Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Green Smoothies, Anyone?

I'm on the hunt for a good green smoothie.
Here are my criteria:
  1. I'd like it to be low in fat.
  2. It must include lots of veggies but preferably nothing that I really don't like (i.e. cilantro).
  3. I want to be able to buy all the ingredients at Kroger. No hemp seeds or acai berries for me, please. Extra trips to a health food store are just not on my agenda these days.
  4. I need to be able to make one big batch and drink it throughout the week.
  5. And it has to taste good, which usually means it includes at least one fruit.
Here's the one I've tried so far.

MANgo That's Good Green Smoothie

(Yes, I developed the title myself. Like it?)

1/2 cup fresh mango
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 cup fresh spinach
1/4 cup cashews
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup crushed ice

Chop mango, basil and spinach before adding them to the blender. Blend and enjoy!

VERDICT: I thought this one was delicious but it's not really "low fat" considering the cashews that are called for. I made a double-batch but it was not great the next day since the ice that makes it really frothy had melted in the fridge. My husband thought it tasted like "pesto in a glass," but I'm not basing this on him. I would fall over dead if he starting drinking green smoothies for breakfast EVER.

On deck is The Green Smoothie featured on Good Morning America. I'm going to buy the "fixins" for it today. This smoothie calls for cilantro, which is a violation of rule #2. I'm keeping an open mind, though, since I've seen this recipe pop up again and again during my recipe search. It must be good, right? We'll see how it goes.

If you have any good recipes or ideas to share, please send them my way!

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UPDATE: So I shelled out 20 bucks for organic produce yesterday and was eager to try the Good Morning America smoothie. The verdict?...Bleh! I am not a fan. As in, it-made-me-nauseous not a fan. And this is coming from a person that prides herself on being able to eat almost anything in the name of good nutrition.

These are my beefs:
  • None of the ingredients are frozen so it ends up being room temperature. Never a good idea when blending greens into a drink, in my opinion.
  • Overall, the taste is just not good. It's what you might think a green smoothie would taste like if you've never had a green smoothie. It's like a salad bar in a glass. Perhaps some more sweetness will help?
  • Surprisingly, the cilantro didn't bother me. It was the dang romaine lettuce. It didn't puree smooth enough so I can tell there are bits of lettuce in it. Not an appealing texture.

Nevertheless, I have an entire blender (we're talking 8 cups, folks) full of this lovely mixture. I've added a banana, frozen blueberries, and ice and popped the whole thing in the freezer. When I can find the nerve, I'll go blend it and try it again. I can't let all that produce go to waste now, can I? Wish me luck!

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ANOTHER UPDATE: OK, with copious amounts of fat free vanilla yogurt added, It's not bad. Glad that I was able to salvage it and have been enjoying it the past two days. Wanna hear the crazy part? Brogan loves it. Go figure. Not too sure what it's going to do to his poo but we should find out in the next 12 hours. Yippee!

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