I need to take a short detour from my roadtrip recap to talk about green smoothies :)
I've been a sunscreen wearer, green tea drinker, and beauty sleep devotee for most of my adult years. But, I'm late 30's-ish now and believing that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I'm stepping up my anti-aging game.
By "stepping up," I mean that I recently coerced one of my American colleagues into lugging a couple of anti-aging LED lights and a small arsenal of acids and peptides on a transcontinental flight for me.
Then there are the aspirin masks, the homemade vitamin c serum, the monthly Fire & Ice facials, the daily facial exercises, and the nightly dermaroller torture of pricking my skin with 192 needles in an effort to increase collagen production and the penetration of my "actives."
That's all well and good, but I'm convinced that beauty comes from within on a number of levels, and so, I've adopted a daily habit of drinking green smoothies.
There are many variations of green smoothies, but this is my version. I'm sure it will evolve over time, but at the moment, this one is delicious and ok from a calorie standpoint (vs. those that use yogurt, soy milk, honey, etc.), it uses easy to find ingredients, and it's not breaking the bank.
2 frozen bananas
1 frozen peach or nectarine
6 frozen strawberries, grapes, or half a frozen mango
3 handfuls of fresh spinach
enough cold water or green tea to blend it
I cut the fruit into small pieces and freeze it on a cookie sheet ahead of time.
Then, I start by blending the fruit and enough water or green tea to get a smoothie texture going, then I add the spinach and a bit more liquid, and blend it until most of the green bits are liquified.
This makes a full blender jar, so I usually drink half right away and stash the other half in the fridge for later.
At first I was put off by the ick factor of blending spinach with fruits, but it was love at first sip!
Drinking a green smoothie is like drinking life itself! I have more energy, I feel more balanced, and I swear I'm developing a glow I've never had before.
This is powerful!Labels: food, recipes, vegan, vegetarian
