The newbie's guide to green smoothies

The Newbie’s Guide to

Green Smoothies

The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

by Heather Mamatey www.My-Healthy-Eating-Secrets.com

The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Thank you for buying my book and for giving the fabulous green smoothie a shot! It has the power to upgrade your health in a major way, if you let it!

My name is Heather Mamatey. I’m 36 years young and I’ve been deeply interested in the health and nutrition movement for over 10 years now. My journey really began when I was 25 and a friend handed me a copy of William Dufty’s Sugar Blues. Later that same year I read Paul Bragg’s Miracle of Fasting for the first time.

These books began the process of opening my mind to new ideas about food and health, a process that continues to this day.

I’ve been a constant, consistent experimenter with my diet, always wanting to push the envelope further and explore just how good I can really feel. The link between what goes into our mouths and how we feel on a day to day basis, physically, mentally and emotionally, has always seemed crystal clear to me. For some reason, this connection is not well understood by our society. People want the privilege of eating unhealthy foods and then taking pills or medications to alleviate the unpleasant symptoms and disease that result.

The process of figuring out just what foods make you feel like garbage has been a work of many years’ exploration and research. Some are obvious (ice cream and pizza) and others are not (wheat, soy, bottled juices and pasteurized dairy products). I’m not sure where you are in your journey – perhaps you simply want to incorporate better, healthier foods into your diet, or perhaps you’re ready for a major overhaul. Perhaps you want to lose a few pounds and increase your energy levels to what you remember from your youth.

Wherever you are, I can help guide you to some really tasty, easy-to-prepare, green smoothie recipes, all of them 100% natural, gluten free, low fat, and with no refined sugar. It is entirely possible to enjoy fantastically healthy foods that are full of flavor, and once this world is opened to you, I promise, you won’t look back. Let the fun begin!

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

TABLE OF CONTENTS: I. Introduction

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II. Equipment You’ll Need

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III. Smoothie Basics

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IV. Green Smoothie Ingredients: Choosing the Right Fruits & Veggies 12 V. Serving Size 15 VI. Fabulous Green Smoothie Recipes for Beginners: A. Banana-Spinach 19 B. Strawberry-Banana-Romaine 20 C. Mango-Strawberry-Banana-Parsley 21 D. Blueberry-Banana-Spinach 23 E. Peach-Banana-Parsley 25 F. Pineapple-Orange-Banana-Chard 27 G. Banana-Spinach-Date 29 H. Banana-Spinach-Celery-Mango

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I. Melon, Berries & Parsley

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J. Strawberry-Apple-Banana-Kale

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

I. INTRODUCTION: Congratulations! Your instinct and intuition have led to you to one of the great health secrets of our time: the green smoothie!

These magical elixirs pack a potent punch, and are an excellent remedy for all sorts of ailments, including:

• Extra weight

• Headaches

• Low energy

• Insomnia

• Constipation

• Acne

• Sinus troubles

• Muscle tension

• Depression & Anxiety

These afflictions, all of them, are profoundly affected by what we choose to put into our mouths. The way we eat affects us on every level: physically, emotionally and even mentally. Our thinking becomes cloudy and muddled when our diet is poor.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that emphasizes quick-fixes for what ails us, and we are encouraged to take medication for every minor health complaint. We are not told that, instead of popping pills (which only serves to mask symptoms and does nothing to address the source of our pain), we could simply choose to eat differently.

We are not told that how we eat is the most important determinant of how we feel: if we have annoying aches and pains, if we can’t get through the day without several cups of coffee, if we are chronically tired and cranky. Do any of these things sound familiar?

For me, introducing big, yummy, fresh green smoothies into my diet made a HUGE difference in how I feel, most especially my energy levels…

I used to be hugely addicted to caffeine and also hugely addicted to afternoon naps. I would get a rush of jittery, nervous energy in the morning after downing my first strong cup of coffee for the day, and by the afternoon I would be crashing. I would literally feel sick with fatigue and desperate to lie down…

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

I would have to drink more coffee just to keep myself functioning. The big jolts of caffeine I guzzled every day gave me chronic, painful muscle tension and terrible insomnia.

