Smoothies are a great way to sneak the greens into our day!

Welcome back! If you are Hungry for a Fresh Start in the New Year you’re in the right place.

This is the time for new beginnings! With the arrival of the New Year and spring feeling just around the corner, this is the perfect time to act on goals and intentions and to set a solid foundation for our health.

Yesterday we created our own Vegetable Color Wheel and discovered all sorts of new, delicious and creative ways to include a diverse variety of colored vegetables into our day. I hope you stopped back by my blog to share your comments about which colors you chose to eat and which new colors you’re excited to try.

Today is our day to Get a Drink!

Did you know that introducing smoothies and green drinks is a delicious and simple way to include more greens into our day. Blended with fruits, berries or nut butters, we can easily add between 1-3 cups of mild greens such as kale and spinach to our recipes. Surprise – we often can’t even taste the greens!

After 3-4 weeks of drinking a smoothie with greens or a green drink daily, many of my clients start to get compliments on how radiant their skin looks, how toned their body is becoming and how much vibrant energy they appear have gained.

Select a recipe – Choose flavors and fruits you LOVE! Adding fruits will balance the bitterness of the greens. Ripe bananas, mangos and avocados are great fruits to add thick and creamy texture to smoothies. Store ripe bananas in the freezer – for recipes that call for 1/2 a banana slice in half before freezing or in smaller chunks. Experiment with everything from frozen seedless grapes to ripe pears, pineapple,  apples, oranges and honeydew melon or cantaloupe. Include fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries but beware that using red or purple berries may change the color of your smoothie to a somewhat murky brown…

Choose your greens - My own personal favorite is kale (it’s true I have a bit of a kale obsession). Kale is robust, stores well in the fridge and is a nutrition powerhouse that offers more absorbable calcium and iron that greens like spinach and swiss chard. Spinach and swiss chard are milder in flavor than kale, which makes them perfect “starter” greens for those new to green drinks and smoothies.

Eat Inspired Today Tip –  Rotate the greens your include in your drinks and smoothies to maximize your health benefits and allow your taste buds a change. Kale and spinach both offer mild flavor and great nutrients.

Wash and stem greens - Fully submerge greens like kale and fresh spinach to remove all dirt and sand (or take the short cut and buy pre-washed or frozen). Be sure to dry your extra greens before refrigerating.  Use a salad spinner, a towel or simply shake to dry.  Store in the fridge in a large ziploc bag or container, left open, with a dry paper towel. For greens like chard and kale, make sure to remove leaves from tough stems (unless you have a super-powered blender like a Vitamix).

Add More -  Add a tablespoon or two protein powder or greens powder like Green Vibrance powder. Try everything from seeds  such as chia, hemp, flax, or salba to goji berries and spirulina.

Blend it Well -  Take the time to make your smoothie smooth! Grainy, chunky drinks will not encourage you to continue to Get your Green Drink on! A couple of minutes is usually enough. Blend until the greens are so pulverized that they are no longer visible other than infusing your smoothie with a beautiful green color. Investing in a high-powered blender such as a Vitamix or Blendtec will make the job faster and quieter but is NOT necessary.

Try it Out – Before you pour the entire smoothie into glasses, take a taste test! Grab a spoonful – at this point it’s easy enough to add a bit more of something to make it sweeter, less thick or less runny.

So let’s Get our Drink on!

I’m going to share a few quick, simple recipes to help you learn to prepare a really delicious green smoothie that you and your family will crave. Let’s be honest – no matter how nutritious, if it’s not delicious, we won’t continue to drink them..

A quick note about these recipes – it’s often easy too swap out fresh, frozen or even freeze dried varieties of the fruits and vegetables in these smoothies – making them even more convenient and easy year round. Remember to purchase organic if and when available! Just remember this may slightly change the texture and consistency of the smoothie – keep a little extra ice or liquid on hand.

Remember – water can always easily be subbed for a dairy or non-dairy beverage and vice versa.

Add up to a cup full of greens to your smoothie recipes.

Berry Kale Smoothie

1 large ripe bananas, peeled

6-12 kale leaves

1/2 cup strawberries, frozen

1 cup blueberries, frozen

1 1/2 cup water

Pour the water and toss the banana and kale into the blender. Blend. Add the strawberries and blueberries. Blend again until smooth. Enjoy! 1-2 servings.

