Grinch Smoothie

It’s been a few months since I got an offer to do a review of Green BEAN Delivery, which is a service that brings fresh, organic produce (and other groceries, too) right to your door. I kept putting it off because I wasn’t sure how well it would fit in to my regularly scheduled programming of “hey, look, here’s something else I wore.”

But recently I’ve been feeling extra awesome in everything I wear, and that’s partly because I’ve been replacing a small percentage of the cookies I normally eat with some slightly better things. Turns out, exercising and watching what you eat can make you healthier. Who knew, right?

Since we’re in the depths of the sugar-filled holiday season, I figured this was a good time to finally try out Green BEAN Delivery and share a healthy recipe made with their tasty fruit! This is a green smoothie, but to make it more festive, I’m calling it a Grinch Smoothie!

Ingredients:

spinach (as much as you want – probably about a cup)

1 banana (frozen if you want a thicker smoothie!)

1 kiwi

1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)

approx. 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or other liquid

Green – ahem, I mean Grinch – smoothies are super easy because the exact ingredients and measurements don’t matter. In general, I start by throwing in a couple handfuls of baby spinach leaves. I promise you won’t taste it. For a vegetarian, I’m not very good at eating my vegetables, so putting spinach in a fruit smoothie is pretty ideal for me.

Then add in a banana. I’ve gotten in the habit of saving my slightly brown bananas before they go bad, cutting them in a few chunks, and putting them in zip lock bags in the freezer. Then they’re ready to go whenever I want to make a smoothie. Frozen banana really makes a big difference. The smoothie is thicker and colder so it feels more like a treat than just a cup of juice.

Then add whatever fresh fruit you want. I did a lot of strawberries and raspberries over the summer. This time I stuck with kiwi so the color would be nice and Grinchy. If you’re in to supplements or other extra healthy things, go ahead and throw them in. I’ve been adding chia seeds to my smoothies for the Omega-3s.

Finally, you’ll need some liquid to help everything blend nicely. If you’re using frozen banana, you’ll need a little extra. I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk because it adds a little bit of flavor and not too many extra calories. You can also use water, regular milk, juice, vodka, whatever. Just start with a healthy splash or 2 and see how it goes. You can always add more and blend again until you have the consistency you want.

I use a Nutribullet so I can blend right in the cup, but you can also put your smoothie in a glass with a cute straw if you’re feeling fancy!

There ya go! Drink up, and feel slightly less guilty about all the fudge you’ve had recently.

Along with the spinach, banana, and kiwi I ordered from Green BEAN Delivery, I also got a bunch more yummy produce that I’m still munching on. Including some of the best blueberries I’ve had in a long time. Oh, and all the ingredients for a killer guacamole that got good reviews at my Christmas party last weekend. Basically, I was impressed. Green BEAN just gave me the one bin for free, but I’m planning on continuing the service voluntarily just to make sure we keep healthy stuff around the house more often. The bins start at just $35, and you can adjust the schedule as often as you want! Green BEAN only delivers in certain cities in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri. To find out if they deliver to you, just visit their website and type in your address. If you end up trying it out, be sure to use the promo code 15SRLml to get $15 off your first order! The code expires in a week so hurry up, and then let me know how much you like your Grinch smoothie.