Ever see one of those commercials for energy drinks, or see one of those counter displays of caffeine pills like No Doz? Not having enough energy to get through the day, and being utterly dependant on stimulants, is soooooooo common. People everywhere are afflicted with this, and what they don’t know is that caffeine just makes the problem worse. Like any other drug, the longer you use it, the more it takes over your life and makes you unable to function without your “fix.”

Green Smoothies are the Answer!

In 2007 I gave up coffee for good, and the following year I discovered the magic of green smoothies. Now, instead of battling fatigue in the afternoon hours, this is my most productive time of day!

I have a glorious green smoothie for lunch, instead of what I would normally have eaten, and I am able to work for hours with a clear mind, clear thinking and a steady, permanent buzz of energy. No more crashing. No more fatigue.

Eating the wrong foods leads straight to overeating and cravings, which always lead straight to weight gain!

Before green smoothies, the foods I ate for lunch, even ones I thought were healthy and good for me, used to make me sleepy. Plus they gave me cravings and were almost impossible to stop eating. I would eat way more food than I needed to just to feel “full” and satisfied. If this sounds familiar, I have great news for you:

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

Green smoothies are the Solution!

They fill you up for hours, and absolutely obliterate cravings for junk. With green smoothies, you can say bye-bye forever to overeating, and when you say bye-bye to overeating, you also say goodbye to extra weight!

Green smoothies are a delicious weight loss strategy! That means no feelings of deprivation!

You can forget those little, unsatisfying Weight Watchers meals, that always left you hungry and kept you fixated on food. Green smoothies are here!

In The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies, I will show you the ropes when it comes to making delicious, satisfying green smoothies that will keep you coming back for more, and more.

Green smoothies aren’t a “diet,” they are a lifestyle change…

Diets mean small portions of bland foods that leave you hungry and disappointed and missing your old favorite foods like crazy.

Diets are a short term weight loss strategy, and you know what? The weight ALWAYS comes right back once the diet is over.

Green smoothies, unlike diet foods, are packed with freshness and flavor. They send clean, healthy energy all through your body.

They are a thrill to make and to drink.

Once you know what you’re doing, you can create all sorts of delicious green smoothies in your own kitchen, using a greater variety of fruits and vegetables than you ever thought possible.

Let’s get started!

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

II. EQUIPMENT YOU’LL NEED: Let’s talk equipment, folks. The first and most important gadget you will need is a blender.

Stay away from those cheap blenders!

How do you spot a cheap blender? Does it have lots of different “speeds” like whip, grate and grind?

When it comes to blenders, the “speed” is actually irrelevant and you’ll find with the powerful blenders that they actually only have two speeds (high and low).

What you want to look for is the horsepower - that’s the engine of the blender.

When you buy lower tier blenders, they don’t mention horsepower because it’s too low to register on the scale. Instead, they try to distract you with lots of different, unnecessary speeds.

There are only really two brands of powerful blender on the market - Vitamix and Blendtec.

It took me a long time, and a lot of money wasted on cheap blenders, before I finally caved and bought a Vitamix. And I have not looked back! It has a killer, SEVEN YEAR warranty.

The Vita Mix company guarantees fixing your blender FOR FREE if it needs repair during those seven years. How cool is that?

If you plan to make green smoothies a serious part of your diet, which realistically means having them every day, you need to get a serious blender.

Words can’t even explain the difference in quality. When it comes to blenders, you really do get what you pay for.

Let’s compare the real value and price of a Vitamix blender with cheaper blenders: Cheap blenders are designed for the occasional daquiri or frozen drink. That’s why they cost so little. They are not intended by the manufacturer to be a serious part of a healthy eating kitchen.

