Green Smoothies

Last night we had a women's Relief Society meeting at church. It was all about health and fitness, which goes along perfectly with what I'm trying to accomplish with my body and diet right now.

One lady I go to church with is what I would consider an extreme health foodie. She's been a vegetarian since she was 14, and she, nor her three children, eats white flour, white sugar or anything processed or bleached or bad for you. Period. She buys the mess out of some produce and has to order a lot of what she eats and cooks with off of health food websites because Clovis doesn't have crap in the way of specialized health foods. While I admire her for it, I could never give up my meat. I think our bodies need some kind of meat, probably in more moderation than what I prepare at my house. We usually do one meat-free night a week, and that's about all David or I can handle. Nothing against vegetarians, I just know I couldn't be one.

So last night my uber-healthy friend did a really neat demonstration for us, and this is something even I can eat. Every morning, she and her daughters make these spinach smoothies. She got the idea and recipes from www.greensmoothiegirl.com. She said her girls love them. She made two different spinach smoothies for us to sample, and I loved them both. Even though it looked like a blender-full of diahrrea, I thought, if her three year old can drink this and like it, then I can too!

She shared with us that the recommended amount of fresh fruits and vegetables for adults is 5 servings per day. She said less than 50% of adults actually get the recommended amount, and even fewer children do, and that's counting french fries and ketchup as a serving. I'm so glad that David and I have taught our children to love and eat fruits and vegetables. We do not have picky kids, and I'm glad for that. I think it's one of the best gifts we can give our children is to introduce them to all kinds of food and make them try everything, sometimes making them try it more than once or even twice.

Anyway, my friend drinks 1 quart (4 cups) of this particular smoothie every morning for breakfast and her girls drink about 2 cups each (She has a three year old and a two year old and an infant). She said you should probably start with two cups and work your way up to 4 cups, and to plan to spend some time near the toilet for the first little while after you start drinking these.....). She gave all kinds of benefits to doing this. She said it kind of acts as a detox for your body. 1 qt of this smoothie has FIFTEEN servings of fruits and vegetables in it. So even if you didn't even look at another fruit or vegetable all day, you would have still gotten THREE times your recommended daily limit by BREAKFAST. She said her cravings for sweet things has gone down, her energy level has improved, her skin has improved. She started doing these about two years ago just after the birth of her second baby. She lost thirty pounds in a matter of months without exercising at all. Her hair, her nails, everything just became more radiant.

I'm excited to add this to my healthier eating routine. Don't you worry, I'll be adding plenty of recipes to this blog that won't do a thing to help your skin, hair, nails, or your waistline, but I'm going to throw some healthy things in here too.

Basic Green Smoothie

1 1/2 or 2 cups water
3/4 - 1 lb greens (spinach, kale, collards, chard, etc) (The one she made last night had spinach and kale in it). (She used a whole entire bag of bagged spinach)
1-2 bananas, fresh or frozen
1-2 cups frozen or fresh berries (she likes to use frozen berries to help keep the smoothie cold)

Put water in blender. Gradually add greens until, briefly pureed, the mixture comes up to the 5 cup line (in an 8 cup blender). Or maybe the 4 cup line for kids or new "converts" to green smoothies. Puree greens for at least 90 seconds or until they are very smooth.

Add fruit until the container is very full. Blend 90 seconds or until smooth.

You can save your smoothie in the fridge for up to two days - just shake well or blend again before drinking.

You're probably wondering about the cost of these..one blender full, if you use all organic ingredients is about 2.53. If you have a Sam's or Costco close, you can get giant bags of bagged spinach for cheap, and if you have commissary privileges, a bag costs about 1.50 (non-organic). I noticed at Wal-Mart last night that the GV brand is just under 2.00 a bag. Buy the big bags of frozen fruit..they'll last you awhile and are more economical.

Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!!

And one last thing, she had a BlendTec blender. I'm quite convinced this thing could chew up a ski if it were put in there. You can make bread dough in it. Definitely on my wish list.