Hello my friends!
Today I have installment #2 of my #CleanAndGreenWithDani series that I will be doing for the entire month of April! Remember, if you try any of these recipes or make anything green and delicious yourself, be sure to snap a photo and share it on Instagram or FaceBook using the hashtag #CleanAndGreenWithDani.
This week my focus in on green smoothies.
But before I jump in, I first want to make sure you guys have seen my Smoothie 101 Video/Post. If you haven’t, it’s worth checking out because I share all of the ingredients I like to keep stocked for making my smoothies and my go-to basic smoothie making formula (so you will never need another recipe again). It even has a printable PDF that you can hang on your fridge so you never draw a smoothie-making-blank again.
As for Green Smoothies, there are a lot of different roads you can travel. I’ve done my best to offer 3-very different types of Green Smoothies to show you all the options out there.
This first option is perfect for beginners.
1. Coconut Mango Smoothie (with Spinach)
Using only 4 ingredients (coconut milk, mango, spinach + honey) this combination is fresh, light, creamy and delicious.
This flavor combo is especially popular with the kids, so much so, that in the warmer weather, I’ll turn this smoothie into ice-pops for my little ones and they have no idea that their afternoon treat is also packed with greens!
2. Double Chocolate Protein Greens
This is my go-to smoothie whenever I am doing an early morning workout!
I found this recipe from Natalie Hodson, she had an amazing health and fitness focused blog and I am currently using a workout program that I purchased from her website. With the workout she includes a whole bunch of recipes and this was one of them. It’s loaded with protein and essential fatty acids, so it’s especially great for those of you who enjoy a good workout.
3. Avocado Fruit and Veggie Smoothie
I love this recipe because it’s kind of like a green juice but in smoothie form. It’s packed with fruits and veggies and if you have never tried having an avocado in your smoothie before, you really must! The avocado adds such a rich, silky, decadent texture to the smoothie, it’s really quite addictive (but it a good way!).
You can watch the video below to see it all done in action or/and scroll down to get all the written recipes plus nutritional breakdown for each smoothie! Enjoy:)
Green Smoothies 3-Ways!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Coconut Mango Smoothie
- 1-cup fresh chopped mango
- ¾- cup coconut milk (I used the lite)
- ½ cup baby spinach
- 1 tsp. honey
- 3-5 ice cubes
Pop everything into a your blender and blend until rich and creamy. Enjoy!!
Nutrients for entire recipe: Calories: 251; Total Fat: 10.9g; Saturated Fat: 10.6g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Carbohydrate: 38.5g; Dietary Fiber: 4.8g; Sugars: 33.1g; Protein: 4.3g
Chocolate Protein Greens
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 tbsp. unsweetened coco powder
- 1 tbsp. ground flax seeds
- 1 tbsp. chia seeds
Pop everything into a your blender and blend until rich and creamy. Enjoy!!
Nutrients for entire recipe: Calories: 276; Total Fat: 9g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Carbohydrate: 14g; Dietary Fiber: 11g; Sugars: 0g; Protein: 34g
Avocado Fruit + Veggie Smoothie
- 1.25 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1 avocado
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 apple, chopped
- 2 cups of kale (2 large leaves)
- 1 inch piece of ginger
Pop everything into a your blender and blend until rich and creamy. Enjoy!!
Makes 2 servings.
Nutrients per ½ of recipe: Calories: 241; Total Fat: 12g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Carbohydrate: 35g; Dietary Fiber: 8g; Sugars: 14g; Protein: 5g
My frozen bananas have turned dark brown in the freezer, should I toss them out? Next time I guess I’ll just freeze one the day before I plan to make a smoothie. That blender is amazing, no little bits of green leaves at all! Mine leaves bits of leaves so large it will clog the straw.
I always skip the protein powder smoothies because I don’t think my “workouts” (if you can call walking a workout) are vigorous enough to be worthy of needing added protein. Do you think I could make the chocolate one without the protein powder? It looks so yummy.
Thanks Dani, you’re awesome. 🙂
Did you peel your bananas before freezing? And the chocolate shake – you may be able to skip protein powder and try adding some banana instead.
Hi Dani,
We use organic 3.5% plain yogurt for our liquid. Is there some reason why you don’t use yogurt?
I’m looking forward to trying these green smoothies!
Bev on Saturna Island BC
No reason at all. There are so many options out there, I just don’t think of it:)
Hi Dani! Love your videos, etc. and can’t wait to try your smoothies…they look like dessert! My go-to smoothie (everyday for the past two years) is:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 cups kale
1/2 banana
1 Tb almond butter
1/2 to 1 cup frozen fruit (berries when I want something warmer and mangoes when I want something brighter)
1 scoop protein powder (soy for me)
1 Tb ground flax
Question: I know variety is the spice of life, but I find great comfort in having the same breakfast smoothie everyday. I’d like to find a similar lunch pattern but that seems like I’m getting a little crazy…what do you think about that?
Thanks!
Carol
I think finding something that you enjoy and that works for you is brilliant. 100 people will tell you 100 different things – my feeling is that if it feels good and it works for you – GO WITH IT! 🙂 PS -thanks for sharing the recipe!
I peel and cut my bananas into 1 inch cubes before freezing — that way I use them like ice cubes 🙂
Chris
Yum! great tip… thanks for sharing.
Hi! What can I use in place of the coconut milk for the coconut mango smoothie? Love your videos. Thanks!
You can use any milk you like – they may not have the coconut flavor but the smoothie will still be rich and creamy and delicious!
Love your busy family friendly approach! I’ve been trying to get my teens to eat more greens and make their own snacks (seriously lazy about this — they still want me to slice their apples). Your prep ahead for the week ideas are inspiring. My oldest is 17 and is trying to build muscle as he works out and wants to eat ALL THE TIME, and I needed to make it easy for him to make his own snacks. He balked at adding greens to his smoothies until I got the idea to blanch a huge batch of kale, blend with a bit of water, and freeze in ice cube trays, then pop them into the baggies with the other stuff. I also sprinkle a bit of flax or chia seed into the cube trays before adding the kale. Because it’s all ready to go, he will add them. He’ll often use up to 4-5 cubes! Pre-bagging ingredients encourages them to make better choices for snacks. Thanks for the ideas.
Wow, I love it! I’m so happy you found a way to have your kids incorporate more greens, and make the shake, too!! What’s better than that? 😉
Hello Dani..Are there any alternatives to kale? I’m a nutritionist and I let one of my clients use arugula instead of kale as it is not popular in our country and expensive, She didnt like it all. Also when she tried the spinach smooothie, she didn’t like it neither. Her complaint was that the taste of the veggies are very dominant. How to substitute bitter veggies like arugula or spinach? so that it’s still a green smoothie. I need veggie alternatives that can be used that are not bitter and at the same time don’t change the taste of the smoothie to a bad one. Thanks a lot
I find spinach to be one of the mildest greens to add. Maybe have here use baby spinach and reduce the amount until her tastebuds adjust!