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Green Smoothies for beginners?

Hello!
I have been reading a lot lately about people getting their friends and family members hooked on green smoothies which I think is awesome because they are so full nutrition. Can you recommend a recipe in which a “beginner” or someone not used to them might like? Or the green smoothie you always make for people to get them hooked?

Comments

  • Hey, Lotus Lady, today I had a really good one…I’ve been trying to get away from the “mask the greens with banana” smoothie and this one has just one frozen banana in it and then two mandarin oranges, a gigantic handful of spinach and water to the consistency you like. I thought it was really good. I believe my non-raw Mother and sister really enjoyed it too.

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    i think there was a discussion about this earlier and a bunch of people agreed that spinach is a great “beginner green.” it barely changes the flavor because it is so creamy and sweet. and dare i say it makes the smoothie a bit frothy?

  • Thanks for your tips ladies! I was also just thinking that if I start them off with just a small handful of greens they wont mind as much.

  • greeniegreenie Raw Newbie

    Here’s what I do (posted in recipes here: http://goneraw.com/recipes/2216-Green-Smoothie):

    1-2 apples
    2-4 dates
    a handful or so of greens – kale, parsley, cilantro- whatever looks good
    1/4 small organic lemon, rind and all (no more than a slice, really)
    Water to taste

    I blend the heck out of it in my K-Tec. I looks like pond scum but it tastes absolutely wonderful, very refreshing, sweet enough but not too sweet, and the greens color it but you don’t taste them.

    Every single person who has tasted it just LOVES it, and we’re talking about meat eaters, SAD eaters. In fact I just heard from some friends I made a raw lunch for last week. They haven’t gone raw yet but they are making those green smoothies every day.

    You can use pears or other fruits, too.

    I may be the only one who doesn’t like bananas in my smoothies.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    A suggestion so everyone can share in these wonderful recipes that are being posted… Enter the recipe in the Recipe section of the site and then post the link and any additional comments here. I know when I want to use one of these recipes at a later time, I will never remember what thread it is on… just a thought…

    To include a link in a post:

    • Goto the page of the recipe
    • Copy the web address of it (it’s in the Address field when you can view the recipe)
    • Click REPLY TO TOPIC in a thread
    • Type “name or description of recipe” :paste website here (if you forget this part, when you are replying to a topic, it is shown in the Formatting Help section to the right of the text box). You will see the name of the recipe is blue in the post.

    Remember to use the double quotes around the name of the recipe (” “) then the colon (:).

    That’s it… easy!

  • Here’s a great beginner smoothie by Claudia from the Eat to Live site. It’s not all raw since the object is to get the greens in. The only drawback is that you get chilly drinking it from all the frozen fruit.

    Chocolate Cherry Smoothie
    1 banana
    1 cup frozen cherries
    1 cup frozen blueberries
    1/2 cup soymilk (optional)
    1 tsp vanilla
    1/2 tsp cinnamon
    1 heaping TB (or more) cocoa powder
    1 TB agave nectar or honey (optional)
    up to 4 oz. of baby spinach
    thin with water, but should be a nice thick shake.

    The trick is to start with as little as a few leaves of baby spinach (you don’t taste it) and build up gradually from there. With the dark berries and cocoa this smoothie is brown which is acceptable to folks since it’s chocolate! This is the one I’ve used on all my people to reel them in.

  • KristensRawKristensRaw Raw Newbie

    Mango is lovely in smoothies because it’s creamy and sweet. I’m a big fan of mango and spinach…simple and delicious. Cheers!

    Kristen Suzanne
    www.KristensRaw.com
    www.KristensRaw.blogspot.com

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Well… I did my first green smoothie (in the summers I live on fruit smoothies). I used greenie’s recipe as a guide. I used a whole small lemon with the ends cut off (I was interested in the cleansing property that lemons have). I think next time I will not include the rind. I think I am a bit sensitive to the bitterness in the rind (the recipe called for 1/4 small lemon and I used a whole small lemon, that in itself might have been the offending choice). I also used a small apple thinking I didn’t want it to sweet (it ended up not being sweet enough). I used 3 dates and that didn’t cover the bitterness. Then I added some Agave. Nope… but I’m drinking it anyway. Thankx greenie for the recipe. I think next time I’ll stick to it. ;)

