My lil family have enjoyed ‘green smoothies’ for a long time, it is our staple breakfast.

I am not big into ‘cooking’ but I absolutely love preparing food, it is a passion of mine, and there is nothing I love more than getting up early and chucking a whole heap of nutrient dense, locally sourced, brightly coloured foods into our thermomix (ahem, excuse me for the name dropping) and serving it up to my beautiful husband and precious daughter. By doing this I know I have started all of us off in the best possible way and no matter what my husband goes to work and eats he has had a good dose of health in a cup. Also the little girl has been known to live off bread and butter (essene bread and organic butter, is how I justify it is sort of ok?!) for a whole day, by giving her a cup full of green goodness I feel her developing body is getting a burst of yummy alkalising vitamins and minerals to work with.

There are many ways to get green smoothies into you, we used to go down the superfood sweet smoothie route, but have made a turn in a more vegetable based direction in the last 6 months. I’ll occasionally throw in a breakfast superfoods smoothie every now and then, however my tastes have been slowly changing since giving up sugar and this smoothie can seem too sweet if we have it too often. So below I have given you some idea’s of how to get a variety of green smoothies into your system, so go for it –

I promise once you’ve gone green you won’t go back!

(best ever) Green Smoothie – makes 2-3 cups

 

Big bunch of Kale (or any green leaf veggie)

1 x Orange – cut peel off but leave the pith/white stuff as it makes smoothie creamy

1 x banana

Chuck everything in a blender with a little filtered water and half a tray of ice blocks, blend for 1-2 minutes (until the ingredients are all blended and mushed). Add 2 large glasses of filtered water and blend again 1-2 minutes, until you have a lovely creamy concoction to down!

I cannot claim credit for this delicious drink, I got the recipe from ‘Liz’. Liz is a lovely, amazingly knowledgeable, lady who runs a priceless (but only $20!) raw food preparation class at Zenergy, a health food store in Coolangatta. I go at least once a month and enjoy 2 hours of ‘freestylin’ raw food preparation, while being educated and having my taste buds tantalized by the most incredible raw food delights. Liz has inspired me to go more and more raw, my body relishes in the aliveness of this type of food and I have never enjoyed eating as much as I do when I am eating raw.  

Jumpin outta my pants Jungle Juice – makes 3 serves

A small bunch of any green leafy veggies (Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Cabbage)

1-2 x any other veggies (Zucchini, Carrots, Capsicum)

1 x Lemon/lime – with peel on or off depending on your taste

small knob of Ginger 

1 x Apple/Pear

Place all the above in blender with a tray of ice and blend for 1-2 minutes (until well combined) then add 2 large glasses of water and blend for a further 1-2 minutes, consistency should be smooth and runny with no chunks, if it is still chunky add more water and keep blending. Pour into a lovely glass with a straw, sit and feel the goodness running through your veins!

A Green Smoothie for the sweet tooth – makes 2-3 serves

A small bunch of green veggies – blend with ice and a drop of water for 1-2minutes

1 cup of non dairy milk (coconut milk is best, but rice or oat are also good)

1 Banana

1 Apple/Pear

1 Tbsp Vital Greens (powder from health food store) OR 1 tsp spirilina + 1 Tbsp honey or agave

1 large glass of filtered water + a few ice blocks

Blend and enjoy a sweet start to your day.