The Green Smoothie Experiment & SpinBerryNanna Smoothie Recipe

A friend recently urged me to go to the Green Smoothie Queen website and sign up for the free 3-day green smoothie "mini-course" they offer.  Never in my life had I tried a green smoothie, but I'll try anything once...



To my surprise and delight, the green smoothies were FANTASTIC!  I may never make a smoothie without some sort of leafy green in it again.  The basic ingredients to any green smoothie are:

Leafy greens (e.g., spinach, kale, swiss chard)
Fruit (e.g., bananas, strawberries, mangoes)
Liquid (usually water but can be juice like orange or carrot)
I know what you're thinking... a spinach smoothie?  Come on.  But try it, I kid you not.  It's still sweet, but with an added flavor profile you've probably never experienced.  No need for supplements and powders... just one green smoothie a day adds a ton of extra phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and omega 3 fatty acids to your diet.



You might think that since you eat salads regularly, you're getting these nutrients anyway.  Yet studies show that blending raw ingredients actually lets your body absorb more of the good elements that they have to offer.  Plants have cellular walls that have to be broken down in order for the body to assimilate the nutrients. This is usually done by chewing. With smoothies, the blender does this for you, and breaks up the greens much better than your teeth could. Studies show that chewing allows 40% nutrient absorption, while blending allows 95%!



So here goes the recipe for my first smoothie experiment.  I call it...





1 banana
6 - 8 strawberries
24 grapes
3/4 c water
2 - 3 handfuls of spinach
And a tip from the Green Smoothie Queen herself... Instead of pushing veggies into your blender with a spoon, use a celery stick.  It saves cleaning a spoon, and you can just toss it into the blender when you're done!