Green smoothie question

[tvillemom]

I would like some suggestions on WHAT to put in a green smoothie. Are there any DO'S and DON'TS? What are YOUR favorite combinations? AND YES... for those of you who insist on tellling others to do a search...I did and all the threads I read only MENTIONED a green smoothie, but no specifics.
Wendi

[GlimR]

Hi Wendi~
My fav is~

mango
pineapple
frozen banana
big handful of baby spinach
some parsley
either water, almond milk or coconut water as needed to get the right consistancy.
ice cubes

It is awesome!! Deelicious!

[sport]

My favourite topic.
I first grind half a cup of flax seeds and transfer them to a bowl to add in at the end. Then I put in the blender
Half a lemon (skin and all), 1 cup water and blend well. Then I gradualy add 1 apple, 2 bananas, lots of green (today I have watercress, chineese leaves, spinach and lettuce). At the end I add about 2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil and then I add the previously prepared flaxseeds. My smoothies are thick and we consume them using a spoon in dessert fashion. If you do not use them immediatly the flax seeds soak up the water and it gets even thicker

[sweetgoddess]

I like a strawberry and banana base the best, and add either kale, spinach or lettuce. These make great popsicles for kids also. :)

[solarliving]

I basically use the same stuff everytime:

2 pieces of collards
a handful of parsley
maybe a bit of mixed greens- pre-packaged salad
1/2 cup of frozen bananas
1/2 cup of water

Occasionally I add some fresh mint

[Mina]

I read somewhere that you are not suppose to mix fruits and vegetables. the only thing to add to a green smoothie are apples, because they are neutral. I don't know, to tell you the truth is very confusing. I make two smoothies a day, one fruit for breakfast and one veggie in the afternoon. that way I don't have to worry about it. I don't know is just my opinion!!!!
mina ;)

[sport]

well before I joined this board I thought that you were not supposed to mix nuts and seeds but it does not seem to bother anyone here so I guess you must just do what feels good to you. You would mix fruit and veg in a salad so why not in a smoothy

[RawTruth]

... directly from Victoria Boutenko's handout that many of us received from her seminar, and which is on her website rawfamily.com.

It absolutely has specifics in it, and this particular thread has many personal suggestions, too. In other words, it's worth clicking on!! :D

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2390&highlight=Boutenko+smoothie

[WinterSun]

I'm going to have my first green smoothie for dinner tonight! I'm using coconut water, parsley, and I think a banana.

[jenna rose]

The one I've been making for a while now is:

3 bananas
5 strawberries
1 peeled orange (sometimes i use two)
water
BIG handful baby spinach
2 or 3 big greenleaf lettuce leaves
honey
ice.

I mix the ice in last. It makes quite a big helping and I don't mind taking the time to drink it all. It's soooooooo yummy. I've gotten my SAD family to try it a couple times and they like it, too, although my father says he'd only be able to take it in small quantities but that it's tasty. :D

[Jo-anne]

I once tried a combination of green apples, celery and wheatgrass juice, it was awesome, although this time I will blend it all up and see how it goes.

[WinterSun]

I need a better blender :confused: my smoothie was all full of pieces, I sorta had to chew it dh was gonna have one for dinner till he saw it, to put it bluntly, it looked like-vomit-I had to strain it so I could drink it, there was enough liquid, the parsley just didn't pulverize. Please tell me with a better blender the consistency is better.

[Arky]

Yes, a better blender will create a smoother smoothie.

In the meanitme, I suggest you try blending your ingredients with, intially, less liquid, only adding the remainder of the liquid, to achieve the desired consistency, after the ingredients have been successfully blended. This often yields a smoother smoothie.

Also, adding your ingredients incrementally, while the blender is running, can result in a smoother final result.


J.

[RawTruth]

WinterSun,

It may not be your blender. It may be the greens you've chosen. Dont' give up yet.

I've never used parsley. Maybe others have had better luck with it, but I think it would be too "hard" to blend completely. The parsley taste also doesn't appeal to me in a smoothie, so that may be coloring my opinion, but it just doesn't seem like it would blend well. I've used spinach, kale, collard greens, and baby lettuce mix. These are softer and/or very moist.

Also, I use Victoria Boutenko's recommendation of 60% fruit to 40% greens, especially to start, so that it tastes sweet. I would have wanted more or different fruit, but I guess that depends on how much parsley you put in.

I would commonly use 1 pear or apple, 1 mango, a handful of spinach or kale or collard and enough pure water to get the consistency right. If I added it all at once, I'd blend for several minutes, at least. Maybe even 5 minutes.

I bought a blender that Consumer Reports says has the strongest motor -- but it was still under $50, so I'm not talking a Vita-Mix here. Sometimes there've been teensy bits of green that didn't pulverize completely, but definitely not clumps.

Just keep experimenting. Best of luck!!

[Healing1]

My favorite so far is:
3 frozen bananas
1 fresh banana
1 apple
Kale


First I stuff my vitamix with kale and about a cup of water. Then I blend it smooth and add the rest. I love how it tastes and it seem to really satisfy me.

[WinterSun]

Thanks all for the replies. I only used parsley because I had some that needed to be used. I will experiment some more. :)

[Rawkinlocs]

WinterSun,

You probably didn't blend long enough. I don't have a "good" blender, it's a Hamilton-Beach and it blends my kale, parsley and spinach well IF I blend long enough.

If you think it might get too warm due to longer blending, add a little frozen fruit or some ice to it as you're blending the greens.

But let it keep going until it's all well blended with no pieces.

[Ophelia]

I'm so thrilled to see other people excited about their green smoothies :D Now all we need is Jamba Juice or Robeks to get on board so I can get one while I'm at the office!

My favorite so far this summer:

2-3 peaches
1 mango
1 banana
-Blend the fruit first, then adding the greens makes it easier in my blender.
Kale or collards or spinach or romaine

I try to use an entire bunch of kale or 8 collard green leaves chopped up, for example. Seriously, as much as the blender can hold. The collards don't blend as smoothly as everything else, but I like the variety in my diet so I get collards once per week. And romaine is yummy.

I was having a lot of stomach aches for months on my raw food diet. After consuming daily raw smoothies (plus a salad for another meal) my energy has increased and I haven't had any stomach problems. I also have learned from Victoria about smoothies and how the body can more easily absorb the nutrients from the greens.

My running and weight lifting routines are going very well. I can't imagine not having raw soups and green smoothies in my diet :)

[tvillemom]

Thank ya'll so much for so many great replies. I know now I can try some of these. I bought fresh kale, but I also have romaine and spinach on hand (spinach being my favorite). Thanks Rawtruth for the web link...I'm gonna take a look.
Wendi

[Sara81]

Oh yummy!!! I think i will have to make a green smoothie tomorrow morning. All the smoothie recipes look delicious.

Thank you tv for teh thread and thank you everyone for your amazing suggestions!