Greens Challenge Smoothie

Okay – ready to start the Get Your Greens Challenge? If so, you are going to want to know the basic smoothie recipe that will get you all set up and ready to go. Here are some guidelines/rules for your Greens Challenge Smoothie

1. Drink or eat 1 pound of dark leafy greens a day for 5 days (this is the only rule!)
2. The easiest way to get these greens down is in a giant smoothie (a full Vitamix or large blender’s worth). If you are using a smaller blender, you might need to 3 or 4 of them!
3. A high-speed blender is best because it will pulverize the fiber enough that you smoothie will be smooth and not gritty or fibrous. Give it a good long, high speed blend.
4. The key is to trick your taste buds with a sweet taste because greens can be bitter. I recommend stevia drops (if you like a lot of sweet), and dates if you are more of a less-is-more gal or guy!
5. You need to load your smoothie with different flavors that take away from the greeney taste. Everything in my recipes does just that, plus each has a mega health benefit.
6. If you add a berry such as blueberry, it will turn your smoothie a sludge color, which might put you off, so add them as your wish and if you’re too much of a visual eater!!
7. Add whatever you want to your smoothie – don’t just stick with what I have in my recipe. Think of every fruit and veggie that might work and that you love.
8. Mix up your greens! I recommend using spinach, kale, baby chard, Romaine, parsley and mint.
9. Use baby greens because they are sweeter and easier to blend.
10. You don’t have to go organic with your greens because most of them (except spinach) aren’t on the dirty dozen list, but go organic with spinach and berries.
11. Don’t peel apples as all the nutrition is in the peel.
12. Add crushed ice only if you are going to drink the smoothie right away. When going for your second or third smoothie, you might want to re-blend with some crushed ice.
13. Don’t try to drink a 32-ounce smoothie all in one go. It will be way too much. Try half of it, and then come back to it 30-60 minutes later.
14. I highly recommend a thick straw. It’s the ONLY way that I can drink a smoothie without gagging. I am obsessed with my collection of glass Simply Straws.

Greens Challenge Smoothie

• 4-6 cups of greens (kale, spinach, swiss chard, romaine, collards etc.)
• Approx. 6 – cups liquid (I like coconut water, but you can add water)
• Handful raw almonds (about 8-10)
• 2 apples, cored (not peeled) and chopped or 1 cup frozen chopped pineapple
• 2 lemons, peeled & quartered (in stead of one)
• 2 tbsp flax seeds
• 1 tsp. ginger, peeled and chopped
• 4 dates or 1 dropper of liquid stevia
• Crushed ice

Add in’s

• 2 tbsp Hemp Seed – This will give your smoothie an extra protein boost with up making it chalky in the way that protein powders do.
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon – I love the taste of cinnamon in a smoothie and it masks the green taste for sure. It can also help lower blood sugar.
• 1/2 Avocado – This will add protein, fats, and give your smoothie a creamy consistency.
• 1/2 frozen banana – This will add potassium, magnesium, and make your smoothie extra creamy.
• 1/2 cup organic silken tofu – This will add a mega protein boost and make your smoothie silky/creamy.
• Kiwi – Gives your smoothie a big Vitamin C boost
• 1 tbsp Amla powder (mega Vitamin C boost)

Instructions

Simply toss everything into your blender and blend until every particle has disappeared. You don’t want any “texture” in your smoothie because it makes it harder to drink, and will separate. If you find your smoothie is too thick, simply dilute with another cup of coconut water or water.

Storage

Your smoothie will separate after a few hours, so you’ll need to shake it up. You can make your smoothies 2 days ahead and keep in fridge. Or, you can freeze for up to a week. But, ideally make a fresh batch every other day. I use large 33-ounce canning Mason jars (like in the image). Or you can use a regular 32-ounce Mason jar. Oh, wait a minute, I just found these ones with straws – awesome!

Price

The price of a green smoothie from a juice bar (here in LA) runs from 6 -14 bucks. You can make your entire 64-ounce smoothie for 4 – 8 bucks, depending on what liquid you use. If you use coconut water, which I do, the price will obviously be more than water. You can use a non-dairy milk, but I think it’s a wasted cost since you’re using almonds anyway. You smoothie will obviously be more if you go 100% organic, which is preferred, but not absolutely necessary.