Since becoming a certified nutrition coach, I have become a firm believer in eating a salad per day, but we all need variety from time to time. Green leafy veggies are great as they are low in calories and dense with essential nutrients. They pack a high nutrient punch that you generally can not get if your diet consists of just meat, dairy, & starchy vegetables.
I personally try to consume a serving of leafy green vegetables with every meal even breakfast. Hello, spinach in my omelettes. But sometimes when short on time to cook, I turn to my favorite kitchen tool, my blender.
Blending is such a great alternative for those who may not be totally fond of eating green veggies, but understand the importance of adding them to your diet. You can add fruit or a number of different options to tone down the leafy taste.
Another benefit of blending is that with this method you retain the majority of the fiber which gets stripped out during juicing. Something to think about if you have a juicer.
But let's move on to two of my favorite Green Smoothie Recipes that I use for post-workout or anytime!
Banana Spinach Protein Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Ice
- 1 Banana
- 1 TBSP Peanut Butter
- 1 Scoop Protein Powder
- 2 Handfuls of Spinach (1 Handful if it's your first time and don't really love the taste of veggies)
- 1 Cup Almond and/or Coconut Milk
Nutrition Coach Tip - If you have a banana that is starting to brown, cut it up and place it in a container in the freezer and you can use them like ice cubes in smoothies like this when needed.
Protein Blueberry Kale Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Ice
- 1 Cup Blueberries (Preferably Frozen)
- 1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt
- 1 Scoop Protein Powder
- 2 TBS Seeds (I perfer Hemp, but you can use Chia or Flax)
- 1/2 Cup Almond and/or Coconut Milk
Throw these in your blender in this order on high speed until it is a good consistency. Depending on the shape of your blender you may need to use a spoon to get all the ingredients blended in. I hate seeing any ingredient go to waste so I always make sure to scoop out the edges of my blender and give it one last whirl.
Always remember that you can play around with any recipe. We all have different tastes to if you want to add some natural sweetener like stevia or another fruit feel free to let your taste buds run wild.
Let me know if you give this a try in the comments below and how they worked out. I would love to hear some more great recipes so I can add them to my own rotation of green smoothies.
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