I love juicing, especially during the warmer months. It gives me a boost of energy and helps me to get all my servings of vegetables in. But I also love making green SMOOTHIES and enjoying having them as a part of my daily summer routine. I remember the first time I made one and it was so much better than I thought it would be, creamy, refreshing, and did NOT taste a bit like the two whole cups of spinach I threw in. You can make up your own green smoothie recipe and find the combination of ingredients you like best.

Smoothies vs Juicing

There are so many great benefits to juicing, the pure vitamin power of the vegetables get delivered to your stomach and bloodstream immediately. You can drink way more vegetables than you would ever eat in one day. But the criticism of juicing is the lack of fiber for your stomach to work on. You get all the great nutrients in the liquid, but all the fiber is discarded. Also, too many fruits in a juice can spike your blood sugar which is not what you want, especially when juicing as part of a cleanse.

With a smoothie, the entire fruit and vegetable goes in the blender. Now you are taking in all the fiber from the peeled orange, and not just the juice. I felt full for a long time after drinking my smoothie and enjoyed every sip. This recipe makes two servings, so I drank half in the morning and then put the rest in a mason jar with a lid and saved it for the afternoon.

The picture above shows the ingredients I used for my first try. I kept it pretty simple. Now, I add in less banana and more proteins like hemp seeds and almond butter. These help keep me fuller longer and avoid a blood sugar spike. You can throw in a protein powder or different fruit. Sometimes I leave out the banana entirely. My current recipe is below.

Green Smoothie Recipe

Makes 2 Servings

INGREDIENTS

2 large handfuls spinach

3 romaine leaves

½ banana

2 Tbsp almond butter

1 Tbsp hemp seeds

½ cup coconut water

1 cup almond milk, unsweetened, or any milk of your choice

½ orange, peeled

5 – 10 ice cubes

INSTRUCTIONS

Put everything in the blender in the order of the list above and blend until smooth. Pour into your favorite glass or jar and enjoy!

Here are some Variations:

IMMUNITY SMOOTHIE: ¼ peeled lemon, 1 peeled orange, ½ cup pineapple, 1 inch peeled ginger, 1 cup milk, 4 brazil nuts, 10 ice cubes, 1 tsp turmeric

MATCHA TEA MINT SMOOTHIE: 6 mint leaves, 3 tsp matcha tea powder, ¼ banana, 5 ice cubes, 1 ½ cup nut milk, 2 dates, ¼ avocado

Enjoy!

PRINTER FRIENDLY RECIPE