I've been having them every morning for about a week and a half. my fave recipe: half banana (more would be better but I"m watching sugar), half a bag of spinach, spoonful of coconut oil, two spoonfuls of almond butter, cocoa powder, cinnamon, almond milk, handful of ice.

My treat every weekend... Coconut milk, 1 T almond butter, 1 T ground flax, 1 VERY RIPE frozen banana (the sweetener) and two big handfuls of spinach. Soooo good!! I carry it with me to the farmer's market ;)

I used to drink them a lot, and I am thinking about bringing them back in. You usually need a good blender, not necessarily a Vitamix, because I have seen some tests where a $90 Kitchenaid blender does just as well, if not better. My old favorites were a peeled orange (with some pith left for creaminess, so more like shaved of the outer rind), some frozen strawberries, an apple and kale. You can get away with a surprising amount of kale without tasting it, but I know some people don't do well with kale, so spinach, collards, sprouts, stuff like that can be added. Sometimes you need to add water, cold herbal tea, coconut water if you don't have a juicy item like an orange, grapes, watermelon or berries. Sometimes a handful of soaked almonds is great too, but you'd be surprised how creamy the pith of the orange makes it. I would sometimes just have orange and apples together with a green too, really tasty. Swiss chard's flavor comes out really strong, but if you don't mind it, then give it a shot. If you have enough produce on hand, it is hard to go wrong because you can adjust it. I have seen it recommended on a lot of sites to "chew" your green smoothie to get enough saliva mixed with it. I kind of did something like that, since chugging it can make me feel really full really fast. There are tons of websites with great recipes. I would start simple, then add things in as you like.

I have one every day, and love it:

Cook 6oz spinach in 1.5oz coconut oil. When done, add to 8oz of Greek yogurt, 1.5 frozen banana's, 3oz frozen blueberries. 1 cup of ice.

It makes 2 servings.

Because of the protein & fat, it's very satisfying. Because of the spinach, it's green and good.

I know some people use coconut milk instead of yogurt as a base, but I guess you would lose much of the protein.

Mike

I have one that I take daily. I first found out about this from Joe Rogan who claims actor Kevin James lost 60lb using.

Try this recipe out

http://christiangolez.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/hangover-this-weekend-this-drink-will-make-gamma-rays-look-like-flashlights/

I used to drink them every day back when I was a vegan-type. I have nothing against them and would probably still drink them at times, but my blender fell apart and I haven't replaced it. :(

I miss that blender.

One more (though not a smoothie)

Take one avocado, and blend in one frozen banana, maybe 1oz frozen strawberry.

YUM! Great fluffy texture.

Note: I use a vitamix which I think would be a requirement because it has the tamper to push the frozen banana into the blades. I don't think a regular blender would do that well.

I've been making green smoothies for quite a while. It's an easy way to add a lot of veggies into your diet if your someone that has trouble doing that. The calories still add up, so I use it as a meal usually. I'm pretty strict paleo and adding the green smoothies has helped greatly maintaining weight and just being healthy. I use a book called "the healthy green drink diet" and just go through and pick one and make it for a week until the ingredients run out and then do the next one. I'm also a big juiced, there's good recipes for that too with some good info. I'm healthier than I've ever been! Right now I'm doing a handful of spinach, half a cucumber, about a half a cup of frozen blueberries, some coconut milk, liquid egg whites and olive oil for breakfast. It's a good one to start out on if your not used to them, it's a little sweeter. After a while you'll develop a taste for it and do just veggies.

Start with more fruit then end up with more greens if the tastes bothers you.

There is a website with a ton of green smoothies. Google "green monster movement." It should come up.

Yeah I drink 'em, my current favoured flavour is; apple, celery, lime, mint and coriander.

But I have a tendency to just juice what ever is past best; waste not, want not :)

I made one this morning, and it's delicious! It has:

1 small banana 2 strawberries 1 scoop of unflavored whey powder 1 handful of spinach .5 - 1 cup of almond milk .5 - 1 cup of coconut milk

Blended everything in a blender, and put it into my blender bottle to go.

For extra fat, I was going to add a tablespoon of coconut oil, but I forgot...

~*~

I make variations of this smoothie, usually with less fruit and more greens... sometimes with carrot, etc. The biggest thing with smoothies is experimenting with what you like (in small batches) and testing them out. :)

The bloating probably comes from one of two things:

1. You're mixing fats in with your greens. Fat slows down digestion and when you pile on fruit (sugar) it sits there and ferments (causing gas) as the fats digest. It's important to note that fat also helps with nutrient absorption so it's a give and take. Start out with smoothies that have very little to no fat. Slowly add more over time if you're able to.

2. Your digestive system is weak and not yet acclimated to unprocessed foods. Green smoothies are a great way to introduce a wide variety and quantity of fruits and greens that you may not be used to consuming. It takes time for the digestive system and stomach acid to acclimate.

I would suggest starting with green smoothies that have one green and one to two fruits. Something like a banana and a handful of any greens.

Don't forget to cycle your greens or you'll have issues with oxalic acid (in spinach) and/or alkaloid levels building up to potentially toxic levels.

Good luck!

When I went raw for a month I use to make these. My favorite is simple, spinach and pear with ice. So good and maybe a half a banana sometimes. Anyways I'm suspicious of greens I really wonder how important they really are..

The problem with green smoothies is that actually eating that much raw spinach or kale actually suppresses the bodies immune system. You think it would be great for you but raw cruciferous veggies suppress the thyroid and are loaded with cellulose. Actually, like dairy, eggs and quinao(if you prefer to have it) you should eliminate them for a little bit and focus on REALLY simplifying your diet to build up your digestion. Get your raw veggies by fermented them, especially the cruciferious ones like broccoli, kale, asparagus. And at the least you should steam them to help break down the tough cellulose that IS giving you the bloatedness. Two things you could do; steam the spinach, kale or chard in a steamer before you add them to your smoothies or stick to lettuces for green smoothies. Do a lot of romaine, red leaf, green leaf, boston, butter lettuces. These are great for you, they dont suppress the body, have tons of minerals and wont suppress the body. Also, in a smoothie liquid form they will acid in stomach acid production!