One of my long-time resolutions has been to add a green smoothie to my daily menu. For me, smoothies are a great way to add a huge serving of veggies, and to add some of my supplements to. But without fail I end up with soggy, expired spinach in my fridge and no daily smoothie.
Green smoothies are a great way to pack tons of vegetables into your diet. Adding handfuls of spinach or kale adds magnesium, fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and many more nutrients to your diet. The best thing about smoothies is that you are able to condense a HUGE serving of greens into one glass. But all the nutrients in the world don’t do much good if they are just sitting in the fridge going bad.
I knew I had to simplify my smoothie routine. And do it on a budget. If you’ve struggled with making healthy changes in your diet, or expired spinach in your fridge, I have a few tips.
Smoothie Hacks
The Blender
One of the biggest deterrents to making a smoothie is dragging out a big blender that is a pain to clean. Having a blender with single-serve cups made all the difference. I’m not dragging out a bunch of attachments, and I drink my smoothie out of the same cup I make it in, so minimal cleanup.
Prep
Prepping my ingredients in bulk has been life-changing. Well, at least smoothie-changing. On grocery day I slice up a banana and then add 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries to individual baggies. So simple, yet it makes my life so much easier every morning!
Greens
The biggest change to my smoothie routine was nixing the leafy greens. How does one make a greens smoothie with no leafy greens? A greens supplement! A greens supplement has a way longer shelf life than fresh greens, plus it has WAY more nutrition than I could pack into a smoothie with a few handfuls of kale.
I chose Pro Alpha Greens after seeing Dr. Jim Bob Haggerton recommend them. This is a vegan supplement and one scoop is equivalent to 20+ servings of fruits and vegetables. It contains no gluten, dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, preservatives, MSG, shellfish, nuts, artificial colors, artificial flavors or artificial sweeteners. This is one of the few supplements I take that I notice an immediate difference in how I feel and how my immune system is holding up.
The con: I don’t like the taste. It has a weird berry flavor to it that I cannot get past. I knew I wanted to be taking this on a daily basis so I experimented with some ways to improve the flavor. Adding peanut butter to my smoothie not only masked the weird berry flavor, it actually made it taste GOOD! I seriously won’t go a day without these!
My Easy Greens Smoothie
So now you know my hacks, how about the recipe? You can tweak smoothies to suit your tastes, but I find this recipe is about as simple as it gets, while still packing a nutritional punch. This is one of my favorite breakfasts, but it also makes a great snack if I am hungry or need a boost later in the day.
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To stay consistent with smoothies, I have to be able to make them quickly and efficiently with minimal cleanup. This recipe has not only allowed me to stay consistent with my greens smoothie habit, it has made a big difference in how I feel! If you are looking for a quick, easy breakfast that is 100% clean and nutritious, give it a try! I’d love to hear some of your favorite smoothie add-ins in the comments.
