Green Smoothie Time!

Almost my entire life I have hated vegetables. As a child, I would be the last one to leave the dinner table (sometimes hours after everybody else) because I would refuse to eat my vegetables, or any of my dinner for that matter. I was extremely picky. I hated: all vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, soup, tacos, chicken with any kind of sauce, spaghetti sauce, rice, any form of casserole, stew, pot roast, pork chops, any kind of chop, gravy, mayonnaise, salad dressing, any type of dressing and seriously the list goes on and on. 

Somewhere down the line I realized I had to change my ways. There is something about becoming an adult and realizing you can't go to dinner at peoples' houses and just reject the food like you did when you were a child. I slowly began to eat salad, though I still hate the majority of salad dressings. *Future post coming on this* Eventually, I began to incorporate more broccoli - this one is thanks to my husband as it is his favorite vegetable. Actually, he introduced me to spinach as well and I realized that I actually liked the taste of spinach a lot better than lettuce. I found out that asparagus and red peppers weren't all that bad either and then just like that I realized BAM I have become a vegetable eater! Woo hoo! 

But, here is my problem. I still don't love them enough to want to really eat them all the time. I don't love them enough to incorporate them into my every meal. I definitely don't get enough of them and have come to the realization that I think I am actually deficient in a lot of vitamins because I don't make enough of an effort to incorporate fruits and veggies into my diet. 

So, I set out on an adventure. The green smoothie adventure. 

I was so scared to do this. For a long time I resisted doing it. There were a lot of barriers for me. One, I didn't know how to make smoothies. Two, I didn't know what combination of fruits and veggies to use in smoothies. Three, I didn't want to drink something disgusting. I put it off and put it off. I would try and look up smoothie recipes on line and would always end up frustrated. 

Finally, one day I just took the plunge. I threw a ton of stuff in the blender, with no recipe, and hoped for the best. It wasn't bad. In fact, I actually enjoyed the taste. I kept at it and now Kris and I drink green smoothies most mornings for breakfast. Here's why this is awesome. 

1. We eat breakfast every day (and it's fast and easy) 

2. We get at least 1 serving of fruits and 1 serving of veggies every morning 

3. I am getting great vitamin packed veggies and I don't have to taste them AT ALL. Seriously, three cheers for this one. I am all about hiding veggies in food and not having to experience the taste if at all possible. I'll cover this more when I share with you my potato, onion, asparagus soup recipe. 

If you don't like veggies or you don't want to feel like you are drinking a salad, here is a very helpful tip: use kiwi in your smoothie. (I have also heard that bananas work great too, but I still don't like bananas, so I have not personally tried this.) As it turns out kiwi is a very strong flavor. All my smoothies taste like a kiwi drink and I promise you, I never taste the veggie part. 

Check out this picture. This was from this morning. 

Two kiwis (they look so little, but pack such a great punch), about 6-8 strawberries (berries are great flavor hiders too), and a few cups of kale. 

Also, I add a little bit of water, probably like a half cup or so. 

*blender tip* put in the things that have the highest water content first- fruits first before leafy greens

Sometimes I will use a blend of spinach and kale and sometimes I will just use one or the other. I always use kiwis and often use strawberries. I have also put in blueberries, strawberry Greek yogurt, and broccoli. The one thing I would not recommend using is spring mix unless you like the taste of feet. If you like eating feet, then by all means, use it! 

I used to puree it all up, but then I realized I liked using the liquefy button better because it really gives the whole thing a better texture. 

So anyway, wa la, here you go, the finished project. The above picture made two glasses full. 

I am by no means a pro at green smoothies, in fact I am very much a beginner. However, I wanted to do this post because it is really simple to do, it is super healthy and it actually tastes really good. This seriously was something that freaked me out for a long time, but I am so happy I took the plunge and just started experimenting. 

If I can do this, so can you. I was the kid that couldn't look at a vegetable without crying and now spinach and kale (sometimes broccoli) are main breakfast staples for me. 

Do it. Try it. I promise, you won't be disappointed.