Post Workout Smoothie

1/2 banana

1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt (can sub coconut yogurt or non-dairy alternative)

1 tablespoon organic peanut butter

1 scoop protein powder

1-2 handfuls of spinach

1/4 cup coconut water or water

Combine all ingredients into the blender. Blend. Add more liquid as needed. Blend again until smooth. Enjoy! 1-2 servings.

Chocolate Greens and Protein Smoothie

1/2 banana

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

1 scoop flax

1/2 to 1 cup of skim milk or non-dairy alternative

1 tablespoon Peanut Butter

1/4 cup spinach (add more to taste)

5 ice cubes

Combine in blender and blend til smooth, adding more liquid as desired. 1-2 Servings.

Fruit and Greens Smoothie

1/2 banana

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 scoop flax

5 strawberries (approx.)

1/2 cup of strawberry greek yogurt

1/2 cup milk or non-dairy alternative

1/4 cup spinach

Combine, blend and serve.

Purple Pineapple Kale Smoothie (a.k.a. Purple Kale Eater)

1 large ripe banana, peeled

2-4 large kale leaves

1/2 cup blueberries,frozen, fresh or freeze-dried

3/4 cup pineapple, fresh or frozen

5 ice cubes

1 cup water

Combine water, banana, kale, blueberries and pineapple into the blender. Blend. Add ice. Blend again until smooth. Enjoy! 1-2 servings.

When you’re in a rush:

Quick as a Bunny Blueberry Kale Smoothie

1 large ripe banana, peeled

2-4 kale leaves

1 cup blueberries, frozen

1 cup water

Add banana, kale and water into the blender. Blend. Add the blueberries. Blend again until smooth. Enjoy! 1-2 servings.

Peachy Kale Smoothie

1 large ripe banana, peeled

10 kale leaves

4 dates, pitted

3/4 cup pineapple, frozen

1/2 cup strawberries, frozen

3/4 cup peaches, frozen

1 cup water

Combine banana, kale, water and dates into the blender. Blend. Add the frozen fruit and blend again until smooth. 1-2 servings.

On the sweeter side:

PDK, Pineapple Date Kale Smoothie

1 large ripe banana, peeled

10 kale leaves

1 cup pineapple, fresh

3 dates, pitted

1 cup mango, frozen

3 ice cubes

1 1/2 cup pure water

Add water, banana, kale, pineapple, and dates into the blender. Blend. Add the mango and ice. Blend again until smooth. 1-2 servings.

Add avocado for a creamier smoothie:

Creamy Avocado Kale Smoothie

1 large ripe banana, peeled

4 large kale leaves

1/4-1/2 avocado flesh

3/4 cup blueberries, frozen

1/2 cup strawberries, frozen

1 1/2 cups water

Mix banana, kale, water and avocado into the blender. Blend. Add the blueberries and strawberries. Blend again until smooth. Enjoy! 1-2 servings.

Raspberry Avocado Smoothie

1 avocado, peeled and pitted

3/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup raspberry juice

1/2 cup frozen raspberries, (not thawed)

Place all of the ingredients in a blender, and blend on medium until the mixture is smooth. Pour into glasses, and serve immediately. 2 servings. Nutrition Info: 249 calories, 14g fat, 32g carbohydrates, 3g protein, 7g fiber, 14mg sodium.

Night Before Green Protein Smoothie

‎1 Banana

1tbs protein powder

1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt or a non-dairy substitute

1 tablespoon peanut butter

3/4 cup non-fat milk or non-dairy substitute

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/2 – 1 cup spinach

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Refrigerate overnight (smoothie will thicken) This is a very hearty and filling smoothie.

Approximate Nutrition Info: 375 cals, 11g fat, 51g carbs, 34.1g sugar, 23g protein

Traveling? Need to take your Green Drink on-the-go? One of my favorite substitutes for a green smoothie is my Amazing Grass Amazing Meal powder.

Why Drink Green?

It’s obvious that green smoothies and drinks are offer great nutrients. And it’s fun to allow ourselves a new way to include fruits and vegetables into our day.

