3 Green Smoothie Recipes

2

The year that I turned 30, I had my third child. He was my second nine pounder. I was battling prenatal depression, and I was HUGE! I had very low expectations for losing my baby weight once he was born. I figured age and the busyness of having three kids weren’t in my favor. So I wore my maternity pants with a happy heart and purchased some baggier clothes, expecting it to take at least a year to get my weight where I wanted it. And then something amazing happened. My little guy turned 5 months old, and on a whim, I tried on a pair of pre-pregnancy pants and they fit! To prove it wasn’t just a fluke, I got on the scale and sure enough, I had lost the baby weight.

I attribute my strides in postpartum weight loss to breastfeeding, a little bit of exercise, and daily green smoothies.

I started making green smoothies for myself almost immediately after my son was born and I became hooked! I love them. And I dream about them like I do coffee. I usually have one in the morning for breakfast and sometimes for a snack in the afternoon. They’ve become my comfort food, filling me up so I don’t overindulge in food that isn’t that good for me.

Green Smoothies from Albuquerque Moms BlogToday, I am sharing my favorite green smoothie recipes with you.

And here’s a little warning for anyone adding chia seeds to their smoothies. If for whatever reason you pour some seeds down the sink where you were washing parts to your Kuerig and if chia seeds happen to get stuck in those parts without your knowledge, you might find little plants growing in your Keurig a week or so later. And while this might make for a fun science experiment, it doesn’t make good coffee. Just an FYI, now on to the recipes!

Kale and Green Apple Smoothie

This one is my favorite because of how easy it is. Costco sells Fresh Start Smoothie Blend frozen fruit pouches with green apple, pineapple, kale, and broccoli. For about $10 you can buy a package of six pouches and simply blend them with water or add something to it if you’re trying to make one pouch serve a few people like I am.

Ingredients:

Fresh Start Smoothie Blend pouch

1 banana

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tablespoon chia seeds

Water

Directions:

Load up your blender, Vitamix, or Nutri Bullet first with the frozen fruit (we have a Nutri Bullet and I usually start with half a pouch). Add your yogurt, banana, chia seeds and then enough water to cover most of the ingredients. Blend until smooth and serve in your favorite jar or cup.

Spinach and Carrot Smoothie

Ingredients:

Handful of spinach

1/2 to 1 cup of carrots

1/2 cup of mango chunks

1/2 cup low-fat greek vanilla yogurt

1/2 tablespoon chia seeds

Water

Directions:

Put your dry ingredients in first. Sdd the frozen fruit, yogurt, and chia seeds, then enough water to cover most of the ingredients. Blend it up until desired consistency (I like mine semi-thick but not chewy), and serve in your favorite jar or cup.

Strawberry and Spinach Smoothie (The not-so-green green smoothie)

Ingredients:

Handful of spinach

Peach, mango, strawberry frozen fruit blend

Banana

Cup of yogurt

1/2 tablespoon chia seeds

Water

Directions:

By now you should have the hang of it. Dry ingredients first, frozen fruit, yogurt, seeds, and water–then blend it all up!

The best thing about making your own smoothies is you can make them however you like. If you’re not a banana fan, leave them out! I usually make my husband’s smoothies without yogurt while I add goat’s milk yogurt to the rest of ours since it’s high in probiotics and we tend to get sick a lot. I’ve also heard that Kefir can be a great yogurt substitute.

Enjoy!

Originally published May 2016. 


Pin this post on Pinterest. 

3 green smoothie recipes



The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ABQ Mom, its executive team, other contributors to the site, its sponsors or partners, or any organizations the aforementioned might be affiliated with.

2 COMMENTS

  1. These recipes look really tasty! And how kind if yourself to give all of that time to your body for change and it did happen!! Yay, Mama!!

    • Betsy, I read a something by Rachel Jankovic in Loving the Little Years about carrying your baby weight with joy until you were able to loose it and I adopted that mind set before I even gave birth. it was so freeing!

Comments are closed.