Spinach smoothie

Energy is a tricky thing.  Like "spare time", there's never enough of it no matter what stage of life you're in.  Right now, I'm in a work full-time, still get in all my domesticity, continue to start and/or finish projects on the house, and have significant play time with the family kind of stage.  Oh, and try super hard to establish a successful blog kind of stage too.  So, I'm tired. Who knew I'd find a golden energy source in a silly little green smoothie.

 

Green smoothies have become very trendy lately.  Any time I scroll through Pinterest, there's another version to try.  As with most food trends, I find it easy to stop clicking on the pins altogether and disengage. Especially something like smoothies.  Almost every single recipe has some banana in it.  If you know me at all, you know that to say I have an aversion to bananas is an understatement.  Blech--I can't stand those things!  I'm really glad I didn't skip over the green smoothie though.  No banana required!  (Continue to support your favorite banana farm though if you can stomach those buggers.  I hear they're a great source of potassium!)

At first the thought of drinking spinach made me very wary.  I love spinach--cooked, raw, wilted--I love all of it.  Sipping it through a straw made me very uneasy though.  Turns out it's delicious!  Addicting even.

Here's what's addicting about it.  Yeah, it's a healthy snack.  But most healthy snacks honestly leave me still starving and unfulfilled in general.  This smoothie, especially as an addition to your morning routine, will give you an amazing boost.  I'm used to powering through the first half of the day jacked up on caffeine.  But the jittery feeling that comes along with energy is so unnerving.  The spinach smoothie just gives you complete energy.  To the point of watching how late in the day you drink one.  Past a certain point, your second wind may turn into a third wind.  You may never get to sleep!  

 

But boy, were you productive!! ;)

Here's what you'll need:

Fresh spinach (I use baby spinach leaves)

1 apple.  Any apple.

1 stalk of fresh pineapple

frozen berries

I have a rather stout Cuisinart blender, so I let it do most of the work.  Cut the apple from the core in chunks, cut the pineapple into large pieces, throw in a generous handful of spinach leaves, then a smattering of frozen berries.

Add just a bit of water, just enough to help it blend.

Then blend!  I use the "ice crush" setting on my blender.  It takes a few goes to get the mixture whirling.  If fact, I often have to shake the pitcher a few times to help it along.  Once it gets going though, you've got an amazingly healthy beverage. 

It's really thick; reminds me of applesauce, with a definite berry flavor.  The pineapple really only lends a bit of sweetness, and the spinach gives it an earthy wonderfulness.  All three of us have really gotten hooked.

Of course there are a myriad of smoothie concoctions out there, all of which are probably healthier than most go-to drinks or snacks.  Check out this list of recipes by A Beautiful Mess for more ideas:  http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2013/08/its-smoothie-time-.html