Happy Saturday everyone!

I am going to stop posting regularly on Saturdays, but since I have taken several days off the last couple of weeks, I thought I would share something today.

Let’s talk about green smoothies! Or smoothies in general. Or juices. I don’t have a juicer or Vitamix but I make my smoothies in a blender. And I want to hear your favorite smoothie/juice combinations!

To start, let’s talk about the green part of the smoothie. I’ll tell you — I don’t really want to make and drink a smoothie unless it has spinach (or something green) in it. It seems not worth it to me. Sure, blended fruit and yogurt is good, but there are many other things I would rather be eating/drinking. Now, add spinach and it becomes much more worth it to me. I am now consuming a huge amount of leafy greens, easily! To start my day. Before I do anything else, I have an entire cup of raw spinach in me. Now that is worth it. If you haven’t had a green smoothie before, you really can’t taste the greens! How I can describe the taste is purely refreshing. The greens add this amazing feeling and taste of freshness, and I love it. Also, I haven’t adventured much past spinach, except for one time when I used kale. What kind of greens do you add to you smoothie or juice?

Let’s talk taste/sweetness. I don’t love smoothies that are overly sweet. It’s like I’m having dessert for breakfast. I know, who doesn’t love that? Dessert-y things for breakfast. I don’t! I love oatmeal for breakfast, but not if it is overly sweet. Same with my smoothies. I don’t add any extra sweetener other than the fruit itself. And, like I said above, you can’t taste the spinach, but I feel that it counteracts even more of the sweetness, which is perfect for me. Do you like your smoothies sweet? What do you add to make it sweet? If I ever were to add extra sweet, I would probably add honey.

Now on to texture. I like it thin. I want to be able to drink it without a straw. I want it to flow easily out of my glass and into my mouth. Almost juice-ish. But, like I said, my smoothies are technically not juice because I just use a blender. I try to get them as close to juice-y as I can. I tried a green smoothie from a local coffee shop about a week ago. It sounded so good. Spinach, avocado, banana and pineapple. Great combination. But, this smoothie was so thick. I took one sip and I loved the flavor, but the texture was way too thick for me. It is almost too heavy?  Like I get way too full drinking thick smoothies. I want to feel light and refreshed after drinking my smoothie. Not full and weighed down.

Liquid. Every smoothie needs liquid. Juice is good, but not for me. It’s makes it too sweet for my taste and also in some cases, adds a lot of extra sugar and non-real ingredients. My preference is coconut or almond milk. Once I made the switch to coconut and almond milk, I haven’t looked back. My thoughts on dairy are the same as they are on gluten. I don’t have an allergy or intolerance, but it just makes sense to me to use the least amount as possible.* I would rather consume my dairy in the form of cheese, ice cream or other delicious creamy desserts. Let’s keep the dairy out of the smoothie (for me). I also add yogurt to my smoothie. I don’t add much, but I think it lends a creamy texture to the smoothie. I absolutely love this coconut yogurt. It is the best.

Fruit. You need it (I think). Even though I don’t like too much sweetness, I do like some. And the natural sweetness from fruit is perfect. A mix of fresh and frozen is what I prefer. Frozen to give a bit of coolness and icy-ness to the smoothie. Fresh because, well just because it is fresh. I have been doing some kind of yellow or orange frozen fruit. Peach or mango, mostly. Peach is what I am loving right now. Does anyone freeze their own fruit? Is there anything special I need to know about doing it? Or do I just slice it up and put it in a bag and then to the freezer? Freezing my own fruit is something I have been wanting to do. For fresh, I have been doing some kind of berry – mostly blueberry or strawberry but I really want to try fresh blackberries!

My favorite part of this blog is the sharing. I share with you and I love to hear what you would like to share with me as well. I do love the smoothie that I am drinking now, but I am ready to try some new things. So share away!

Do you drink smoothies? Green smoothies?

What is your all-time favorite combination?

Do you like your smoothie thick or thin?

What kinds of things do you add to your smoothie to make it extra healthy?

*Interesting fact: Greg once told me that we are the only mammals that consume milk beyond the time that it’s needed from the mother for survival (unless it is given to a pet). He had a professor who didn’t consume dairy for that reason. That fact wouldn’t stop me, but it is definitely something to think about.

How I make my smoothie:

Ingredients
*This will make two smoothies (or one really big one). I make enough smoothie for two at a time. I drink one and put the other in the fridge for the next day.
1 cup coconut or almond milk
1 cup frozen peaches or mangoes
1/2 cup fresh blueberries or strawberries
1/4 – 1/3 cup coconut yogurt
2-3 cups fresh spinach

Pour the coconut or almond milk into a blender. Then add the frozen fruit, fresh fruit, yogurt and the spinach last. Blend on high for several minutes, or until everything is completely blended and smooth.

Enjoy!