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

They will burn out after a couple of months if you use them frequently, and then you will have to replace them. They also make poorly blended smoothies that are lumpy in consistency.

I wasted probably $1000 to $1500 on cheap blenders over the course of eighteen months, before I finally said Enough! and bought my Vitamix.

It’s now been another eighteen months since this purchase, and my Vitamix is going STRONG, even though I use it every day, and usually multiple times per day. The warranty extends for another five and a half years!

One-time purchase of Vitamix blender with Seven Year Warranty: $400 Equivalent amount I would have spent during seven years using cheap blenders: $7000 (or more!)

Be smarter than I was and invest now in a real blender. I like to say that, for me, finally giving up those cheap blenders and getting a Vitamix, was like getting out of a 20-year-old pickup truck, and sliding behind the wheel of a BMW! The money you invest in a real blender is money that you’re investing in yourself and your health! You are worth every penny! There is nothing in this life more precious than your health: nothing!

Green smoothies bring a major upgrade to your life…

They enable you to astronomically increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables you’re consuming, and more fresh fruits and veggies means a major boost to your health.

You’ll feel the difference when your energy soars, your skin clears, your eyes sparkle and your clothes become looser!

The other essential piece of kitchen equipment is a good butcher knife, as this type of knife allows you to easily and effortlessly chop greens:

And that’s it! Get yourself a blender (preferably a Vitamix or Blendtec, if you can afford it) and a good knife, and you’re off to the races! www.my-healthy-eating-secrets.com

The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

III. SMOOTHIE BASICS: What are green smoothies?

Green smoothies are fruit blended with leafy greens. The sweetness of the fruit cuts out the bitter taste of the greens.

Green smoothies do not taste like vegetables! They taste like the sweet fruit the greens are blended with.

Here are some basics you need to know for making green smoothies: A. Know when your fruit is ripe! This is CRUCIAL. Unripe fruit tastes bland and digests poorly.

Many people say they cannot eat certain fruits because they mistakenly believe those fruits make them constipated. The real cause of their constipation is that they are eating the fruit UNRIPE.

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

Why is it important to eat fruit when it’s ripe?

In the “life cycle” of a fruit, all of its nutrients and flavors are “unlocked” only when that fruit is ripe. You’ll know a fruit is ripe because it smells sweet and delicious and it peels easily.

Many fruits, like mangos, pears, nectarines, avocados and peaches, become soft to the touch and indent slightly when pressed, when they are ripe.

Ripe fruits are literally bursting with flavor.

Unripe fruits are hard and bland. With the exception of apples, ripe fruit is never, ever, ever hard!

The most common fruit used in green smoothie recipes is bananas. Oh, yummy bananas!

Bananas are ripe when they have lots of little brown spots, not before.

These are ripe bananas:

This is an unripe banana:

Unripe bananas are either all yellow, or a mix of yellow and green, they taste and smell like starch and they are hard to peel.

Smoothies are soooooooo much tastier when you use fruit that is actually ripe, because only ripe fruit is sweet.

If you pay attention, you’ll notice that restaurants that sell smoothies almost always include junky ingredients that have been sweetened with refined sugar, like ice cream, sorbet, juice, yogurt and soy or almond milk. They add these ingredients because they are using unripe, flavorless fruit in their smoothies. Without added sugar, the smoothie would be bland, and no one would buy it.

When you use ripe fruit, you don’t need added sugar! The smoothie tastes delicious on its own. A smoothie with added sugar ceases to be a health drink and becomes, instead, a dessert.

So, my Green Smoothie Masters, always make sure your fruit is ripe!

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

B.

Frozen bananas are a key ingredient of green smoothies:

Freeze your own bananas overnight. Get used to always having a rotation of a few peeled, frozen bananas in your freezer to add to your green smoothie recipes.

