2015 Green Smoothie Challenge-Healthy Changes this year

We have found ourselves slipping out of our healthy habits of summer where we were blending up smoothies for breakfast and sometimes an afternoon snack or refresher later on the hot afternoon. Somehow winter doesn’t make drinking icy frothy drinks nearly as exciting as it is in summer but we sure did feel better when those were a part of our daily lifestyle.

Join me on a Smoothie Challenge on Instagram. #CGSmoothie Twitter & Facebook too!

You can join at any time, I’ll be posting my daily concoctions and would love to see what you are doing. I’m starting again on Monday! use Hashtag #CGSmoothie on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter so we can all get inspiration! The challenge will be to replace at least 3 meals a week with a Green Smoothie.

We found Simple Green Smoothies on Instagram and decided to join their 30 Day Smoothie Challenge. WOW what a difference this has made. I started craving Kale!! WHAT?? I don’t even like green things but I do when they are blended up!

These are this weeks smoothie recipes… what do you think?

CRANBERRY SPRITZER SMOOTHIE

1 cup fresh greens
1 cup coconut water, almond milk or organic juice of choice
1/4 cup cranberries*
1 cup pineapple (frozen organic)
1/2 lime, juiced or peeled + 2 drops Lime Essential Oil (optional)
(Optional: 1/2 scoop of RawFit Protein Powder)

CRANBERRY CITRUS BLAST SMOOTHIE

1 cup fresh greens
3/4 cups coconut water, almond milk or organic juice
1.4 cup cranberries*
1 orange peeled
1/2 banana – frozen chunks or fresh
(Optional: 1/2 scoop of RawFit Protein Powder)

*Don’t have cranberries? no worries, substitute any red berries. I’m going to try this one for sure I love tart cranberries.

COCONUT DREAM SMOOTHIE

1 cups fresh greens
1 cup coconut milk, unsweetened
1/2 cup mango – fresh or frozen
1/2 cup pineapple – fresh or frozen
1/2 banana – fresh or frozen
1 tablespoon coconut flakes, unsweetened
(Optional: 1/2 scoop of RawFit Protein Powder)

OH KALE YEAH SMOOTHIE

1 cups fresh kale
1 cup coconut water, almond milk or organic juice of choice
1/2 banana – fresh or frozen
1/2 cup pineapple – fresh or frozen
1/2 cup strawberries- fresh or frozen (go ahead and throw the whole strawberry in.. including it’s greens!)
(Optional: 1/2 scoop of RawFit Protein Powder)

TROPICAL DREAM TEAM SMOOTHIE

1 cup fresh greens
1/2 cup coconut water
1/2 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1 banana
1/2 cup mango
1/2 cup peaches
(Optional: 1/2 scoop of RawFit Protein Powder)

CITRUS CRUSH SMOOTHIE

1 cup fresh greens
3/4 cup almond or coconut milk, coconut water or organic juice
1/2 cup pineapple
1/2 orange, peeled
1/2 cup grapes, any variety
(Optional: 1/2 scoop of RawFit Protein Powder)

BERRY BERRY SMOOTHIE RECIPE

Ingredients:

1/3 cup frozen organic raspberries
1/3 cup frozen organic strawberries
1/2 small banana
1/4 cup coconut water or milk
1/4 cup cranberry nectar
1/2 ice (optional)

Smoothie Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a blender container and puree until smooth.

Recipes above are adapted from Simple Green Smoothie challenge I adjusted to make only 1 serving and I don’t like to use just plain water because it causes the smoothie to separate if you don’t drink it fast enough and I want to get as many nutrients in as possible in my first meal of the day. If you use fresh fruit versus frozen you will need to add ice to get it to the consistency that you like if you like an icy texture (and I do) but they will be just fine without the ice if you prefer.

You can always substitute a fruit that you have or that is ripe and in season. Berries for berries, melons for melons and any green is fine. The 365 Days of Smoothies book even talks about greens you don’t think of. Why not toss the whole strawberry in along with it’s green hat? Sure saves time in the morning.

