Hands Down BEST so far...

Best what, you ask?  Hands down best green smoothie concoction I've come up with so far, that's what.  One of the recipe books I ordered along with the NutriBullet a month or so ago is called The Green Smoothie Bible.  The book itself is eh. - The bulk of it is way more detail about nutrition, antioxidants, blah, blah, blah than what I was looking for, but there are some decent recipes in it. 

I used one of the orange smoothie recipes in her book, but totally took liberties and added a bunch of other ingredients to make it my own.  So, I'm officially claiming this as an original Peg recipe. It's a personal favorite so far.  Stay with me now... 

Here's the gist:  1 peeled orange, 1/2 of a banana, 1 cup or so of frozen mango, 1-2 teaspoons of plain or vanilla Greek yogurt, 1/2 inch of peeled fresh ginger, 1 large leaf of kale, torn from the stem, skim milk to desired thickness, and 1/2 tablespoon of chia seeds.  Blend it altogether and you've got yourself one hell of a smoothie.

The Bomb Pop!

It's such a tasty combination of creamy and orange flavors.  It has a little bit of a Creamsicle quality to it.  Remember the Orange Creamsicle Pop from the ice cream man when you were little?  How about the Bomb Pop?  (You could always tell who went for the Bomb Pop by their tell-tale bright red and blue lips.)  I was never a Bomb Pop aficionado, I always opted for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich or the Creamsicle Pop when we were treated to the ice cream man! But again, I digress.  I'll think of this smoothie as my healthy, grown up version of a Creamsicle Pop.  I suppose if I was feeling ambitious I could make it into an ice pop, too.  Hmmmm.

The magic ingredient is most definitely that little zip of ginger.  What a happy little medley of flavors.  (So, if you're not a fan of ginger, it's safe to say you won't like this smoothie.)  I also recommend adding a little bit of vanilla extract or honey if you're not already using vanilla Greek yogurt or a vanilla soy or almond milk.  It adds a necessary sweetness if you're not already getting the vanilla flavor in one of the other ingredients.

The chia seeds make it on the hearty side too, since they thicken it.  So, it's a breakfast or snack that will fill you up for a while.  Now I know all of about two of you will actually give this a shot.  Let's be honest, most people aren't into green smoothies.  But, if you have even a tiny inkling of curiosity about trying them out & you like all of the ingredients - give this recipe a shot.  It's a keeper. And on some level, in my mind it makes up for the Bruin Burger!

Ta-ta for now.


Photo Credits: 
Orange - By Figiu (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Bomb Pop - By Geoff (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons