to mine.

This sounds great, I can't wait to try it and get my kids slurping too!

This sounds like a smoothie recipe that is easy enough to do.

I do have one concern about smoothies, though. Are you removing the some of the fiber and goodness of fruits & vegetables when you juice them? I thought according to the food pyramid, you shouldn't have more than one glass of juice, since it is lower in nutritional value than the whole food.

I found this quote on-line, but I was wondering what your thoughts were. That, said Dr Frankie Phillips, from the British Dietetic Association, is not the case. "Juicing involves the removal of fibre and this removes some of the nutrients that would be found in a whole fruit or vegetable," said Dr Phillips. "There is likely to be a more concentrated level of sugars naturally present in the fruit, and if a juice is sipped over a long period of time, the fruit juice, which is quite acidic, can damage dental enamel. In addition, some smoothies are very high in calories, with added whole-milk yoghurt, and even peanut butter and chocolate."

Thanks!

I've been wanting to get into this. I've read about and heard from friends about all the benefits of juicing and having green drinks. Thanks for recipe. Certainly seems like a good way to start the day. Hey, maybe I'll even swap my morning coffee out for one of these on the way to work instead.. would probably provide more energy in the long run, rather than a brief boost in the morning that coffee provides.

I LOVE green smoothies and was changed by them over a year ago. I add cucumber (peeled) and some baby carrots, probiotics. I use spinach and roman lettuce. I certainly can't taste it as the frozen berries truly mask the taste. Very refreshing and you can add a hint of OJ and I add some ice to make it truly thick and "slurpy"!

Found a great stuff with The Green Smoothie Queen who is trying to educate the world about raw foods and in particular, green smoothies. They don't have to be green but the greener they are, the better they are for you! Congrats Lisa!! Welcome to a wonderful new health drink. Awesome in the summer time!

Karen

Wellness/Image Consultant

@Amy -Smoothies contain all of the fiber that the fruits and vegetables initially came with blended up while juicers extract the juice and leave the fiber behind.

I think because the whole fruit is being blended a smoothie is a healthier juice.

If you want to keep on making morning smoothies, I definitely think you should invest in a VitaMix (or its competitor, the Blendtec - both have pros/cons, but I have a Vitamix). It's amazing and you can throw things like flax seeds, watermelon with the skin, strawberries with the hulls, and frozen berries right at it and it turns everything smooth and creamy. I loooove mine. Yay green smoothies!

I too am curious how much flax seed Stacie puts in the smoothie. You can buy ground flax seed or grind them in a coffee grinder if you don't think your blender can handle it.

Hi folks - so glad snackgirl posted this - as she already said, I'm a HUGE advocate of the green smoothie!

I usually use 2 tablespoons ground flax if I'm making this just for me, or increase it by 2 tablespoons per person if I'm making more than one serving. The only issue you might have is if you are not using a high-power blender like the Vitamix, your blender might get gunked up if you use a lot of flax and not enough water, because it's sort of a thickener too. Also, if you use a high-power blender, you don't need to remove the stems from the greens - they will liquify along with the leaves!

I really can't encourage people enough to invest in a Vitamix - it's so awesome not only for smoothies, but pretty much anything you'd like to blend. And the motor is so powerful, you can make hot broccoli soup right in it (i.e. it actually heats the soup itself by the power of the motor!). You can put whole apples or pears, core and all, into it. It's really an amazing machine - so much more than a blender.

Blatant Kale Propaganda!!

http://getskinnygovegan.blogspot.com/2011/03/blatant-kale-p…

@Renee did you use a banana? I made spinach smoothies with frozen starwberries and banana which was great but one time I didn't have a banana and I could totally taste the spinach.

Great timing on this post for me. I just fell away from making smoothies in the morning because my unsympathetic carbohydrate eating family members complain about the noise. Pooh to them! I love a blueberry and kale smoothie even in my less than perfect $15 blender! As another addition people in our WW group add walnut or canola oil (just a teaspoon). I'm not that brave yet but I have the canola oil waiting for me in the cabinet! YUMMY and Thanks! :)

I've been making a similiar smoothie for breakfast:

1 cup frozen berries
1 cup fat free plain yogurt
1 banana
splash of OJ or 1/2 fresh sqeezed orange
Mix all together in blender

top it with a heaping tablespoon of flax seed!! Sooo yummy! And you get your dairy too!

*I also add a packet or two of Splenda to rid the bitterness*

Makes two gernerous servings!

I make mine with 2 big cups of either spinach, beet greens or kale. I add 1 banana and 1 scoop of vanilla protein which completely gets rid of any 'green' taste. Add a little water and 1/2 tsp of vanilla and it's delicious.

Made this for breakfast this morning. So easy! I forgot the ground flax seed, but will remember it tomorrow. So much better than my sausage-egg-biscuit and hash brow from McDonald's!

I'd love to have a Vitamix or Blendtec blender, but I can't justify spending hundreds of dollars on something like that.

Thanks!

Look Into a Ninja :) Not expensive and they work very very well. I have both a Vita and Ninja. Love both. Here is a video of me making my smoothie this morning with the NINJA :) CHEERS

http://www.getskinnywithjenny.com

Thanks, Jennifer!

Your so very welcome <3

I've never had kale, but just a thought, can you buy frozen kale? I probably won't taste as fresh, but, again, just a thought :)

I tried it and i really liked it! I added the 2 tablespoons of ground flax and about 3/4 of a banana. YUM! It wasn't like my normal smoothies with yogurt and/or almond milk but it was still creamy. And I felt very healthy!

Yeah, bananas are perfect for disguising greens in a smoothie. The more you drink of them though, the more greens you will want. You will just want to use the entire bunch one day and that feels aweseome. I like dandelion greens with banana. A stevia packet can help if ya still need extra sweetness.

Awesome! I'm glad you liked it! Yes, I too feel healthy and totally "guilt free" after having this for breakfast!

For my green smoothie, I use:
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp/tsp of flax meal/seeds
1/2 a banana

--That's just half of the recipe, and it's delicious. Packs 0ver 200% of your DV for Vitamin A and 100% DV for Vitamin C (at least that's what MyFitnessPal.com says...)

I tried this recipe (with the Spinach) and am in love with it! What a way to get your greens in on a regular basis. Since it is so hot in the south this year, I think I will have it daily. thanks so much for your wonderful work!

The best spinach smoothie I have ever tasted is :

1 cup grapes green or red
1/2 cup fresh pineapple
2 cups baby spinach
1/2 banana
1/2 cup water
1 cup ice

Place in Vitamix in that order start on low and variable speed 1 and quickly turn up to 10 and then to high.

I blend not even 60 seconds and Yum!!

I put off buying a Vitamix for years because of the price, but finally bought one about 4 months ago and it is the Best money I have ever spent!! I love it and everything it does, and the amazing healthy way I want to eat!

Thank you so much for this idea! I have changed it up a bit - I have been freezing my bananas; I use a conventional blender (Hamilton Beach) and have not had any issues-

- 1 cup kale
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/3 cup fresh mango (no skin)
- 1 kiwi (no skin)
- 1 cup water

My DH even liked it and he does not like to eat a lot of fruit / veg

I have a majic bullet and the juicer that comes with it. can i use it for making green smoothies? I have never made any and they look really interesting and want to try.

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