I have to admit, I've fallen off the wagon a bit with these smoothies the last couple of weeks. Probably because it's been so darn cold in the mountains and I'd rather a bowl of a oats or some toast. But there is currently a tide of the dreaded man flu sweeping the office at work, so I'm ramping up the smoothies again to try and ward it off. They might not look like the best thing in the world to drink, but trust me, all you taste is the sweetness of the fruit. I love taking these with me to the gym in the mornings as a speedy breakfast after a workout, it nourishes and rehydrates, and with all that fibre it keeps me full through the morning. When I first started having these, I had heard that your tastebuds change and you start to crave more greens. I didn't quite believe it, but it is true. If you have kids, why not try getting them to eat some greens this way? Tell them Dr Seuss left it out of the Green Eggs and Ham book...okay, so that might be stretching it, but I don't have munchkins.
Sometimes I will have these as meals, so I'll make a blender full (mine is a 2L) and have some for breakfast, and then the rest at lunch and snack on some nuts, or some hummus and crackers or carrot sticks. This gets me through to dinnertime no problem. I feel really good when I've been having a lot of green smoothies, and if you don't believe me, see what Anand and Runi at Raw Power have to say and join their Green Smoothie Challenge http://www.greensmoothiechallenge.com/
The Beloved bought me a high speed blender, but any one will do, it just won't be as smooth. If you get into these, I recommend getting a really good blender, it does make a difference.
In summer, I was making these smoothies with mostly bananas, with some peaches or mango thrown in. But with bananas being so expensive due to cyclones and floods, I've had to come up with some different combos. Feel free to change the leafy greens, spinach seems to be a good option for starting off, but you can also put in dark lettuce varieties, kale, comfrey... adding some fruit high in vitamin c in my opinion, would proably also help absorb the iron from the greens. While I certainly don't have a medical degree, it surely can't hurt!
Pineapple and Lime Green Smoothie
500ml water
1 fresh pineapple, peeled and cored, chopped into chunks
2 peeled limes
1 apple, cored, not peeled cut into wedges
1/2 cup of mint leaves
3-4 handfuls of baby spinach, or other leafy greens ( I like a mix of kale and spinach)
Put fruit and water in blender and whizz for about 30 seconds. Add the greens and blend for another 30 seconds. Enjoy!
Orange and Cranberry Green Smoothie
2 oranges
1 cup frozen Cranberries
500 ml water
3-4 handfuls of leafy greens
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