Green Monster Smoothies :)

Despite the recent death of my Thermomix, I have been concentrating on drinking green smoothies  after my little health scare the day after Australia Day. I am happy and healthy but collapsing after feeling my heart kick off was certainly a wake up call.
Since then, I have quit drinking alcohol and increasing my levels of basic exercise. In my last post, I told you that I wasn't really sure of how to appease my boredom when it comes to exercise. I realised that this was in part down to time constraints. I like to organise my exercise around work.
I was riding my bike to and from work which increased my energy levels and gave me some valuable time with my music collection. The downfall, however, was that doing this took away from my reading time, as I like to read on the bus. Reading on the bus helps me to relax.
Obviously, I like to multitask.
I have since come up with a new plan. I now walk one way and catch the bus the other way. So many birds with one stone. Amazing. I feel great.
I have also started drinking an array of green smoothies. My skin is getting clearer. My memory is better and my nails are stronger. I feel good.
My friends are often asking what I put in my green smoothies so I thought I would share some of my favourite recipes with you. I definitely feel that green smoothies taste better when it comes from a high powered blender, as the fibre breaks down. It still tastes good from a regular blender, but is often a bit fibrous. I make one batch and drink it over two days, usually for breakfast or as a snack.
One thing to note. I actually hate spinach. I am learning to like it through these smoothies.
Adding ingredients like citrus and ginger help to mask the horrible taste. Citrus also adds valuable vitamin C which needs to be replaced in the body daily. Vitamin C also aids the absorption of iron, so your body will increase it's intake of iron from the spinach just by adding a simple lemon or grapefruit.
Here are some of my favourite recipes. Have a play with other ingredients and find a recipe all your own that you love.
A thumb of ginger just means a small amount, about two cm squared. Please don't write me saying you put in a piece the size of your thumb and you don't know why it tastes horrible. I'm sure most  of you get it. As always, these are basic suggestions. I'm sure you are clever and can use these recipes as a guide to go along with your own tastebuds. (Ooh, venting! I do get some very strange comments on here from people that don't seem to trust their own instincts. Everyone's tastebuds are different. Go with your gut.  ;)

Time: Less than 5 minutes.
Serves: 1-2 

Ingredients:

The basic Green Machine:

• One large handful of baby spinach. 
• One apple.
• One stick of celery.
• One lemon.
• Half a cucumber.
• One thumb of ginger.

Tropical Green:

• One large handful of baby spinach.
• One mango.
• One lemon. 
• One thumb of ginger. 

Tart and Tasty:

• One large handful of baby spinach.
• One grapefruit.
• One thumb of ginger. 
• Half a cucumber.

I can't think of a good name for this one but it's pineapple and I love pineapple:

• One large handful of baby spinach.
• Quarter of a pineapple, skinned.
• One cup of coconut water instead of regular water.
• Ginger. 

Method:
If using a regular blender, chop up these ingredients and place them in the blender. Add one cup of water and maybe some ice and blend for about 3 minutes until it's all liquified. Obviously, blending time depends on how powerful your blender is. My regular blender is just a cheap one and this is about how long it takes me. I do need to push the veggies around to assist the blender chop it all up. Watch your fingers!

If using a high powered blender, add all of the ingredients and blend on high for one minute. Add one cup of water  and maybe some ice and blend for a further minute.

Keep in the fridge.

Big Love! x