I used to think that to join the green smoothie gang you needed to buy a super fancy zillion dollar juicer or ultra-special blender (like the legendary VitaMix –  some women I know are more excited about potentially owning this machine than they are about shoes, crazy).  Not so! All this time I could have been enjoying the benefits of this super easy super-nutrient-packed energy drink using my $20 cheapo blender. If I’d only known!

I have made many positive changes to my life this year but this smoothie is one of the simplest and most potent. I first got really interested when I visited my sister Laila in New York and she told me that she used to feel full of energy and life when she drank berry and spinach smoothies – and that you could make them in a normal blender! Then, I came across an blog post on detox green smoothies by my friend, the fabulous former Martha Stewart editor and radio host Terri Trespicio .  That was it – I had to try it.

I’ve been drinking these for several weeks now, and the first week I was drinking them I couldn’t believe the difference I noticed in my energy, it was particularly noticeable when I was out walking my dog, as I felt myself able to walk much faster and even felt happier! Sure, it could be placebo effect, but I swear that something had changed. It would make sense, as when you take so many amazing anti-oxidant-rich foods and blend them into incredibly small pieces (with such high surface area, as they would have said in my chem class in university), it makes sense that all that healthy nutrition goodness would be absorbed incredibly quickly and easily by your body. It’s amost like getting intravenous vegetables!

After some experimenting, here’s the recipe I make most frequently (use organic if you can):

1 1/2 cups of loosely  packed spinach

1 medium sized peeled apple cut into small chunks

several slices of  peeled cucumber

A squirt of fresh lemon juice

A teaspoon of honey

Fresh water (added after everything else is in, fill to just below the 1 cup mark).

 And blend! You can also add in fresh strawberries or a frozen berry blend, whatever you’ve got in your fridge!

Amazing, this way you pack in around 3 servings of fruit and vegetables in at the beginning of the day without hardly trying – you are off to the races and ready for anything!

What about you? Have you got a great smoothie recipe to share with us?  (share your recipe in the Comment section below!)

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