Glug, glug, glug, I am drinking my veggies!

Are you looking to increase your servings of fruits and vegetables?
Would you like more fiber in your diet?
Do you need a quick breakfast you can have on the run?
Is there a picky eater in your household you would like to trick into eating more veggies?
Do you have a boatload of frozen overripe bananas in your freezer that you have been meaning to use for ages?
Has your jaw been wired shut, forcing you to only consume things in liquid form?

If you answered YES to any of those questions allow me to present to you the GREEN SMOOTHIE. Now I did not invent this - in fact I'm not even sure where I first read about the idea of adding greens to your smoothies. But I have been incorporating green smoothies into my diet for the past year or so and therefore I award myself my own personal Iron Chef award for smoothie Queen.

The idea is simple. Each smoothie has 3 main components plus optionals. Here are some ideas for each.

Part 1: Fruits and veggies

• I recommend you use at least 1/2 frozen banana. This will make your smoothie creamy and banana has a strong flavor so it will over power stronger veggie flavors.
• Frozen Mango
• Pineapple (Canned, frozen, fresh)
• Grapes
• Peaches
• Blueberries (I am generally not a huge fan of things like raspberries since I'm not keen on seediness, but that may not bother you)
• Frozen cherries 
• Beets
• Carrots

Part 2: Greens

• Spinach! This is the green beginners should use.
• Kale
• Chard
• Dark leaf lettuce

Part 3: Liquids

• H2O
• "Milk" (soy, almond, mammal, etc.)
• Yogurt
• Any juices

This is a smoothie guys, you can't really break it. Just pick a few options from each category and throw them in the blender. If you are new to green smoothies I suggest you start out with 1/5 greens and 4/5 liquid and fruits. Ease into drinking beet and chard smoothies. 

DON'Ts

• Don't use strong pungent greens (e.g. mustard greens). Laura can tell you what a mustard smoothie tastes like.
• Don't use all fresh fruit/veggies. Otherwise you will have green juice. Frozen fruit (especially the banana) gives you a slushy/creamy consistency.
• Don't be too nervous about adding veggies. Generally the fruits are much more potent and you won't taste a lot of the veggies. Plus, it if is gross it is not big deal.
• Don't forget to give it a good long blend. You don't want to suck up lots of chunks of chard through you straw. 

Here is the green smoothie I made yesterday to have after my workout.

Fruits and veggies: Banana (I used frozen but they looked ugly so I photographed fresh), cooked beets, papaya (Great deal - that whole papaya was only $0.65 at the asian grocery store)

Greens: Kale! My favorite for smoothies. Again, if you are new to green smoothies I suggest you start with spinach.

Liquids: Soy milk and water

Optional add in: Ground flax seed (this gives sort of a nutty taste)

I blend my greens and liquid together before adding in the fruits/veggies. This helps ensure that the greens get liquified and you don't end up with a chunky smoothie.

Finished product. You can't tell because of my camera and the poor light (due to a SNOWSTORM), but the color is a beautiful brilliant red. Yes, beets will stain.

One more from the top.