Green Smoothie

Today, I'm sharing another beverage, non-alcoholic this time and one full of green, healthy goodness!  I've seen lots of smoothie recipes before but when I saw a photo of this one on Tastespotting with a claim to potentially help in weight loss, I was intrigued!  Summer has been tough on the waist line with BBQs, parties and entertaining.  This recipe was shared via Marcus Samuelsson originally from Linda Wagner. There are a multitude of Green Smoothie variations online but this one finally inspired me. 

All you need is fruit, such as mango, bananas, some fresh spinach leaves, a little water and blend - that's it! I thought I'd try replacing my usual lunch with a healthy serving of this smoothie for one-two weeks, along with an exercise program and see what happens.

I knew if I had to hand-cut fresh fruit everyday in order to make this, I would probably give up after one or two days, or when the fruit started to go bad, but I found a wonderful bag of frozen fruit at Sam's that has mango, pineapple, peaches and strawberries. 

Instead of adding ice, the frozen fruit adds all the chill you'll need. You will never know you are drinking spinach - I promise! The flavor of the fruit is very prominent and it surprising how filling it is.. I also bought a big box of organic baby spinach at Sam's that will get me through smoothie-making for at least a week. It has been two days since I started making these and I am hooked. They taste delicious and fill my midday appetite.

Green Smoothie
Recipe Adapted from Linda Wagner
Printable Recipe

1 ripe banana
1 cup frozen mixed fruit with mangoes, pineapple, peaches and strawberries, partially defrosted for about 5-10 minutes.
1 cup fresh organic spinach leaves
1 cup cold, fresh water

Add ingredients to a blender and blend to desired consistency..  Drink and enjoy all the healthy goodness!

Note:  The smoothie color darkens after blending.