Holy Moly, What. A. Week🤯!

Is it just me or? TGIT!!!! Wait, TGITT (Thank God Its Thirsty Thursday) loll! But today also happens to be National Smoothie Day, so I thought we would switch things up and make a smoothie for #ThirstyThursday (man, I wish it would have landed on another Thursday🤦🏻‍♀️) But listen, life is good, I’m healthy, my family is healthy, we’re building a house, I have the best dog in the world (Max❤️), The best Hubby (G❤️), but you know, you just have those days! Ahhhh! But we’re getting through it😉! So, let’s start the day off right, with this delicious smoothie, filled with all the good stuff, and all will be good🤗

Who’s into smoothies? Do you have one everyday? Do you skip breakfast?

Well, for me, Coffee! Always coffeeee☕☕, then breakfast!! I usually go the gym early in the morning so I’ll have some oatmeal or some eggs and toast before and then have a I smoothie post-workout! This smoothie recipe is one of my go-too’s!

It’s nutritious
It’s filling
It’s packed with protein
It’s delicious
It’s easy
It’s healthy
It’s perfect to grab & go

Need anymore convincing?
First of all, let me start off by saying, I’m not re-inventing the wheel here with this green smoothie recipe! There is a gazillion recipes online for green smoothies. There are even complete books on green smoothies. But really, often enough I don’t even follow a recipe for smoothies, I just through whatever I have in the blender and hope for the best. Sometimes they turn out delicious and bright green😍, and sometimes not so much….

So, overtime, through good smoothies and bad, this is what I find makes a delicious green smoothie:

Tropical Fruits: Pineapple or mango are my go-to, frozen. It just makes a yummy taste to the smoothie.
Spinach over Kale: First off, I like freezing my spinach, it adds another frozen element to the smoothie so it’s nice and cold. Spinach is so mild tasting you can’t even tell it’s in there really (besides the green colour obviously), but it doesn’t change the actual taste. I find that I can add double, even triple the amount I would kale because of it’s taste. Kale has a bit of a stronger taste in smoothies so I don’t add as much. And how healthy is spinach…I mean Popeye hello💪🏻! Vitamin A, C, Iron, Calcium, so much more! PS: remember in my Quinoa Salad recipe post I was talking about organic vs non-organic, well splurge on the spinach, one of the worst veggies when it comes to pesticides.
Bananas: I usually add bananas to my smoothies, also frozen if I have possible. It adds great sweetness without adding any additional sweeteners.
Chia Seeds: Chia Seeds are great for you, full of fiber (5g per TBSP, more than ground flax actually). They are also a great source of healthy fats and helps to thicken your smoothie.
Non-Fat Greek Yogurt: Packed with protein and adds creaminess.
Nut Milk: I mostly have almond milk at the house but cashew milk, coconut milk, soy milk, or wtv milk you want. You could also use water or coconut water. I would stay away from adding fruit juices as your liquid as they are usually packed with added sugars.
Protein Powder: I almost always add protein powder to my smoothies because 1. I often drink my smoothies after my workouts and 2. because it keeps me full longer. This is totally optional though; this smoothie is as delicious without adding protein powder.
Optional: I like adding a few TBSP of shredded coconut (unsweetened), it adds a nice tropical flavor and goes nicely with the pineapple and mango. Also, if you want to skip the dairy but still add creaminess, you could add half an avocado to replace to yogurt (you can’t even tell it’s in there). You could also just omit to yogurt completely.
The Blender: So, if you have a Vitamix or a Blendtech and you’re a smoothie lover, well you know it’s a game changer. It makes the most delicious, smooth and creamy smoothies of life🙏🏻! I love my Vitamix so much, I use it almost everyday, sometimes twice a day! But if you don’t have a high-power blender, don’t panic, we’re gonna make it work. I would suggest working in batches. Start off by adding the liquid and the greens, blend that up really good. Then add the chia seeds, coconut, and protein powder (if you’re adding) blend again until smooth, then add the fruits and yogurt.

Ratios: All right, let’s brake it down (this makes 2 smoothies by the way, or 1 large in you’re replacing a meal).
– 2 Cups Spinach
– 1 Cup Frozen Pineapple or Mango, or a combination of both
– ½-1 large Banana
– 1-2 TBSP Chia Seeds
– 1-2 TBSP Shredded Coconut (unsweetened, and if you don’t like coconut, skip it)
– ¼ – ½ Cup Fat Free Greek Yogurt, or the Yogurt of your choice but would stick with plain or vanilla (If you want to make it dairy free, skip it)
– 1 cup Almond Milk (you might need a little extra depends on how many fruit you put in) Like I said, you could swap the almond milk for some of the options I mentioned above👆🏻!
– Optional: 1 Scoop Protein Powder (I prefer the taste of whey protein vs. vegan protein powders but that’s me, you do you😊)

Blend it all up, and you’re good to go! I find that using frozen fruit is the way to go as it really make the smoothie nice and cold without diluting it with ice… and that’s it friends!! Don’t you feel healthier just reading this post🤣🤣!!!But life is all about balance, right? And it’s still #ThirtyThursday after all!!! Enjoy a little cocktail tonight! Maybe a Mojito? That’s green, it counts for national smoothie day, LOL!

Cheers friends,

XO Nat

Perfect Green Smoothie

Author: Natalie
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 5-10 minutes
Yield: 1-2
Category: Breakfast
Method: Blender

Description

Green Smoothies, are you a fan? Spinach? You can’t even taste it! Healthy, delicious, filling, nutritious, easy, perfect grab and go breakfast for busy mornings. Even the kids will love it!

Ingredients

1-1/2 Cups Nut Milk, or water, coconut water, soy milk
2 Cups Spinach
1 Cup Frozen Pineapple or Mango chunks, or a combination of both
1/2 – 1 Banana
1/4 – 1/2 Cup Fat Free Greek Yogurt, or the yogurt of your choice (I suggest plain or vanilla)
1-2 TBSP Chia Seeds
1-2 TBSP Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
Optional: 1 Scoop Protein Powder

Instructions

If you are using a high power blender such as a Vitamix or Blendtech, simply add all the ingredients, blend together on high for 1 minute and divide into 2 smoothies. (This could serve 1 person if you’re replacing a meal.)
If you have a blender that is less powerful than the ones listed above, that is not a problem, just divide it into steps.
Start by adding the liquid and the greens, blend until smooth.
Then add the Chia Seeds, Coconut and Protein powder, blend.
Add the yogurt, the fruit and blend again.
Serve and Enjoy!

Notes

*Using frozen fruit will assure that you’re smoothie is nice and cold without adding ice and diluting it. I suggest at least using 1 frozen fruit if possible.
**My preference for the liquid in this smoothie is almond milk but any milk will do, water or even coconut water. Try to steer clear of adding fruit juices for your liquid as you already have natural sugar and sweetness from the fruits.
***If you want to make this smoothie dairy free, you could totally omit the yogurt and add a few chunks of avocado to add creaminess.

Keywords: green smoothie, spinach, healthy, healthy breakfast