Organic Fresh Greens – I like to mix this up, some weeks I do Kale, some spinach but my favorite is when the store has organic super greens. Then I’m sure to get ALL the extra nutrition from all sorts of greens AND I don’t even taste them. Do whichever one looks best at the store.

How to Smoothie!

Everyone likes their smoothies a little different so the key is to keep playing with it until you find the way you like it. I add a cup of crushed ice to everything because I’m menopausal so always #Hawt! but you might like them less icy and more creamy smooth. It also depends on your blender as to how it works best. Some you need to blend the greens with the liquid first but in the Ninja, it works better to blend the greens in with the initial frozen items too. Don’t be afraid to play with your food!

First off you need an excellent blender.

I chose a this Ninja for $99. The least expensive choice and mine is now about one year old and has withstood at least 200 smoothies along with lots of other tests and it works great. I also like the smaller smoothie sized pitcher. If I were to buy again I would probably get one of the options with the smaller blend and go tumblers here.
The Vitamix is always a favorite but a bit high priced for our budget.
The Simple Green Smoothie ladies prefer the Blendtec. You can start using whatever one you have but these 3 will give you superior results when it comes to grinding those greens down where you can’t even tell you are drinking a salad.

Great Vegan Protein Powder

To help lose weight (which I’m always trying to do) you need a boost of protein powder and I used to HATE it, it was so chalky and nasty tasting unless you got some with a ton of stuff that was bad for you. Recipes may or may NOT have it included but I normally add it. I have hunted and HUNTED and finally found this one. Garden of Eden Raw Protein. The regular formula comes in Vanilla, Chocolate, Unflavored and Vanilla Chai. The weight loss version comes in Green Tea (which has no flavor at all) and . You can get it on Amazon subscription and save another 5%. This is cheaper than I find it at Whole Foods and Sprouts even with a coupon. I’m NOT a Vegan by any stretch of the imagination but it’s great for this use to not have any milk products for the Daniel Plan Cleanse and lots of other health plans.

Provides raw organic sprouted protein and live probiotics and enzymes
Excellent source of protein 17 grams and 33% daily value
Contains vitamin code raw food-created nutrients with their unique code
Suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets
Easily digested supports digestive health and function with live probiotics and protein-digesting enzymes

The Raw Fit comes in Green Tea (pretty much flavorless and great for my smoothies) and Marley Coffee.. sounds yummy but I haven’t tried it.

Support healthy blood sugar levels and burn fat naturally with the power of Svetol Green Coffee Bean Extract, RAW Food Created Chromium, Organic Cinnamon, and Organic Sprouted Grains
Help regulate your cortisol levels and manage stress related cravings with RAW Organic Ashwagandha
Build lean muscle mass, help repair it after work-outs and sustain it on a sensible meal plan with 28g of RAW certified organic plant protein–a complete protein with 13 organic sprouts and a biological value of 98.2%!
Naturally filling and satisfies hunger with RAW Organic Soluble and Insoluble Fiber from certified organic grains, seeds, legumes and fruits
Promotes healthy and comfortable digestion and elimination with live probiotics and enzymes
There are other varieties to check out here but these two have my endorsement.

Chose a few recipes that look good to you and hit the organic section of the store.

Costco has great deals on bags of frozen organic fruit and bags of Kale & Super Greens mix. Bananas are so inexpensive and pretty much make every smoothie taste wonderful. You never need to add any sweetener if you have a banana in your mix. You can use them either in their natural state or if they start to go a little too ripe, cut them into large chunks and freeze. Then put them into a ziplock bag to use throughout the week. Another tip we learned from Chopped Champion Jeremy Bringardener is to freeze chunks of cucumber in the same way and use them in your smoothies. This is the first green smoothie I ever tried and it pretty much changed my life. Lyfe Kitchen Banana Kale Smoothie Chef Bringardener demostrates his smoothie techniques in the video below. The sound is a little rough but we really enjoyed meeting him at the grand opening. Smoothies are also perfect for the Daniel Plan after your 10-day cleanse and even during the class you can modify the recipes. My friends that are getting into Essential Oils are also putting a few drops of those in their smoothies, I’ll let you know how that goes too.