I have been on this green smoothie kick for over a year now and have seen my fair share of recipies. But all recipes start with one major assumption, you have already washed & prepped your leafy greens.
I like to do this ahead of time and then place in Peak Fresh Reusable Bags to exend their life, and not break the bank by having to toss stuff when it goes bad. I get mine from Amazon.com because let's face it, they have everything, litterally.
After shopping my kitchen usually looks like this as I wash and prep my leafy greens:
After everything has been washed I will pat dry and place in the bag with one paper towel on the top and one on the bottom of the bunch. The paper towel absorbs the extra moisture and the special "breathable" bag allows the gasses made by fresh fruit and veggies to be released.
It looks a little something like this:
When it's smoothie making time I eyeball everything, which makes it hard to write a recipe out. I was always puzzled to read "a handful of ..." and just guessed at the portion they were describing.
This is what a large handful of arugula looks like to me:
or a small handful of mint:
When I am counting calories I will measure out the liquid portion but generally speaking, I like my smoothies thin vs thick and creamy. It's not a strawberry milkshake after all and to be honest, not all smoothies are created equal. The greener the taste, the thinner I like the smoothie. Bananas and avocados tend to make them creamy so I will add 2 oz more of coconut water when using those ingredients.
My recipes usually yeild enough to fill my 24 oz smoothie bottle, plus another 6oz for sharing with sweet pea. If she's not interested I can fill a mason jar with the extra and save for later.
Since I am most often using a smoothie as a meal, I tend to add hemp protein and flaxseed to every smoothie. They don't add a lot of calories or carbs and they do provide Omega-3 fatty acids (good fats), lignans and fiber. Hemp protein is one of the cleanest and most effective ways to boost your protein intake.
I also like my smoothies COLD! So if none of the fruit ingredients are frozen I will add 4-6 ice cubes to give it a nice chill.
Hope this helps inspire you to get on the green smoothie bandwagon and Happy Blending!
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