The Green Smoothie

Recently, I learned about the health benefits of “green smoothies”. These are smoothies made from fruits and vegetables and packed with enough vitamins and minerals to make you live to be 129 years old and never need a doctor again.

Being an intelligent adult and skeptical about such claims, I completely jumped on the bandwagon. I almost went out and bought a four-hundred dollar blender until I realized how much beer and deep-dish pizza that would buy.

So, I’ve been drinking my green smoothies for almost a week now and I have to tell you that I can really feel the difference. I have a big one for breakfast and sometimes even substitute one for dinner. I’m never hungry, they taste great, and they’re good for me. I swear I've lost weight -- I'm in danger of saggin' in my Dockers.

And, I’ve been as regular as an atomic clock, so there’s that.

After some tinkering, I came up with this great combo for a green smoothie. It may sound weird, Miss Healthypants was skeptical, but she drank it, asked for more, then some more, and even licked the blender clean.

Start with a cup of tart, fleshy fruit. I like mango (seen here) but pineapple is also good.

Add one avocado. Yes, an avocado. It makes it rich and creamy and not at all resembling guacamole.

Then, a cup of carrot juice.

Six kumquats. (They were on sale recently, so I tried them. They really made a nice difference.) Orange slices and some orange peel can be substituted.

A knob of fresh ginger makes it go “ping”.

A big handful of fresh spinach

And a whole can of anchovies. Good for omega-3.

(Just kidding – had you going there.)

Blitz Blitz Blitz

Okay, I know. It looks like a prop from The Exorcist.

Miss Healthypants tries it.

Hey. She likes it!

The great thing about this is that you get your five fruits and veggies all in one go. Vary the ingredients as you like. (I don’t like strawberries or other seedy fruits.) It's been easy to keep plenty of smoothie-booty on hand.

And if you don’t mind a few bits and pieces here and there, there’s no need to plunk down four hundred bucks for a super-blender. Mine is a $14.95 job from Walgreens and it does just fine.

And seriously, I did NOT put in anchovies.
They’re for the deep-dish pizza that I’ll have delivered.