Belinda Olsen Photography » Utah Wedding & Portrait Photographer | Logan, Utah | 435-881-2184

Green Smoothies.

Recently I have discovered a new favorite breakfast: green smoothies (or any variety of juicing combinations)  Like everyone else, I thought that green smoothies looked absolutely disgusting. How could people really drink that?!?

I was editing photos and watching Netflix one day.  As I browsed through health shows I decided to watch, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, with Joe the Juicer.  I was amazed at all the benefits from juicing.  People said over and over that it was better than they thought it would be.  That night I tried a green smoothie and didn’t like the chunks of vegetables and spinach…ew gross.  About an hour later I ran to Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought my Behville juicer.  I’ve never looked back!  (I signed up for the BB&B newsletter to get a 20% off coupon specifically to save money on my juicer)

I’ll tell you a few tips and tricks:

  • I use half fruit and half vegetables.  My goal is to have a variety of colors to ensure that I’m getting a variety of vitamins and nutrients.
  • Try all sorts of fruits, herbs and vegetables.  If you’re not sure if you’ll like it, start by putting in only a little. Mint and ginger are winners!
  • Celery is much stronger than you think! One stalk is plenty.  More than that will overpower your juice.
  • Peel beets!  I made a batch where I washed my beets but didn’t peel them and my smoothie somewhat tasted like dirt…or at least what I imagine dirt would taste like.
  • Peel oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, pomelo and other citrus.  The pith (white stuff around the fruit) is really bitter.  You’ll thank me for sharing this tip with you, I promise.
    PINIMAGE

PINIMAGE

  • When I juice there is usually a surplus due to the large variety I like to use.  I put the extra in ice trays to freeze and use for convenience later.
  • I also freeze greek yogurt for the added protein.  I  juice all my fruits together and all my veggies together.  That’s why I have some green cubes and some fruit cubes.  I will add my frozen fruit/veg cubes with milk, frozen fruit, a banana and mix in my Ninja I got on sale at Sam’s Club.  Great purchase!PINIMAGE
  • When you go to the grocery store get a few extra produce bags.  I put this in the container where all the skins, pulp, etc go.  (you can see this on the left)  This makes clean up much faster!  For you people who say that I am getting less nutrition because I’m not eating the skins.  I promise you that I would never eat this many servings of fruits or vegetables without juicing!PINIMAGE
  • Almost every time I take the juice and then put it in my Ninja and make a smoothie out of it.  This is just what I prefer.  I add ice and *always* a banana.  I think that a banana really blends the flavors together.  One banana is plenty for my preference.
    PINIMAGE

Here is my beet, apple, pear, plum, carrot, spinach, orange, ginger, celery, jicama, tomato, parsnip, banana smoothie!  If you’re nervous to try juicing here are some great blogs for you to check out:

  • My Juice Cleanse – great recipes, tips, benefits and scientific breakdown.  No you don’t have to juice for all three meals!
  • Green Food, Green Thumb, High Heels –  Lindsay is really down to earth and a great read.  We both really love to cook and view the kitchen as our sanctuary!
  • Peas & Thank You – Sarah is very innovative with her recipes.  I’ve even snuck in some tofu at our house with no one noticing 🙂 I’m not sure about the whole vegan thing…but her recipes are really good.  I really, really want her cookbook.
    PINIMAGE

If you’re still nervous,  come on over and try a smoothie with me!

EMAILPOSTShare onfacebookTweetPOST
  • kristin - Belinda. This is great! Thank you! I need to get in the habit of juicing more. Mine just never seem to turn out that great. Maybe I need some coaching. 🙂ReplyCancel

    • Belinda Olsen - Anytime you want to come by and juice with me you are more than welcome!ReplyCancel

  • Chelsea Lewis - I want to try this so bad! I don’t eat hardly ANY fruits and vegetables regularly and I think I could if I did this!ReplyCancel

  • Ginger - Maybe we should do this for a Macey’s get together! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Cindy Steel - YAY! I had me a green smoothie just this morning! We are getting back on the bandwagon after a couple month hiatus. 🙂 Thanks for showing how you do it and the great ideas!ReplyCancel

    • Belinda Olsen - I hate how easy it is to get off of the bandwagon. I always feel much better after having my smoothie’s for a few days in a row. It’s amazing how much energy I have!ReplyCancel

  • Carey @ My Juice Cleanse - Belinda,
    You certainly make the juice look so beautiful and delicious with your photography!ReplyCancel

  • golden goose sneakers - I am also commenting to make you know of the great experience my friend’s child experienced using the blog. She came to understand some pieces, which include what it is like to possess a very effective teaching spirit to have others just learn some tricky subject matter. You undoubtedly did more than readers’ expected results. Thanks for showing such good, trusted, edifying and even unique thoughts on your topic to Tanya.ReplyCancel

Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked *

*

*