How To Make A Green Smoothie

Sup guys??!  I am in a completely stellar mood today!  Totally surprising since I only got about six hours of sleep!

Last night, after I got I got home, Keenan and I stayed up and watched a couple episodes of South Park, while I ate a snack. 

I had a couple of whole grain freezer waffles with almond butter and maple syrup.

Followed by Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups.

They were ohhhhhh so delicious!  I savored every bite!  Yet another one of my co-op finds. 

Keenan also surprised me with scratch tickets!  We took $10 worth of scratch tickets, and ended up winning $22!  I had the card with $20, Keenan had the card with $2.

We stayed up til about 1am, then drifted off.

This morning, I was woken up around 7am, by my boyfriend getting up for some water.  My alarm was set for 8, and I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to use the opportunity to get a workout in! 

I went out for a 20 minute run, then came back and did a quick weight training sesh.

Repeating twice:

Lunge Bicep Curl and Shoulder Press 15 x 5 lbs
Girly Pushups 12
Seated lateral raise 15 x 5 lbs
Triceps Dips 15
Hamstring Curl on Exercise Ball 15

Followed by:

Double Crunch 20
Regular Crunch 20

Now I’m on the ferry headed to work.  I’m going in 15 minutes early today for a meeting.  Any guesses as to what it’s about?  I haven’t let anything leak on here so far, so I’ll most likely land the big surprise on you tonight!

Today, I’m enjoying an amazing green smoothie on my ferry ride. 

I know I post pictures of my smoothies pretty frequently.  Ever wondered what kind of work goes into these bad boys?  It’s pretty much the simplest thing ever.

With the simple push of a blender button this:

Becomes this:

But what goes into the blender?

There are four components to your green smoothie.

1. Liquid
2. Greens
3. Fruit
4. Add-ins

Liquids-  I typically use about 1 cup of liquid in a smoothie, unless it requires more.  You can use water, coconut water, or almond milk.  You can also use juice as a base, but it would probably make the sugar content a bit too high, when added to the other fruit.

Greens-  You can use pretty much any sort of greens in green smoothies.  My preferred greens are spinach and kale.  However, you can switch it up and use collards, chard, beet greens, cilantro, parsley, or anything that you’re brave enough to try.  Take it from personal experience though, that spring mix does NOT make good green smoothies!  Usually about two handfuls is a good amount to use, but feel free to experiment.

Fruit-  The one fruit that I absolutely don’t like to leave out of smoothies is banana.  They add texture, as well as flavor, and is the first fruit that I usually add to any smoothie.  I also usually use frozen berries, for the nutrients, flavor, and the thickness that they add.  Today my smoothie included both strawberries and blue berries.  I’ve also been known to mix in oranges, kiwi, peaches, pineapple, and pretty much any other fruit that I have on hand and tickles my fancy.  You’re pretty much unlimited on how much fruit you can add to your smoothie, but I usually keep it to two or three.

Add-ins-  There are various add-ins that you can use in your smoothies to enhance their nutritional value.  The two that I use the most are protein powder and chia seeds.  I usually have vanilla protein powder on hand, and add a scoop to every smoothie.  My favorite brand is Sun Warrior, but I’ve tried Nutri-Biotic and it’s good as well, and certainly more affordable.  Mix up your protein flavor to add some extra variety to your smoothie.  I use chia seeds as both a source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential in your daily diet, and to add some extra thickness to my smoothies.  Some people like to use xanthan gum to thicken smoothies, but I can’t say that I’ve ever tried it.  Hemp seeds and ground flax seeds are also great sources of omega-3′s, and can be used in place of chia seeds.  I’ve also tried using powdered dulse, a seaweed, in my smoothies, but the flavor was enough of a turn off that I didn’t continue using it.  Even though they’re last on my list, I usually put my add-ins into my smoothie first, so they get a chance to mix with the liquid base a bit better.

So there you have it!  Just toss all of your ingredients into a blender, blend well, and enjoy!

So go make yourself a smoothie and enjoy the liquid awesomeness!

<3 Lindsay