Green Smoothies

drina0218

Anyone out there drink green smoothies or have some recipes you swear by? I thought I would give it a try this summer before the the big day, maybe to help lose a little weight and clear up my very stressed skin and immune system. Thanks!!

freebread03

I love love love green smoothies-add in a couple scoops of protein powder and I can have a big green smoothie for breakfast/lunch.  I've always had trouble getting the right ratio of ingredients so that it didn't taste like I was drinking blended lettuce; I bought the 10-day Green Smoothie Cleanse book on Amazon and love the recipes.  (Note: I didn't use it as a cleanse, I really bought it for the recipes).

drina0218

Thanks!!

@freebread03 does the protein powder make it gritty?

perdonami

Protein powder shouldn't make it gritty if you blend it with ice and all the other good stuff in your blender. In fact it can it make it super creamy depending on the recipe. 

atlastmrsg

About two months ago, my skin did a full on freak out.  Went to dermatologist and was prescribed topicals, they didn't work though.  Ended up doing Proactiv instead, an oral antibiotic, and cutting all dairy out of my diet.  This is helping more.  You may want to explore if certain foods are worsening your skin.  According to some of my friends (who aren't doctors) but are into clean eating, dairy is a frequent cause of skin freak outs.  Since they aren't doctors, take with a grain of salt.  But could help.

drina0218

@perdonami sounds yummy! I seen some protein powder at whole feeds and will check it out!
@SAHoehle I've heard that as well. I drink almond milk because I can't stomach regular milk, but maybe I should start cutting out those cheeses too. My skin is freaking out too and my derm and that lady I started getting facials from have been prescribing things that really irritate me (skinceuticals, bosch). It really stinks! I just want my skin to look like a healthy 26 year old, not a hormonal 13 year old. 

freebread03

So I've never had an issues with protein powder being grainy or anything like that.  I like Isopure (I actually get the plain flavor for blending) or Vanilla Soy Protein Powder from Whole Foods.  I try to find ones that don't have artificial sweeteners (that's why I like the plain Isopure), and are around 110 calories per 24 g protein serving.

atlastmrsg

Definitely be careful with the irritants (including clarisonic brushes and scrubs). The dermatologist said that what I was doing was making it worse. I was using scrubs to try to keep my skin really clean. I was over-cleaning it and irritating it. Dermatologist said no facials, scrubs, brushes...just mild cleanser (she suggested cetaphil), cetaphil moisturizer, and topicals. I use the Proactiv cleanser now, which has a little bit of grit, but not every day. I mostly like the toner and repairing cream. Good luck!

drina0218

Thanks! I've been using Ren and like it so far. I would love to use a moisturizer with an SPF but I haven't found a good one yet. Maybe I should look into Cetaphil for that. 

jaime232

Just came across this post, wanted to share a green recipe I love right now.  To be clear, I don't know if there are requirements for a green smoothie other than the color... so I just consider it one because of the spinach.

1/2 cup almond milk (vanilla, unsweetened)

1 cup spinach

1 banana

1 spoonful almond butter

1 scoop protein

1 cup ice

Blend and enjoy.. I'm obsessed with this one right now, it works really well for a post-workout protein shake.  A nice deviation from the fruit-heavy smoothies.

scrunchythief

For skin cleaning, my favorite has been using baking soda paste.  I just put a little baking soda in my hand, put enough water on top to make a paste, rub it on my face and rinse it off.  It's a bit exfoliating, but still pretty gentle.

drina0218

@jaime232 I feel like fruit-heavy smoothies have too many sugars and carbs. That sounds yummy!
@scrunchythief I will give it a shot.

KatieinBkln

Just throwing this out here--if you want protein and don't like powders, I recommend chia seeds. They don't taste like anything, just give the smoothie a thicker, pudding-like consistency (so you might want to make it a bit on the liquid-y side before you put them in). They are also a whole food in and of themselves, if you're into that and want to avoid a processed powder. 

My recipe is super simple:

2 cups spinach

2 cups kale (eyeball these. I don't actually measure this stuff, just fill up my Vitamix)

2 cups water

1 green apple, sliced

1 pear, sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

1 T chia seeds

Don't make this if you don't have a beastly blender. Poorly pulverized kale/spinach tastes like sand, no joke.

drina0218

@katieinbkln do you love your vitamix? I actually keep putting in on and taking it off my registry. I want one, but I don't want side-eyed for the price tag. It looks amazing though!

KatieinBkln

drina0218 said:

@katieinbkln do you love your vitamix? I actually keep putting in on and taking it off my registry. I want one, but I don't want side-eyed for the price tag. It looks amazing though!

I love, love LOVE it. And yeah, it is definitely expensive but in general I don't think people should side-eye expensive things that are legitimate household items (i.e. as long as it's a kitchen/garage/cleaning item and not a gold-plated toilet, you're ok). If they don't want to spend that much, they don't have to, right? However, I will say that we got ours at Costco for a discount, so I guess you could spread via word-of-mouth that certain items on the registry can be had for less there? I know some people bought things from Costco for my sister's wedding even though she wasn't formally registered there.

 For me, it's worth the price for two reasons: A. the power. That mofo can pulverize pretty much anything, and you don't have to worry about breaking it or even cutting most things up into small pieces. It's insane. And B. the clean-up is so damn easy. Just put some water and a little bit of soap in there, turn it on, et voila, it's clean. Ours just sits on the counter when it's not in use, so we don't have to deal with schlepping it out of a cabinet every time we want a smoothie.

lodele47

I drink a green smoothie every morning for breakfast! Here's what I put in it (makes 2):

- 2 1/2 cup water

- around 3 kale stalks

- handful spinach

- handful romaine

- 1-2 celery stalks

- 1 apple

- 1 banana

- 1 squeeze of lemon juice

- A few leaves of pineapple sage if you have it

I've been drinking them every morning for over a year. They are so good my fiance will grab them from the fridge and drink them. I also freeze them before I go on vacation so I can have one when I get home if I don't have to time to run to the store.  

drina0218

@lodele47 sounds yummy!
I've noticed some say almond milk & some say water so I think I'm going to start experimenting!

aprilster

I've been seeing a lot of recipes with chia seeds lately - I'm beginning to get curious. Do I have to soak them before I put them in the blender?

KatieinBkln

aprilster said:

I've been seeing a lot of recipes with chia seeds lately - I'm beginning to get curious. Do I have to soak them before I put them in the blender?

No, not really. Put them in with the water and greens (should be the first step, since greens take the longest to break down) and that should be plenty of time for them to do their thing. I usually grab mine to go and don't actually drink it till I'm at work, so if you want to drink it right away maybe give it 10 minutes before you drink it. This is just to get that pudding-like consistency; the chia won't hurt you if it hasn't soaked or anything.

aprilster

Thanks Katie - I'll give it a try!

aspoonfulofsugar

Green smoothies are great- I've also used ground flax seed in mine too.

kata18

I've been obsessed with green smoothies for months now and see a huge difference!  I like to add a scoop of Garden of Life Raw Green Superfood, a scoop of vegan vanilla protein powder, goji berries, noni juice, chia seeds, a banana, whatever fresh fruit is in my fridge, a little bit of fruit juice and ice. It tastes really good too and adding a banana makes a huge difference!

drina0218

@kata18 what's Garden of Life.. ?

kata18

@drina0218 it's just a brand I stumbled upon and love at my local Super Supplements, but I know you can get it online. Thy use raw green veggies in their powder mix! 

drina0218

Sounds interesting!