Lean Green Smoothie - $$

Sometimes I just need to hit the reset button on a slow morning or post weekend after I’ve over indulged on treats. Why not drink your way to feeling better? With whole food ingredients, smoothies are a great way to get vital nutrients, especially when you are in a rush to quickly cleanse your body and give you fuel for the day. Hard to go wrong sipping one of these babies!

This green but leafy-less (no kale, spinach or other leafy green to give it the color) smoothie is one of my “reset button” concoctions. This is not a super sweet fruit mix like what you may get at a fast food/chain restaurant (which are probably full of sugar and not that healthy anyways), but instead has more calm flavors of pear, cucumber and mint, with a kick from the lemon at the end. Pear is my new favorite thing to add because of its light flavor and juiciness when ripe. Try adding it to your next smoothie for a twist!

Easy Fruits and Veggies - Eating whole fruits and veggies is so important to our everyday diet – we all know that, but it can be hard to get enough when you are time strapped, running to and from work, errands, activities and whatever else life decides to throw you. In my opinion a smoothie is a good and easy way to ensure you get a good starter portion of your daily nutrients. As Dr. Mark Hyman says, “Food is the fastest acting and most powerful medicine you can take to change your life”. 

If you haven’t heard of Dr. Mark, take a minute to go to his website or visit his facebook page (just do it, he has something to offer everyone!). He is a functional medicine doctor who has taken his message about healthy eating to the streets, trying to inform everyday people like you and I about how to live and be healthy through food and is also a government activist for national food policy (you know, trying to make the world a better place!). Ok rant over. I’ve been trying to squeeze information about Dr. Mark for weeks! Mission accomplished - whew!

Back to the smoothie...

Price - Not very expensive to make this one. Pear, lemon and cucumber all under $1 each. Try growing your own mint to save some $$. Ginger root is under $1 if you get a small piece, or pickled by the jar is about  $3 and will last you months. Also the base, coconut milk is under $3 a carton, or use water to save even more.    

Lean Green Smoothie Recipe 
Ingredients:

1/2 cup Cucumber sliced

2 - 3 sprigs Mint or 1 Tablespoon

1 Pear, sliced

1 Tbsp. Pickled Ginger (or may substitute with grated ginger root)

Juice from ½ a Lemon or 2 Tbsp.

1 ½ cup Coconut Milk or Water

2-3 Ice Cubes

Directions:

Add chopped cucumber, pear, mint (just the leaves), ginger to blender.  Add lemon juice from concentrate or squeeze ½ of a fresh lemon directly into the blender (do not add skin). Add coconut milk. Blend on high until mixed. Add ice cubes and blend on high until mixed. You may add stevia to taste (but I don’t). 

All the solid ingredients in the NutriBullet.