Green Smoothie Recipe

This delicious Green Smoothie will rock your taste buds!

Easy to make and full of nutritional goodness, this simple smoothie could be your breakfast or an afternoon drink (or snack). This recipe will provide 2-3 glasses (depending on how big your glass is).

by Elia Strange

I usually store a glass or two to drink later, that is if you don't have to share it with anyone!

If you make it 'thin', then you can drink it as a smoothie, but if you make it 'thicker', then take a spoon and eat it as a dessert. Simple!

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Why it is Stress - Reducing?

Because it contains the following ingredients:

Spinach: 1 cup of spinach provides 40% of your needed daily intake of Magnesium. If you become deficient in Magnesium, you might have headaches and general fatigue.


Oranges: 1 orange provides around 40 g of vitamin C, which is 50 % of the recommended daily intake. This vitamin is vital for boosting our immune system. When we are stressed, vitamin C helps us to reduce our cortisol levels and blood pressure quickly to their normal levels. So when you are feeling stressed, grab an orange instead of an unhealthy snack!


Berries: Berries are full of antioxidants and vitamins, especially vitamin C. Both antioxidants and vitamin C are found to be stress-reducing.

Flaxseeds: Flaxseeds are little powerhouses of nutrition. If you add flaxseeds to your smoothies, breakfast cereal or porridge every day, you will decrease the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood by 7-14%.

Flaxseeds also contain Omega-3 essential oils, which are found to be stress-reducing.
* Grind the flaxseeds (or buy them as a ground powder), otherwise our digestive system cannot process them well.


Bananas: Bananas are known as a great source of potassium, a vital mineral which is needed for regulating blood pressure (which goes high when we are stressed). Also bananas provide Manganese and Vitamin B6, which help to produce serotonin - the hormone of happiness and feeling good.

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INGREDIENTS:

- 1 banana (you can freeze peeled banana chunks beforehand, especially if you like your smoothie very cold like I do)

- 1 orange

- 1 cup (240 g) of frozen mixed berries

- 1 tbsp of ground flaxseeds

- 1 apple (if you have frozen apples slices, then it's even better)

- 200g of frozen spinach (or a couple of frozen chunks if you buy them from a freezer section of any supermarket)

- 240ml of any store-prepared tropical juice (e.g. pineapple, mango). It has to be cold, i.e. refrigerated

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INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Put frozen spinach into blender first and puree.

 

2. Add all of the other ingredients one by one so you don’t overload the machine.

 

3. Blend until it reaches a smooth consistency. Add extra juice to change its thickness if required.

4. Pour into glasses and serve.



*** I use and recommend the ‘Vitamix’ blender which is a very powerful machine that easily purees frozen fruit and vegetables. Make sure the warranty of your machine covers frozen fruit and veg.   

You can store your smoothie in the refrigerator for later if you wish, especially if you have made a bit too much. The smoothie is also freezable, but you will need to defrost it before you drink it or you could eat it frozen (sorbet) instead of ice cream.

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