foodie friday: the green smoothie

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I first encountered this phenomenon known as the green smoothie last year. A friend and I wanted to do a juice detox after hearing about the guy that lost 200 pounds from juicing and also to detox from over indulging during the holidays. Only one problem, we're both pretty much normal weight or slightly under and didn't think we could survive on just juice! So we turned it into an all natural diet of uncooked food. He included raw fish in his, but I remained a raw vegan for a week. We made smoothies in his $20 dollar blender and had to semi chew our drinks. Sometimes I chose to make a salad instead. He gained 5 lbs, I lost 5 lbs. But I think I only lost weight because I was lazy and didn't want to put together salads for dinner so usually I would just snack on some fruit. Being a raw vegan is hard!!! Your food choices are oh so limited. Even after our week of "juicing" I continued to be vegetarian because I felt so great! My hair had practically grown an inch from all the spinach, and I was running further and faster than usual.

Even though I'm back to my normal carnivore diet, I still "juice" or make green smoothies that is, because fiber is good for you! Since that week last year I've invested in a vitamix so my smoothies are completely smooth and if I had extra water, it really does become juice! Everyone has their go to for the smoothie and it usually includes chocolate or peanut butter, though I've never tried either in my smoothie, it just sounds too heavy. My go to is simple:

1 Honey Crisp Apple
1 Clementine (sometimes 2 if I want extra tang), orange, or small grapefruit
1 Banana
Tons of spinach or kale
Almond milk

And blend away! I like to put the kale or spinach on the bottom so it's weighed down by the fruit. If you want some extra sweetness throw in some grapes and if it's creaminess you crave substitute the almond milk for whole organic milk. I make this about twice a week, and each batch is enough for about 2 days. Of course your smoothie will only taste as good as the fruit so I'm very particular about the types of apples I use. My absolute favorite apple is the honey crisp. It's sweet and slightly tangy at the same time, super crisp and they never get that mushy sandy texture like washington apples.