Blended greens makes the valuable nutrients easy for our body to digest. Helping the greens get absorbed into our bodies faster.

Green smoothies, as opposed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber. This added fiber aids our digestion.

Green smoothies are a perfect way to introduce greens into your (and your family’s) breakfast, lunch or snack. In fact, gradually slipping larger amounts into fruit smoothies increases your intake of nutrient dense foods and often in a way that you cannot even taste the difference!

You can easily prepare a pitcher of green smoothie in less than 5 minutes, including cleaning. Easy to make, green smoothies require little-to-no cooking skills, create little mess and are relatively inexpensive.

Green smoothies are kid and family friendly – who doesn’t like a smoothie?!

Consuming greens in the form of green smoothies, REDUCES our normal daily consumption of oils and salt which we often use to cook and flavor our greens.

Would you like to experience fewer cravings?

This is truly one my favorite benefits to including regular green smoothies and greens drinks into our day. Imagine breaking free from cravings for processed, sugary and salty foods. My own cravings for chocolate were often so strong that I would eat large quantities and couldn’t keep any form of chocolate in my home. Right around 6 weeks of incorporating greens drinks into my daily rituals I noticed that I wasn’t craving the chocolate – in fact I had completely forgotten that there was an open bag of chocolate chips in my pantry (this NEVER happens!). It feels incredibly liberating to no longer feel that I need to bring chocolate with me places for after meals.

And a great by-product of including green smoothies as a daily habit which often INCREASES cravings for greens and vegetables and REDUCES cravings for sweet and salty foods – we lose the weight! At my Nutrition School we call this crowding out – eating MORE of the good stuff which teaches our body that we have what we need and we eventually stop craving.

Fresh is always best, but green smoothies conveniently store in the fridge for up to a few days, which makes green smoothies a perfect on-the-go snack or addition to a meal.

A few of the other potential benefits of including regular green drinks into our day, my clients and many women friends have noticed that they feel more balanced and have fewer mood swings. 

And yes, as I mentioned in my post Beauty from the Inside Out, our skin becomes radiant! 

How does this work? Greens drinks create an environment in which our regular bowel movements eliminate toxins in an efficient manner creating a healthy digestive system. When toxins are trapped in our body they contribute to skin issues as well as a host of other health problems.

When we are fueling our body properly our body will crave activity and we may experience a sense of renewed energy.

Daily greens drinks have been demonstrated to stabilize blood sugar levels and support healthy metabolism.

Many greens contains calcium and nutrients which encourage the growth of healthy hair and nails. Just one more benefit when you Get a (Green) Drink!

Remember to have fun while you Get a Drink! Our enthusiasm is contagious, especially in the kitchen.

Our goal is to include 3-5 vegetables into our day for a tasty way to boost our health and kick-start our New Year!

Which Get a Drink! recipe will you (and perhaps your family) try this week? I’m looking forward to reading your comments, recipes and tips below.

See you tomorrow! Each day this week we’ll set daily nutrition habits that will reward us with renewed energy, radiance and optimal health. Whether we want to drop unwanted pounds, boost our energy, defy our age or simply eat healthier, each day this week we’ll learn a new quick, simple tip for including vegetables into our daily routine. Making these healthy choices each day will move us toward our goal for the Year of the Dragon in 2012.

ENJOY your day and I’ll see you back here tomorrow as we learn how to Get Local!

In Health & Friendship,

Come join our community on Facebook and share your stories, comments inspirations. Find me on Facebook  here. Follow me on Twitter @CleaShannon.

Want more?! Order your FREE Nutrition Book now.

We have partnered with, Dr. Joe and Stacey Merlo, D.C. who will be sharing these simple tips with their community at Good Vibrations Family Chiropractic all week-long. Stop in to their Kensington offices at Good Vibrations Family Chiropractic, voted Best San Diego Chiropractor.

Looking for more simple ways to incorporate vegetables into your day, including personalized recipes, meal plans and lists of seasonal vegetable choices for your local area? My 6 month program offers all of these delicious tips tailored-just for-you.

In-person, telephone and Skype consultations available. Contact Clea Shannon, certified holistic health coach and gluten-free guide.