Green smoothie combo ideas needed

[Codi]

MOS - Ever had a jamba juice? Same.

Our usual green smoothie is spinach (frozen), strawberries (frozen), water, ground flax seeds, sometimes a tad OJ, or sometimes some kefir or yogurt.

I want to try kale as well soon.

[shekinah]

Spinach, Grape Juice, Frozen Blueberries/Mixed Berries, Frozen or Fresh banana, Ground up Flax Seeds.

The other day the store didn't have spinach, so I used arugula. I had never even heard of it before, but apparently it's incredibly good for you. The taste is a lot stronger, so I had to not use as much as I would have used with spinach, and more berries. It's very bitter tasting and has a foul smell. I can't do it raw or cooked.. it has to be in the smoothie, lol.

[cbmk4]

OOh...I love arugula for a salad, but you're right! It would be horrible in much quantity for a smoothie!

I like kale the best, but its hard to find here and i really need to plant some. Our 2 favorite smoothies are banana, mixed frozen berries, water, chard, chia seeds and the GREEN one is pineapple (fresh), kiwi or orange, banana, chard, water

I love arugula as well, but in salad and as pesto, too bitter for a smoothie....you are brave for trying it though!

[ncsweetpea]

Are you all trying the green kale or the Russian red kale?

[Mother of Sons]

Ok, so I tried one. I have it sitting in front of me. I don't like it. Actually the texture isn't too bad but it tastes like watery fruit. I didn't use juice because I figured juice is just going to take away and benefits I get from the rest of it. I tasted as I went and I put so much fruit in it that I don't think it can be called healthy anymore!

I put in spinach, pineapple, mixed berries and banana. That was gross so I added several clementine oranges and another banana and it is ok, but sooo watery. I think it has too much water maybe but the blender wouldn't blend without it. Seems like it would be better to just eat the stuff. In fact, I just did get a nice chunk of spinach.

[shekinah]

LOL. I think a lot of it is trial and error to for how much you put in. I honestly don't think I could use water for a smoothie. I think if you use real fruit juice or something that is low in sugar, the benefits of the fruit are still going far outway whatever you get from the juice.

I've used 3/4 water 1/4 juice once and it was wayyy too watery for me. It was not good! So I can only imagine that using only water would be...unappetizing.

I just bought an all natural orange/carrot/mango juice blend (no high fructose corn syrup, low sugar) and it tastes awesome by itself. I use it sparingly in my smoothies and sometimes have to add a bit of water, but not enough to really make it noticeable. It is def. trial and error to find the balance between liquid and ingredients.

[MaybeGracie]

Originally Posted by ncsweetpea

Thanks! I might try it next week. Dh said, "don't even try to serve that to me.".

That's what my DH said when I first started drinking them (over a year ago). Now he happily accepts a glass whenever DS1 and I are making smoothies for ourselves.

Originally Posted by Mother of Sons

Ok, so I tried one. I have it sitting in front of me. I don't like it. Actually the texture isn't too bad but it tastes like watery fruit. I didn't use juice because I figured juice is just going to take away and benefits I get from the rest of it. I tasted as I went and I put so much fruit in it that I don't think it can be called healthy anymore!

I put in spinach, pineapple, mixed berries and banana. That was gross so I added several clementine oranges and another banana and it is ok, but sooo watery. I think it has too much water maybe but the blender wouldn't blend without it. Seems like it would be better to just eat the stuff. In fact, I just did get a nice chunk of spinach.

I don't use any juice/milk and very little water in mine. I have a pretty average blender, nothing fancy (one day, when I'm rich, I'll have a vita-mix!). I start with two sliced bananas, stuff the blender full to the top with spinach leaves, then add in just a bit of water - 1/2 cup or less - to help it blend. Sometimes I have to help it along (give the blender a little shake, or stop it to stuff the rest of the leaves down into the blended part before turning it on again). Once that part is blended, I add in frozen strawberries or blueberries (about a cup, sometimes more) and blend it again.

Mmm...now I really want one.

[BriansLovie]

MMMMM green smothies.

We love bananas, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries in ours. I started using kale, now am using collard greens. They are really good! I put in ground flaxseed. I made one a few days ago adding carrots and clementines with apple and it was FOUL. I had to force myself to drink it.

[mom2boys]

I started out googling for recipes, then I got adventurous as we started drinking them.
I also started out making good old orange julius and adding spinach, then cutting back on the sugar, juice, etc as wegot used to drinking them.
My good ole orange julius recipe is:
1/2 can of frozen oj concetrate
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
ice to the top of the blender

then I added a handful of spinach. As we got used to it, we started adding less sugar, more spinach, frozen strawberries instead of as much ice, etc.

In MY house, we have to start with what we know and tiptoe towards the unknown.

[Mamaka]

We made our first green smoothie today:

1 banana
1/2 pear
handful of frozen pineapple
lots of spinach
almond milk
ice

I didn't tell my non-vegetable eating ds1 that it had spinach and we called it a shamrock smoothie to make the bright green color fun. He slurped it right down and pronounced it one of his favorite smoothie recipes.