Green Smoothie Challenge

Doesn’t THAT look YUMMY?!?

Alright, maybe it doesn’t. If not, it’s probably because you haven’t TRIED ONE yet. (I’m right, aren’t I? …pause… I KNEW it!)

My vegan friend Elena got me started on these. She has a 3-day Green Smoothie Cleanse program that’s designed specifically for newbies, beginners, reluctant veggie consumers, whatever you want to call yourself. And since I’ve known Elena (and her handsome chocolate hubby) for three years and have eaten with her to know she has good taste, I gave it a try.

The idea is to ONLY intake Green Smoothies for 3 whole days. If you’re hungry, have a smoothie. If you’re snacky, have a smoothie. If you’re munchy, lay off the “herbs” and have a smoothie. Oh, and you should drink water throughout the day as well.

Day 1 (a Sunday; also family birthday celebration at the in-laws; also bad day to start a new eating program)
Green Smoothie for breakfast, before 9am church
Water from the church fountain (an actual water fountain, not like one outside with a cherub spewing water decoratively)
Green Smoothie for lunch, after starving getting starving home starving from church starving about 12:15pm
Water from my wicked awesome Aladdin insulated, lided cup (Costco 3-pak for $19)
Took Green Smoothie ingredients to in-laws for dinner, instead got overtaken by ham, mashed potatoes, corn and salad (declined dessert, or did I? Can’t remember.)

Look, I’m not PROUD I flubbed, but I did it out of necessity. The ham MADE me eat it, like a ninja. At least I had much smaller portions than I usually have, so I think that’s a plus.

Day 2
Lasted ALL day ONLY partaking of the Green Smoothie goodness
However, it was HARD (because I was lazy) and I had to plead with my FB friends to remind me why I’m doing this. Most were encouraging: You can do it! Some weren’t so much: Loser. But who couldn’t use a good ribbing? (Edit: The person posting the “Loser” comment later changed it to “You can do it!”)

Day 3
Green Smoothies all day but ate dinner with my family

Day 4+
WHAT?!? “Day 4 of a 3 day plan,” you say? Yes, I’ve kept going and figure that these are SUPER healthy for me and WAY better than a bowl of cereal in the morning (which does NOT satisfy me anymore) or crappy lunch. So I’m continuing to enjoy my Green Smoothies and crave them if I go all day without one (didn’t have one at all yesterday and by the evening that’s all I could think about eating).

In conclusion… (don’t I sound fancy for not being fancy?) I whole heartedly recommend trying the Green Smoothie plan. Whether you do it for 3-days completely (you’re better than I) or just substitute one meal with them (do it for breakfast; get your fruits and greens to start your day healthy), you WILL feel better about what goes in your mouth.

Oh, the spinach part. You can substitute whatever dark green, leafy plant you’d like: kale, collard greens, arugula, bok choy, chard, etc. The spinach, I find, is the least tasty in raw form (pre-cooked, as fresh from the fields as possible, hopefully organic) and makes a great green to add to smoothies if you don’t want the green taste.

My various Green Smoothie ingredients (serves 1) so far consist of:

• 1.25 frozen banana (a Costco giant bunch is under $2; I buy two, peel and quarter before separating them on a cookie sheet and sticking them in the freezer; they brown just a titch, but not as much as you’d think; when frozen, I pour them into a huge Ziplock bag)
• giant handful or two normal handfuls of organic baby pre-washed spinach
• 2 cups of assorted fruit (this is winter, so my fruit options are minimal): mango (gooey), frozen mixed berries, freshly sliced apple, orange, pineapple
• 1 T hemp seed (Omega 3 and 6, and protein; kind of has a nutty flavor)
• splash/1oz. of Aloe Vera juice (George’s Aloe Vera is virtually tasteless and has LOTS of health benefits)

P.S. Depending on what I add to my smoothies, they’re not always green. Sometimes they’re brownish (when using the dark colored mixed berries). When that happens, I put it in a dark red cup to mask the look.

Next on my agenda… getting The Blog Fairy to make my blog more visually pleasing. PLEASE. It’s so drab :( Plus, she’s pretty.