Green Monster Smoothie

Have you ever had a Green Monster Smoothie?  I hadn't either until just about 2-3 weeks ago and when I found them I was a little apprehensive to try them, they are in fact bright green!  I don't want to drink something that looks like grass, do you?  After the first sip I was hooked, I drink them every single morning for breakfast and see myself doing this for the rest of my life.

  

Why? Why would I want to even bother drinking a Green Monster Smoothie?  So many reasons come to mind. For me it's about the energy that I feel returning to my life because my body isn't exhausted all of the time.  I'm a busy lady and I was just feeling drained all of the time.  Over the past couple of years I've been really sick, and sick all of the time.  I'm sure it's because I wasn't doing a lot of things that our bodies require for us to function properly like resting, fueling my body with proper nutrition, exercising and taking time for myself.  This year I decided to change some of these things.  We are cutting back on the kids activities, I'm going to take some time for myself.  I am embarrassed to say it but I haven't actually scrap booked in almost 2 years and that is one of my hobbies and something that I enjoy and can unwind and get creative. 

 Now, on to the green smoothies....I was reading Iowa Girl Eats and on January 4th, 2012 she posted her "Top Secret Diet Weapon".  I was intrigued and kept reading and decided to go ahead and give it a try.  I went to Aldi and bought all of the ingredients and then waited until the next morning to try it.  As soon as I tasted the Green Monster Smoothie it was love at first taste!  I had finally found a way for me to get a bunch of greens in and not having to sit and eat mounds of salads all day long!  The Green Monster Smoothie is literally changing my life! I have so much more energy, my skin is glowing, hair and nails are amazing and I just FEEL so much better!  I've been reading everything I can about Green Monster Smoothies and watching YouTube videos, checking out books at the library.  It might be a touch too much but when you find something that works for you, I say, "Go for it!"  Since drinking the smoothies I've tried many different combinations and haven't found one that I don't like.  

Here's Iowa Girl's recipe and it's the original one that I started with

Green Monster Spinach Smoothie

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 frozen sliced banana

1 Tablespoon peanut butter

1/2 cup 0% Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt

1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (or other kind of milk)

4 cups baby spinach (or more, or less)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Nutritional stats:

350 calories, 10g fiber, 21g protein

If you are wondering why they are called Green Monster Smoothies, it's because of all of the greens that are in them.  I've mainly used spinach so far but there are many, many other kinds of greens that you can include in your smoothie.  Each kind of green will taster differently and will have different benefits.  

Here are a couple of different websites that talk about the Green Monster Movement.  

Oh, She Glows is a healthy, vegan recipe blog, she has wonderful smoothie recipes and started the whole Green Monster Movement craze!

The Chic Life is a blog written by Diana a whole food enthusiast, Zumba instructor and recipe developer (among many other things)

Amy at Sing for your Supper shows that green monsters don't always turn out green!

Dr Oz- I'm sure you've all heard of him!

I've been playing around with a bunch of different flavor combinations, we love strawberries, bananas, spinach and pineapples with water, orange juice and a little yogurt or coconut oil.  This is our favorite so far and the kids actually LOVE it!  We also like to include blueberries but that will turn your drink from a green smoothie to a brownish smoothie, still tastes great though!

Your really can NOT taste the spinach, believe me when I tell you that it's so creamy it almost tastes like a dessert drink.  It's not something I thought I would ever LOVE, but I do.  I also love the fact that if you get tired of the taste just change up your fruit and veggies.  I made one the other day and added a cucumber to it, yes you could taste a subtle hint of cucumber but not at all like I expected.  I love to add peanut butter to mine also for a little extra protein plus I enjoy the taste.  You can add milk, soy, almond butter, yogurt, protein powder, vega powder, coconut milk, coconut oil and the list goes on and on.  The more you research it the more you will find out about green smoothies and their amazing health benefits.

My top 9 reasons for drinking green monster smoothies


1 – Natural Weight Loss
2 – Increased Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables (Particularly Greens)
3 – Easier Digestibility and Nutrient Assimilation
4 – Antioxidants
5 – Mental Clarity and Focus
6 – Increased Energy
7 – Clearer Skin
8 – Reduce Cravings
 9– Increased Fiber Intake




I also wanted to add that I don't have a special blender just a regular one.  I know that many people buy the Vitamix especially for smoothies but right now it's not in my budget so I just blend on high for a couple of minutes until it's smooth and creamy!


FYI: There's an app for that!  Yes, there's even an app for Green Smoothies and it's only $1.99!


Thanks for reading,