Green Berry Smoothie

I love smoothies in the morning. They're quick, filling and nutritious.

How is a smoothie filling? If you make smoothies like the ones I do, when you think about it, you're putting in a couple servings of fruit, two or three servings of vegetables, a couple of servings of nuts, and a superfood supplement. If you were to eat all of that separately it would be a pretty good meal.

I'm not a heavy eater at breakfast time... I used to be. At home, I would fry eggs and hash browns, make breakfast sandwiches, or put some fried eggs on top of rice. And I would always be super hungry again in a couple of hours, probably because my metabolism sped up super quickly to deal with the shock of all that food. In the past few years, I've weaned off of that. What good was it doing me to eat a fried meal in the morning and then snack all day until lunch? Now, I make a delicious smoothie about an hour after I wake up and I can keep going until lunchtime without discomfort from hunger. I made this transition slowly and I am glad I did!

That said, here's another smoothie I enjoy. The superfood powder that I list as optional really adds in a kick of healthy goodness and energy - I enjoy Amazing Grass Berry Flavor Drink Powder.

 When it's on sale, buy extra fresh berries and extra bananas. Slice the bananas into one inch slices and place on a piece of parchment paper in a single layer. Freeze them, and then place into bags - do the same with the berries. This way you always have frozen fruit for your smoothie and you don't have to use ice.

No picture because, well, the deep green superfood powder makes no smoothie look pretty ;)

Green Berry Smoothie

Layer these ingredients in the following order:

• about 1 cup frozen banana slices
• 4 frozen blackberries
• about 1/3-1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and strawberries
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 10 fresh mint leaves
• 1-2 cups vanilla soymilk (depending on your blender and how thick you want the smoothie - just make sure the frozen fruit is completely submerged)
• 1 scoop Amazing Grass Berry Flavor Drink Powder (optional)
• 1-2 teaspoons honey

Blend, starting on a low speed and increasing slowly, until completely smooth. Give it some time - it takes a minute for the cashews and spinach to break up.

Green Fruit Smoothie

Smoothies have become my go-to breakfast and snack food. I can eat (drink) them while getting ready for school in the morning and I can put them in a cup and take them on the road. They are just filling enough to keep me going for a few hours until lunch, and I can make them as nutritious as I want them to be, with all sorts of flavors and endless ingredients.

Lately, I have begun adding a green super food powder to my smoothies. This instantly increases how filling they are, without altering the taste too much. I'm using Amazing Grass brand Berry Green Superfood - it's mostly organic, vegan, and contains not only nutrients but antioxidants, probiotics and enzymes.  Here's the nutritional breakdown (from the website):

And since the nutrients are all from whole food ingredients, and the enzymes are living, your body will absorb them better. It's better than a multivitamin in this respect.

One scoop in my smoothie, and I don't really notice a taste or texture difference, only that the color of the smoothie is always a dark green. Here's one I've been eating (drinking) a bit lately. No picture because I couldn't get the dark green color to look pretty :)

Green Fruit Smoothie

• 1 banana, sliced
• 10 frozen blueberries
• 2 frozen raspberries
• 2 frozen blackberries
• 1 cup loosely packed baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon walnuts
• 1 scoop superfood powder (optional)
• 1 cup vanilla soymilk

Place ingredients into a blender in the following order: frozen fruit, banana, walnuts, spinach, superfood powder, soymilk. Pulse a couple of times, then blend, slowly picking up speed, until very smooth - for about one minute. Be sure to blend for the full amount of time, or else the smoothie may not have a smooth-y consistency :)
 
Possible Substitutions

• Use any sort of frozen fruit in place of the berries. Using frozen fruit ensures you don't have to add any ice or thickeners like yogurt.
• Use kale in place of the spinach.
• Use almonds or cashews instead of the walnuts.
• Try a fruit juice instead of the soymilk.
• Do not replace the banana - it makes the greens, powder and nuts blend smoothly so you don't get a powdery end result.