Fruit and Spinach Smoothie

Posted on July 17, 2018 by miccahmarie

A few years ago, one of my dear friends told me about a documentary entitled, “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.” While it sounds horribly depressing, it was actually a very uplifting and encouraging documentary about an Australian businessman who decided he was tired of being overweight and tired of popping steroids every day for an autoimmune disorder. It was his quest to try a juice fast for 60 days while road-tripping around the US. Throughout the film, he loses weight, his autoimmune disorder disappears, he comes completely off steroids (all monitored by his physician), and he helps other people along the way. I was intrigued. While I didn’t have weight to lose or an autoimmune disorder, I definitely didn’t feel like I was eating enough fruits or vegetables every day. I didn’t have a Breville juicer, but I did have a Vitamix (a very cool and admittedly pricey, blender), and so I decided to start making a smoothie every day. Starting from just before I got pregnant with my now two-year-old, I have been pretty consistent having one a day as long as I’m home and have access to my Vitamix. If I skip a day, I actually crave one. It’s a perfect way to get a bunch of fruits and veggies knocked out in one glass, and it’s darn delicious.

20180716_140118 — This is my Vitamix. Probably the most utilized appliance in my kitchen.

This is a general recipe, but definitely feel free to add your own fruit mix to it. This will make one HUGE smoothie, or enough for two medium sized glasses.

1 ripe banana (you don’t want a totally green one or it will taste starchy, nor do you want a super spotty one that should be used for banana bread)
1 good sized juicy fruit, seeded and cut into chunks (a peeled orange, a ripe peach, a ripe pear, or about 3/4 c of grapes all work great)
about 3/4 cups of plain cashew, almond, or coconut-milk yogurt *stay away from dairy, and use this amazing Cashewgurt made by Forager Project*
2 handfuls of organic baby spinach (about 2 cups)
1/2 c frozen mixed berries or other frozen fruit (I love the frozen blueberry, blackberry, strawberry mix- do NOT get the kind that has the kale in it. Yuck.)
1 c water

other optional add-ins/replacements:

2 Tbs flax seeds
1-2 Tbs Elderberry syrup
replace the yogurt with a ripe avocado
1 raw carrot or one cooled, peeled, roasted beet

Today’s smoothie consisted of a banana, a navel orange, cashewgurt, spinach, a carrot, Elderberry syrup, frozen mixed berries, and water. Absolutely delicious. And my two-year-old sucked it down too!