Celebrate the Flavors of Spring

Green Smoothies are the Healthy Fast Food

Healthy fast food is an oxymoron, but making healthy food convenient from nutrient-dense, whole foods from home takes on a whole new meaning. My choice of healthy fast food happens to be in the form of a Green Smoothie. It’s easy to make, store and grab on the go. 

Drinking a green smoothie is a quick way to consume optimal nutrition in a single serving.  Everything you need is at your local farmers market, the produce section of your grocery store or your back yard.

The best part of making green smoothies is there are no rules. No real measuring. If there is an ingredient you prefer over another, simply adjust. You can see one of my basic recipes in the video below. I saved it from a story I had made for my Snapchat friends.

 

So how do we make a Green Smoothie? Use any blender. The key is blending in stages. 

I add fresh ingredients from what I have on hand. My process of selecting ingredients is more like a simple mental checklist.
Below are the categories I check off in my mind when I create a smoothie.

Select one or more greens from the ingredient categories and blend them together with your liquid. Feel free to use more than one type of greens. Once blended, add one or more choices of fruit as well as vegetables. Blend again. Add an ingredient from the fourth category to enhance the texture. To boost the nutritional profile of my smoothie, I add items from the Add-In list. Fresh ginger is very common in my green smoothie. 

Liquid: Coconut Water, Water or Almond Milk

Greens: Kale, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, Romaine Lettuce

Fruits: Pears, Green or Red Apples, Melon, Grapes, Peaches, Cantaloupe, Pineapple, Mango or strawberries

Veggies: Cucumber, Parsley, Carrot or Celery

Texture: Banana, Avocado, Frozen Fruit (Smoothie Blend is available) (There are many frozen fruit options blueberries are nutritious)

Add-ins: Ground Flaxseed, Chia Seeds, Spirulina or Fresh Ginger

Depending on which ingredients you have blended, the color of your smoothie will vary. If it appears not as green as you had anticipated, be reassured it will still taste good. Think of it as mixing colors on a palette. 

If you are new to drinking smoothies, I recommend serving one to yourself in the fanciest glass you have. There’s something to treating your body and mind. 

In this world, where our busy lives seem to be in a state of entropy…you know that feeling of chaos and utter disorganization? Am I the only one who experiences this? What helps me is my choice for nutrition by treating my body to a green smoothie. Will you be giving it a try? What is your choice for a nutritious meal?

Please let me know in your comments.

In 2007, Arkansas Women Blogger member Kellee Mayfield and her family moved to Lake Village. Kellee was quickly given the nicknamed “Kelly Jo” and the name stuck. As an Oklahoma native, Kelly Jo writes about living in very southeast Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta which has been penned the most Southern place on earth. She also shares her art as well as the art of resourcefulness as being the key to really small  town living. Kellee is a mother, wife and is in sales representative and clinical specialist for a medical device company. And she has a Southern drawl. Catch up with Kellee Jo at Delta Moxie, Instagram, Twitter, Periscope and Snapchat.