I just pop them into a tupperware bowl before I head off to bed at night and when I wake up in the morning, voila! Just make sure they are liberally covered in brown spots before you freeze them. Simply peel each banana and break it into 2 or 3 pieces, then freeze.

Make sure you peel your bananas before you freeze them!

Frozen bananas, as you will soon discover, add a thick, creamy consistency to your green smoothies. Thanks to frozen bananas, you don’t need ice cream, sorbet, juice, yogurt, soy or almond milk. Your smoothie will truly be a health drink!

Be sure to check out my fruit smoothie recipes collection: http://www.my-healthy-eating-secrets.com/fruit-smoothie-recipes.html

C.

GREEN SMOOTHIES ARE BLENDED IN THREE STAGES:

First, you blend your sweet, non-frozen fruit, with 1/4 cup of water. If it’s any fruit besides berries, it will need to be cut into bite-size pieces before being placed in your blender.

Next, you add your chopped leafy greens. If your blender is one of the cheap ones, you will need to chop the greens into smaller pieces. Baby spinach, maiche and sunflower sprouts do not need to be chopped. Blend until smooth.

Last, add the frozen fruit and blend until very smooth. Try not to leave your smoothie with a lumpy consistency - blend it until it’s very smooth.

Pour into a glass and enjoy! Green smoothies will keep in your refrigerator for several days.

I highly recommend keeping a supply of drinking straws in your kitchen. I always use a straw when I enjoy my green smoothies!

Remember: Green smoothie = ripe, non-frozen fruit + 1/4 cup water + frozen fruit + chopped greens.

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

IV. GREEN SMOOTHIE INGREDIENTS: CHOOSING THE RIGHT FRUITS AND GREENS: Green smoothies will seriously ramp up the amount of fresh fruits and greens you are currently consuming…

Fruits and veggies are loaded with antioxidants, which protect us from disease and decay as we age. I am almost 37 years old and I have not a single line on my face! I attribute this to the amount of fruits and veggies I consume.

Fruits and veggies are water-rich foods.

That nutrient-dense water hydrates and nourishes our cells, literally bathing them in vitamins and minerals.

You’ll notice a huge difference in how you feel once you begin drinking green smoothies regularly, and that’s because each time you have one, you’re giving your inner body a delicious, revitalizing bath!

I will share with you here which are the best fruits and greens to use in your smoothies, especially for beginners.

Certain greens, such as mustard greens, are so bitter and strongly flavored that they are not appropriate for green smoothies, unless you have an extremely adventurous palate!

A.

Best leafy greens to use in your green smoothie recipes:

Green chard

Carrot greens

Rainbow chard

Romaine lettuce

Baby spinach

Green leaf lettuce

Kale

Red leaf lettuce

Collard greens

Boston lettuce

Bok choy

Sunflower Sprouts

Baby bok choy

Dandelion greens (use sparingly)

Beet greens

Maiche

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

B.

Best leafy greens for newbies (these are the most mildly flavored greens):

Baby spinach

Sunflower sprouts

Maiche

Baby bok choy

C.

Fruits that work great in green smoothies:

Bananas

Pineapple

Strawberries

Oranges

Blueberries

Peaches

Raspberries

Nectarines

Blackberries

Apples

Mango

Pears

Dates

Apricots

Papayas

Grapes

Melons

D.

What about using other types of frozen fruit besides bananas?

Yes, this will work, but only one type of frozen fruit can be used per smoothie‌ The fresh fruit, being a water-rich food, provides a good amount of the liquid needed to blend the smoothie. Frozen fruit is rock hard. Thus, if you use one type of frozen fruit in your green smoothie recipe, make sure you also include fruit that is fresh.

A green smoothie should include a combination of fresh fruit and frozen fruit.

My favorite frozen fruit to use with my green smoothie recipes is bananas, due to their thick & creamy consistency. If you decide to use another type of frozen fruit (such as mangoes or peaches), then your bananas should NOT be frozen.

