I like smoothies. Always have, especially when mango is involved.
And after my plan for eating healthier officially went out the window when our fridge suddenly decided it was time to visit the appliance afterlife (the fact that it was Super Bowl week certainly didn't help matters either), I've been trying to gravitate toward more healthy fare ever since.
One of things I keep seeing healthy people consistently rave about are green smoothies. Now I'll be honest, whenever I see one, I instantly start thinking about the nasty green gunge that Rene Russo's character always insisted on drinking in The Thomas Crowne Affair, but I like the idea of them in theory. You get your fruit, your veggies all in one place—sort of like V8 without the unpleasant acid reflux that comes with drinking tomato juice.
Armed with the recipe I saw on a friend of mine's Facebook page, I finally womaned up and decided the only way to know if these green smoothies were the secret to my future well-being was to (gasp!) try one myself. So I put in the banana, the peanut butter, the soy milk, the why-in-the-world-is-this-so-thick Greek yogurt, and it looked pretty good until...
Yep, you guessed it, the spinach.
Since I was making a half recipe, I needed two whole cups of the green stuff. But as I started measuring it out, I thought maybe I'd go just a little shy the first time, so I opted for 1 1/2 instead.
Throwing in some ice for good measure since a lukewarm green smoothie basically sounded like the stomach flu in a glass, I whirled and whirled the mixture around in the blender 'til it looked the right consistency, poured it in a glass, briefly contemplated throwing it down the sink and finally, I drank it.
The verdict? It's not soooo bad, considering you're drinking spinach. I mean, peanut butter makes anything better in my opinion, but I doubt these green smoothies will be on my breakfast menu on a regular basis.
So green smoothie fanatics, is there a way to actually enjoy these or do you just suck it up in the name of good health? Also, are there any add-ins that make the experience a little more tolerable? Really, I'm all ears...
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