I Love Smoothies!

Did you know, that my smoothie consumption increases exponentially with the temperature? No, really, in the summer, I am constantly using my Vita-mix blender to make refreshing, icy-cold drinks. I buy a big bag of frozen berries from Costco and keep frozen bananas in the freezer at all times, so I can feed my smoothie cravings. I also have a peach tree that produces way more peaches than we can possibly consume, so I usually have quite a few gallon ziplock bags of frozen peaches. My usual smoothie is a few frozen strawberries, half a frozen banana, maybe some honey, blended with some soy milk and ice. I like them thick, almost frozen yogurt-like.

Although it is currently BELOW FREEZING here in this god-forsaken place, I want smoothies! There is snow on the ground, but I am kind of in denial, so I am going to ignore how cold it is outside and pretend it is still 80 degrees. Which it was actually 80 degrees last week. Crazy weather huh?

I brought a blender along with me to school last August, but I haven't really been using it. Let's see, I made one smoothie last semester, and maybe some matcha milk tea (green tea bubble tea) a few times. Another than that, my blender has been neglected, sitting forlornly in it's dusty corner.

I made a promise to my blender that I won't ignore it any longer! (psh, like you don't talk to your appliances?) I have been making green smoothies to try to get more greens into me. Do you know how hard it is to get veggies on campus? Other than eating from the salad bar, there is a pathetic amount of vegetables in the food options on campus. No, ONE leaf of lettuce and three slices of tomatoes in my sandwich is not enough.

Green smoothies are delicious, and so good for you. It's an efficient way to get some greens into your diet, so you aren't wasting so much time munching on that tasteless pile of lettuce from the salad bar like a freaking goat. Blending the greens also releases more phytonutrients and vitamins that your body can absorb if your chewing isn't as effective as said goat. If you don't like the taste of raw greens, up the amount of sweet fruit and it'll mask the flavor of the greens. I promise. To make a green smoothie, just blend up a bunch of leafy greens, like spinach and kale, with some delicious fruit, like banana, mango, berries, pineapple, papaya, etc. You can also add some superfoods, like chia seeds, flax seeds or flax oil, spirulina, acai, goji berries. Add enough water to blend, and you've got yourself a delicious, VERY GREEN, very healthy drink! Oh, and did I mention that green is my favorite color? Just looking at it makes me feel healthy ;)

Look at that beautiful color!

Green Smoothie Recipe #1

• handful of kale
• handful of spinach
• 1/2 mango
• 1/2 banana
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• water

Place ingredients into a blender, and blend on high until smooth. Adjust the amount of water depending on how thick or thin you like your smoothie.