    One interesting thing in making the drink is putting an apple that was almost the size of half the cup I was using, a lemon that would take up another good portion of the cup, some spinach (doesn’t amount to much space when squished), the dates (again, not much space) and a half of the cup of water. When blended, the whole thing fit into the cup!!!! How did that all fit? I figured I would have a glass and then some… I guess a mystery of physics or some such thing. LOL

  • congratulations on your first green smoothie! You may be surprised how your tastes and recipes will grow and change by leaps and bounds. I can know drink a kale smoothie with just kale and water and think nothing of it, I actually enjoy it.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Thank you spirit~ I have a bag of mixed greens that I got for smoothiing… At this point I can’t imagine a Kale and water smoothie, I can barely stand kale in a salad. LOL Most of my salads lately have a spinach base. I tend to have kitchen sink salads so I have a feeling my smoothies will eventually kinda go that way also. I know, becareful of putting the kitchen sink into the blender… Do you think a VitaMix can grind up a kitchen sink? ;) I think tomorrow I might try putting in cucumber into the smoothie… again for the cleaning. I kinda need to do some house cleaning. :)

  • Bluedolfin:

    My first green smoothie was spinach, mango, pear, 2 bananas and strawberries and I still nearly choked with the taste of greens. As you can see, 2 yrs later my tastes have drastically changed. I just crave those greens in any form. Good luck and much inspiration on your Green smootie adventure.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Spirit~ Thank you for your generousity and support. Craving kale, what a concept! LOL May such cravings be our guide sooner than later. :)

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Day 2 of Beginner Green Machine Smoothieville… Today’s special was a mixed greens, lemon juice, cucumber, dates, and apple smoothie. Better on the sweetness, no bitterness. There is a slightly peppery taste that must come from one of the greens. This smoothie is very frothy and not liquidy. Interesting… Really pretty green… it’s good to be green. :) As of today, the tastebuds are not saying gotta have this one again. I used mixed greens today so I can leave the spinach for a salad base. Again, for some reason, it all fit in 16 oz cup. LOL Now that I’ve done that twice, the next one is bound to be overflowing…

    Anyone want to join me in this Green Machine Adventure?

  • newbienewbie Raw Newbie

    I’ll join you! Today my smoothie consisted of 2 apples, 1 mango, and a handful of strawberries with a 5 oz. package of Baby Spring Mix. I added maybe 2 – 3 cups of water. This made 1/2 gal. of green smoothie. It wasn’t too sweet and was thin enough to drink easily. Good stuff!

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    newbie~ Glad to have you aboard, matey! That sounds yummy. Do you drink the whole 1/2 gal. in one sitting?

  • newbienewbie Raw Newbie

    Lol! My hubby and I split it – 1 qt. each (plus any that our toddler will drink). I used to put it into a half gallon pitcher in the fridge, but it was difficult to keep the air out. I have since found that I really like wide-mouthed mason jars. Yes, I can drink 1 qt. in a sitting (or at least, over the course of 20 mins or so). :-)

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Day 3… come to think of it, I guess that didn’t have a smoothie…

    Day 4… First of all I gotta say I’m freezing (it is cold here, it is not a dysfunction). So off I went to make my smoothie… Today’s delight is not green! I don’t know what one would call the color.. :( I’m exploring more ingredients… Anyway, it contains hemp seeds, dates, blueberries, mixed greens, apple, lemon juice… and yes, just like I said, this time there is overflow… probably a total of about 20 oz. which means I have more than the cup I use… fill, drink, fill, drink more… This one I like more than the others. I’m see if this one lasts me (tummy wise) than the others since I put in the hemp seeds for extra protein. I was going to zest the lemon also since recently I learned that the zest is a good antioxidant… to cold to mess with zest… next time. So this morning it is a protein and antioxidant smoothing. To your wellness…

    Tips… put liquid in bottom of container, then solid stuff (apple, dates), then leaves (greens). This one blended better than the others. I saw this on the BlendTec demo. Also, I soak the dates. Duh, soak them in the blender container with some water (since I use water in the smoothie). They will soak while I prepare the other stuff and it saves me from washing another dish. Plus, then I don’t add even “more” water (I use the soaking water from the dates) to the smoothie.

