green smoothie

Green Smoothie #3

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

One of my goals for week 3 of the Spring Transformation is to drink 2 – 3 green smoothies. I made a batch of about 3 yesterday to store for the week.

Here is what I included:

  • 1 cup of coconut water (Organic – Unsweetened)
  • 3 cups of coconut milk (Unsweetened)
  • 3 – 4 large handfuls of fresh spinach
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 2 T raw cacao powder (Navitas Naturals) (probably should’ve added more)
  • 3 T raw almond butter (Trader Joe’s Raw)
  • 2 T Organic Flax Seed
  • 1 T natural peanut butter
  • 1 -2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 packet of Sweet Leaf (stevia)
  • Cinnamon
  • Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
  • You could add berries or a banana if you like.  Berries are low glycemic and better option than a banana as they are higher in sugar.  I didn’t add the fruit as I seem to be very sensitive to the sugar.

I use a vitamix so it does a nice job of blending.  I added the first 3 ingredients first to blend it all together.  Next I added the rest and blended until nicely mixed.  It is not a pretty color at all – I thought the raw cocoa would make it look like chocolate (it did not).

I poured into shaker bottles and stored in the refrigerator.

I had my first one today – about 12 ozs.  Since I was having it pre-workout, I did add more water, ice cubes and 1 scoop of Sun Warrior Chocolate vegan protein mix.   My workout was at 7:00 pm.  I normally have my pre-workout shake about 45  – 30 minutes before my workout.  Since there are a lot more ingredients in this smoothie I had it about an hour ahead of time.  I was a bit draggy today and I did have a good workout (I’m thinking this had something to do with it).  Guess I will see later this week as I will alternate between my normal shakes and this green smoothie.

Enjoy!

Green Smoothie #2

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Here is the smoothie I made yesterday.  It was a pretty green (and frothy) – more of a St. Patrick’s green than the one I made on Sunday (I’ll post a picture later).  It was a bit peppery (and I like pepper – but not in my morning drink) (not even sure what made it peppery).  I also meant to put in some flaxseed and I forgot.  If I made this one again, I would probably add lemons or limes and maybe a little stevia and pink himalayan salt

Ingredients:

1 – 1 /2 cups of lemon water
Handful of spinach
1 – 2 celery stalks
Fresh Ginger
Parsley

Put in that order into vitamix and blend.

Green Smoothie Recipe – #1

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

I’m starting to experiment with Green Smoothies. I’m really curious to see how they have a positive impact on my energy level (and selfishly if there are any weight loss benefits). I think many of you know I’ve been seeing a nutritionist for almost a year. One of the things I have to focus on is getting more veggies in each meal. Sometimes I don’t do that great of a job doing getting my veggies.  I want to see if this makes a difference.  I’m don’t plan on using these as a meal replacement – more of a quick hit on getting my ‘greens’.

Yesterday, I was visiting my Aunt and Uncle.  The plan was for the 3 of us to go out for dinner.  We tried a steak place that didn’t seem to have their act together and we left before ever being seated.  And the next place we went to – we were seated relatively quickly, wait staff was great, I got my salad and then the wait started – and then we waited.  Somehow our order got lost – who knows.  The manager came over and apologized and told us the meal was on her – which was great – and then we waited some more.  Of course when the food finally came out – everything was cold except the plates and my sweet potato fries (which of course I had a few).  Needless to say we left (we did give our waitress a tip as this wasn’t her fault).  And we can go back for 3 free entrees.  The reason I told you this story is I left there and got home around 8 pm and I still need to eat dinner (and honestly I didn’t feel like cooking anything).  Perfect opportunity to make a Green Smoothie!

I grabbed this recipe off of Facebook from Amanda Hayes::Nutrition and Wellness Page (post dated March 14th).  I altered slightly for my preference though.  Her recipe calls for a banana and I skipped that since I haven’t been eating fruit.  Her recipe was for Peanut Butter and I opted for Almond Butter instead.

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Trader Joe’s)
Few handfuls of torn up spinach
3-4 ice cubes
2 tablespoons raw cocoa powder (Navitas)
2 tablespoons flaxseed
1 tablespoon Almond Butter (Trader Joe’s)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablet of Blackleaf Stevia (I would use 2 next time – would’ve preferred a little sweeter)
pinch of sea salt (I used Himalayan)
pinch of cinnamon (I used more than a pinch)

I enjoyed it although it was an interesting color of green – a Happy St. Patrick’s Day Smoothie!