Spontaneous Green Smoothie

I don't know about you all, but I love summer.
I especially love the heat, I'll take sweating over shivering any day of the week! ( besides, sweating is healthy!)
Ah, summer... plenty of sunshine, great food ,a good excuse to wear tank tops all.the.time, going barefoot, and all the wonderful outdoor activities that summer invites!!

These past few weeks I have been craving smoothies like they are going out of stock! I've always been a fan of smoothies, but this hot weather seems to magnify my cravings for them x10!
However, I always seem to crave them when I am either A. nowhere near a place that makes decent & healthy smoothies, or B. I never have all the ingredients I need for the delicious recipes I find on Pinterest! bummer.

That is when I decided it was high time I step out of my: " I only follow recipes" box and be a little more creative with making smoothies! Since changing my diet, being creative with food seems to happen a lot.

If you have spinach, milk/water and bananas at home,
you can make a healthy green smoothie. It's true.

Example: Today around noon I was starting to get a little hungry, but I wasn't in the mood for a heavy meal. It's 88 degrees outside and all I wanted was something cool, but a glass of water was NOT going to cut it. After searching through the refrigerator I found a handful of spinach leaves that did not look like they would survive another day, they were on the verge of being too limp for a salad but still green and good to eat. I also remembered that I had purchased some bananas on my way home from work last night, and I had some unsweetened almond milk that needed to be used. A Green Smoothie was calling my name! So after rummaging through my stock of health supplies, I found a few other ingredients which I threw into the blender ( along with the spinach, banana, almond milk, water and ice cubes). And Ta-da! I am now enjoying an ice cold, sweet tasting, refreshing smoothie while typing this blog post.

 This particular smoothie has: spinach, banana, almond milk, water, ice cubes, chia seeds, a dash of vitamin C powder, and a scoop of protein/nutritional mix ( while at the health food store, I received some samples for Vega, and I was hooked. Vega offers a nutritional shake mix that is LOADED with nutrition....PLUS it's gluten, soy, and dairy free with no added sugar but it taste great! WHAT?!)

The great thing about blending bananas and spinach together is the bananas will actually mask the taste of the spinach, and spinach is such a soft delicate green that it blends very easily with other ingredients. You are also receiving multiple health benefits in just ONE drink! I love salads, but If I can find a way to incorporate more veggies into my diet without feeling like a grazing cow, then I'm going to do it! So be creative! Once you have a base for you smoothie, you can add whatever you want! Finding a balance of flavor comes with trial and error, but you will soon get the hang of it!

Yes, I know, it looks like you are drinking a cup of blended grass, but I promise it taste nothing like that!

Here is my basic green smoothie recipe I have been using for quite a while:

• 2 cups spinach (ORGANIC!)
• 1-1 1/2 cups milk or water ( I use almond or coconut)
• 1 Banana
• ice

Make sure you add your spinach first, with bananas and milk to follow, blend until smooth, then add however much ice you desire, blend again & serve!

Additional ingredients you can add:

• protein/nutritional mix of your choice ( currently using Vega, but I also love Bulk Herb Store's Green Herbal Mix)
• chia seeds
• ground flax
• vitamin mix
• raw egg (ONLY if organic free range!)
• Fresh or frozen fruit
• organic yogurt
• nut butter
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• organic kale

Do you love smoothies as much as I do? Ever tried a green smoothie?

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