    BTW, will raw make me a better speller and clearer writer? 8)

  • Hi Bluedolfin,
    I haven’t started my raw food yet. I have 5 more days. I am trying also to find smoothies to make. Good suggestions on here. My question is, what are the Hemp seeds for? Just more protein? I know they don’t get you “high”, lol. I just don’t want anything in my system such as THC. How does that work or is it not the same Hemp seeds. Sorry if it’s a silly question.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi auntsissy~ Hemp seeds are a great food source because they are jam packed with nutrition and high in usable protein. They are for getting high.. that is high nutritional value. :) Hopefully you will get a response from someone that is more knowledgeable about Hemp then me about the THC issue (not my area of expertise). My minimal understanding is that there is very little (if any) THC in the seeds. Happy smoothiing. :)

  • Thank you for responding bluedolfin. That was helpful. I knew there was some nutritional value, just didn’t know which. I’m looking forward to some delicious smoothies.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi auntsissy~ My privilege. According to the nitiva.com site (the brand of hemp seeds that I bought), there is less than 1% THC in the seeds. They also say:

    A Nutritional Powerhouse
    Hempseed is considered by leading researchers and medical doctors to be one of the most nutritious food sources on the planet. Shelled hempseed is packed with 33 percent pure digestible protein and is rich in iron and vitamin E as well as omega-3 and GLA. A recent report funded by the Canadian government states that hemp protein is comprised of 66 percent high-quality edistin protein, and that hempseed contains the highest percentage of this of any plant source. Hemp also contains three times the vitamin E contained in flax. Unlike soy, hemp is not genetically modified, and it doesn’t contain the anti-nutritional qualities commonly found in soy.

    There is additional info on the site and suggestions for additional reading on the subject. It’s to bad that hemp is such a political hot button in the US. Strange how we can import it, just can’t grow it. :(

  • newbienewbie Raw Newbie

    today my smoothie consisted of 2 apples, 1 mango, 5 oz. of baby spinach, and 3 cups or so of water to make 1/2 gallon of green smoothie. Really good, this one

  • Hi bluedolfin, Thank you for looking that up for me. I’ll be looking up that site also. I am getting so much info on this site. It’s a blessing. Great info.

  • I find that pineapple and oranges are really good fruits for masking greens in smoothies. A really good one I like is mixed greens (mustard, collard, turnip and spinach in a bag at TJ’s) with a banana, pineapple, and mango. Sometimes I will put about 4 clementines in the bottom of the blender – instant juice to make the blender run smooth – with a banana, greens and frozen berries or other fruits.

  • skizzyskizzy Raw Newbie

    my first few green smoothies were disgusting and i couldn’t figure out why. so i stopped using water as the liquid and switched to orange juice. much better! now i use green tea since the OJ overpowers the other flavors while the tea enhances and refreshes. i used fresh almond milk once, and it was delicious!

  • Wow, I have a long way to go! I am a newbie here. I am trying to learn more about raw foods and their preparations.I am not vegan but who knows later down the road.We don’t eat processed food in our home but we don’t eat enough raw! I hope to change that. Does SAD stand for something or is sad just sad??? lol. I know I need to get a food processor. We are a family of 5. Are there any suggestions on what kind of machine I should get? I already have a vitamix which we use alot for smoothies nut butters,etc.I would rather pay more to get a machine that will last.Thanks!

  • I am not kidding, I just made the best ever (super for beginners) green smoothie! Oh, it was fantastic. Thankfully, I still have some left in the fridge.
    bananas (frozen)
    pure orange juice liquid base
    orange
    lots of spinach
    one aloe vera leaf scooped out
    Blend it up and yummmy, it tastes like Orange Julius. So not joking.

     

  • Everybody has a say on this! giggles spinach and butter lettuce are 2 great neutral greens. =D

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi all4Him~ Goto Newbie Page (the blue words are a link, click to goto that page) for some links for newbies. There is a section on equipment recommendation. We’re building a newbie resource page. If you find other links that you find useful, pay it forward. Please post them on that newbie page and contribute to the newbies that explore this site after you.

  • what a great thread so many ideas and recipes. I would never have considered some of the things mentioned to make smoothies.

    mixed greens? well…... I’ll have to try that.

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