New To Juicing And Green Smoothies

by Gina
(Wickenburg, AZ)

Wow! I am so inspired by your site, this is my second comment today! I have been doing healthy fruit smoothies (without processed juices, just whole fruits, ice, milk, etc) for a long time, but until today I've never tried a green smoothie.

I wanted to find a combination that would "hide" the green not only in taste but visually as well. So I decided to make one for my lunch to try it before I introduced it to the kids. It turned out amazingly refreshing, a little tart which I love, a beautiful dark purple and completely devoid of any taste of greens.

I took your advice and started easy on the greens-- 10 baby spinach leaves. I added 1 medium dark purple plum, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 3 medium strawberries & 10 large black, seedless grapes.

I have a pretty good blender, but I don't have a Vitamix (yet) so adding water was necessary-1/3 cup. I would rather leave out the water because I love the full flavor of the fruit. I blended it until I couldn't see the spinach in it, added a few cubes of ice to make it a bit more slushy, and I ended up with a WONDERFUL dark purple drink!

I could easily have added more greens without effecting the flavor much, and I will add more grapes when I make the boys one for their after school snack! Three reasons: the black grapes are on sale this week, they are SUPER SWEET AND FLAVORFUL and their dark color hides the veggies! Carrot juice or sweet potato juice could be added as well, I think, and again, I don't think the boys would know! My 13 year old loves V-8 juice, so making our own version fresh will be in the works soon. Thanks for your great ideas!

A:
Hey Gina! Thanks SO much! :) I am truly touched that my site inspires you, as that's my aim as I build it.

A tip: Keep a stock of frozen fruits in the freezer..it makes nice "slushies" :) I like to freeze my own if I bought too much for the week. I find that when I want to make a green smoothie and have greens around, adding some frozen fruit can really hide it. And yes, it's amazing how much greens you can add without tasting it.

I think that I can proudly say that the green smoothie has changed my life. I didnt eat more greens then a salad before I started making them. Now I'm getting so many more greens then I use to. Did you know that greens help build up red blood cell count, and clean your blood? So good for you.

You totally should get a Vitamix. My husband was actually mad at me when I bought one because he thought I didn't need another appliance, now he say's its the best appliance we have. It is truly amazing what you can do with it, even besides smoothies. You can make sorbet, fresh soups (it literally heats them up, right in the blender!) and pates. I love mine. But if you are a smoothie girl, it makes it way easier to make them since it's so powerful.

If you're 13 year old loves V-8, then you really should try to make one yourself since the stuff in the store bought is super salty and has preservatives. If you do, come back and share your recipe if it's a success so others can make it too.

Thanks for visiting & sharing! I feel like adding some black grapes to my smoothie now :)