It's Good. I Promise!

How many veggies do you eat in one day? Veggies are just about the healthiest food we can put in our bodies, but I find it hard to chow down on veggies everyday! One of my favorite tricks is to add veggies to my morning smoothie to pump up the nutritional value. My reasoning is, if I'm going to drink a smoothie I might as well get the most out of it that I possibly can and it will get my body off to a good start.

Adding veggies to a fruit smoothie will boost your daily veggie intake (the more veggies you can eat in a day the better!) and you won't even know you are eating them:)

My favorite breakfast smoothie contains the following-
half of a grapefruit
one orange
one banana
a handful (or two) of baby spinach leaves
one carrot stick
a handful of ice cubes

Make sure to put the grape fruit and orange in your blender first so you won't have to add any extra juice, there is plenty in the orange and grapefruit!

You can replace the grapefruit and orange with any fruit you like such as strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, what ever your heart desires. If you need to add more liquid to a smoothie so that it will blend consider adding milk, orange juice, or even water (it actually works well without tasting bad). You can use any fruit juice but remember the calorie and sugar in fruit juice and make sure you choose wisely!

I find that a banana is good in every smoothie combination to give it a creamy texture but it is your smoothie!

As far as veggies go, it is a good idea to start small if you think it is a weird idea and you will see for yourself that the veggie flavor disappears once blended. After a while you will find yourself adding lots of veggies to your smoothie but, starting out small and testing the waters is better than no veggies at all!

I'll warn you that your smoothie may turn green :) but don't let the color bother you.

I have also added green beans, English peas, kale, snap peas, and avocado to my smoothies, and they work very well too!

If you use a protein powder in your smoothie, adding a handful or two of veggies still works really well!

Try a fruit and veggie smoothie for yourself this week and find out for yourself just how easy it is to incorporate more veggies into your daily diet!