Fresh, Smooth & Green

Baby Spinach, Lemons & Limes, Blueberries

For about the past two weeks now I have been attempting to incorporate at least one green smoothie a day, usually during the morning hours, into my diet. I say attempting as I haven't yet locked my routine down, I'm a bit hit and miss at the moment as I generally take a while to settle into something. 

Despite this, I am really enjoying green smoothies and feeling the benefits of them, they're supposed to have quite a few, especially if you include super foods into the mix. I have a few recipes which I enjoy and find extremely easy to create, so for now they are my go-to combinations. I'm looking to increase them though and hopefully reap the benefits of incorporating other ingredients into the mix. 

The combination featured in this post is one I tried for the first time this week, but it's already a firm favourite. It's so zesty and fresh, however not actually green in colour! 

Here's the recipe

Fresh ingredients:

2-3 cups of Baby Spinach                          (I keep mine frozen in order to make my smoothie chilled)

1    cup Filtered Water                             (I do not eat/drink milk or yoghurt)

2    cups of Orange & Grapefruit chunks    (I use both fresh and canned in juice)

1    cup Blueberries                                  (Frozen)

The juice of 1 whole Lemon & 1 Lime

Extras:

1-2tsps Maca Powder

1-2tsps Chia, Flax, Goji Berry mix

1-2tsps Wheatgrass Powder

I take the frozen spinach, I wait until i've prepared everything else before I bring out any frozen produce as I don't want it to wilt, and add it along with a cup of water to my blender. I usually use the pulp action first for a few seconds, before switching to blend for about 30 seconds. 

I find it easier to achieve a smoother liquid by blending the water and green base first. I'll then add my fresh ingredients, in this case it's orange and grapefruit segments with frozen blueberries. I'll also add the powders and the juice from the lemon and lime at this stage, I don't wan't to be blending for too long as it will lose its freshness and affect the overall taste. 

I'll blend for about 60 secs max from this stage, at times I have had to blend longer because of the ingredients i was using and how they were thrown in, always a learning curve! 

I pour mine straight into a bottle and put it into the fridge, I tend to take mine to work with me to have for breakfast. At the moment I am simply using a large fresh juice bottle however I'm shopping around for a decent glass container for them. I'll get about 2 large servings out of mine, depending on the water content of the fruit used and how much filtered water i add, lasting me in the fridge for two days. 

Currently, i like to drink mine out of my Large Disney Tumbler, sorry Tink! but I think I may have found a suitable replacement, a glass mason jar with a built in straw! Very cute! 

Of course, even though the name suggests they will be green, it truly depends on what ingredients you include, in this case the blueberries won! However unappetising it looks, i can assure you it is so refreshing and tasty! 

Smoothie, Super Food Powders, Grapefruit & Orange Segments in Juice.

At the moment I am only using baby and adult spinach in them, they're easy to incorporate and I love spinach, but this is something i'm looking to expand upon. I don't want my body to become too used to the same greens, as they are the whole point of the smoothie, knowing I'm downing a good amount of my daily nutrients is great but it needs to be varied. Why deprive myself of other great greens and their benefits? It just takes some time finding out what ingredients work well together and what I like.  As I mentioned earlier, I don't drink milk or eat yoghurt as I cannot stand them, the thought of drinking milk actually turns my stomach but I will be trying to vary my liquid base as well.

I thought i might also include a couple of pointers about the 'Super Foods' I've included.

Maca Root/Powder

vitamins B, C, and E 

calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium and amino acids

Wheatgrass 

Antioxidant vitamins A, C, E

Vitamin B6  

Zinc, magnesium, iron

Goji Berries

Powerful Antioxidant

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

21 trace minerals including iron, calcium, zinc, selenium

Chia/Flax Seed

Omega 3 Fatty acids

Fibre

Antioxidants

They're basically to help aid in increasing my daily nutrient intake and provide powerful antioxidant benefits and improve my body both physically and mentally, for example improvements in my mood, energy levels, skin health and immune system.

I aim to include a few more 'Super foods' into my smoothies, however it is important to note that it's best to start off with small doses, to see how your body reacts to them and build tolerance, especially with roots such as maca, to avoid any side affects. 

As for the whole preparation aspect and fitting it into my lifestyle at the moment, it's not too bad, I just have to make the time to do it, usually it's straight after we have cleaned up dinner.  It only takes about 15 minutes, including cleaning up, depending on what prep i have to do on the ingredients. This isn't bad at all, it's just a case of making sure I don't let other things get in the way. 

Have you tried green smoothies before?