Great Green Smoothie

I've been reading lately about green smoothies -- yep, ones that contain vegetables. I was a bit wary at first since, you know, it sounds really gross to drink blended spinach. I came across so many testimonials that said, when combined properly with fruit, you really can't taste the leafy greens. I was still unconvinced since I've also read plenty of "Boca burgers taste just like the real thing!", which is an out-and-out lie. Still, my weekend grocery trip saw me buy a bag of frozen spinach in addition to my fruits. The verdict: I love them! No, seriously. The flavor of the spinach disappears in these things, leaving behind only it's great health benefits . . . oh, and that unappetizing color.

Every day this week, I've tried slight variations on the theme. Here's what I did today . . .

First, I added two or so handfuls of frozen spinach leaves to the blender and a banana cut into a few chunks.

I blended them a little just to make things easier. Then I added about a handful of frozen mango chunks and six fresh strawberries cut in half.

I then poured half a cup of orange juice on top and got to blending.

The end result has a very unpalatable color, but the flavor is fruity and delicious.

This 16-oz smoothie has about three servings of fruit and veggies, 250 calories, 200% of your vitamin C, and 160% of your vitamin A. Like any other smoothie, you can do different flavor combinations, use water instead of juice to save some calories, or use all fresh fruits and add some ice. I prefer a mixture of fresh and frozen fruit because the texture is smoother, never chunky like ice can get when blended. I have been pairing it with 6 oz of fat-free vanilla yogurt mixed with a tablespoon each of almond slivers and flax seeds.

The best part of all, though, is that this really sticks with me. I haven't been ravenous before lunch time all this week. I can't wait to try more flavor combinations next week!