Remember: green smoothies combine fresh fruit with frozen fruit! Use both, not one or the other.

If no frozen fruit is used at all, the smoothie will be room temperature and have a thinner consistency. I personally always like my green smoothies thick and just a little bit cold. Not ice cold, but cool. I find them much tastier this way!

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

Remember: if you buy frozen fruit, make sure it’s unsweetened! Check the ingredients list to make sure it doesn’t have added sweeteners like sugar or “fruit juice.”

I like to freeze the fruit myself, if possible. For example, if I’m freezing strawberries, I will remove the green tops, wash them and pop them into a tupperware bowl in my freezer.

Within a few hours, they’re frozen solid.

If you freeze the fruit yourself, you can guarantee that it’s not old and you know it’s devoid of any added sweeteners or preservatives.

Important: when freezing fruit yourself, always make sure it’s completely ripe before you freeze it!

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

V. SERVING SIZE “These recipes make a big smoothie! Should I drink the whole thing or just drink a little bit? Can I save some for later?”

This is probably the question I get asked most often about my green smoothie recipes, and here is what I would strongly recommend doing: DRINK THE WHOLE THING!!!

That’s right, the whole thing. In one sitting. All of it.

Just you.

Here’s the thing: I recommend having your green smoothie INSTEAD OF what you would normally be eating for a meal.

Have a green smoothie (the whole thing!) instead of your normal breakfast. Or have a green smoothie instead of your normal lunch. (My personal favorite is having them for lunch!).

“Can green smoothies make me fat?”

Green smoothies are not a lot of calories. They are not going to make you fat. In fact, they will do the opposite, because drinking them is so filling and satisfying and is such an effective cravings-killer that you will no longer feel compelled to munch and snack between meals. You will no longer feel drawn to eat junky foods that make you feel icky and tired.

Green smoothies are superfoods unto themselves. They are packed with all kinds of nutrients – this is why they kill cravings.

Cravings only spring up when we eat foods that are not sufficiently nourishing our bodies.

Cravings are the body’s cry for nourishment that it’s not getting from the foods you’re eating.

Green smoothies deliver a big ol’ load of vitamins and minerals, and thus they satisfy our body’s need for nourishment for many hours.

I don’t know about you, but I think being able to forget about food for hours and hours is a wonderful blessing! This is what green smoothies will allow you to do.

My green smoothie recipes make large smoothies, but remember, you are drinking them AS A MEAL, not as a small snack or side dish. Therefore, they should fill you up the way a full meal would.

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

At first, drinking a large amount of smoothie will seem odd or strange.

It’s a new habit that has to be learned. But I promise you will pick it up in no time! It’s a skill like any other, but you will learn quickly. The smoothies themselves are so delicious, and make you feel so good, that you will look forward to having them before you know it.

I encourage you to get past the impulse to take a few sips, or to drink half, and then put the rest in the refrigerator, or give it to a family member.

You should not walk away from a green smoothie still hungry!

Remember, it is not a “snack” or “treat.” It is a FULL MEAL. You are not on a diet. You are not starving yourself.

Green smoothies are meant to be filling and satisfying – this is how you will conquer your cravings for bad foods you don’t want to be eating. You have these cravings because your body is hungry for nourishment. Feed it!

If you’re feeling ambitious, try having a green smoothie for breakfast, and then another one for lunch! I do this often, and on these days I have more energy and am more productive.

Green smoothies can be stored in thermoses and taken to work with you. When I worked in an office, I would leave my green smoothie in the office refrigerator until lunch time, then I would grab it and drink it at my desk.

We are trained to restrict our food intake to small, carefully controlled meals, particularly if we are trying to lose weight. However, this “restriction” and “deprivation” mentality is always a dead-end, because you can only keep it up so long.

Eventually you grow weary of feeling of the constant deprivation and low-level hunger, and you start finding your relief in more and more “cheat” days, which piles the weight right back on.

So if you don’t eat the whole smoothie, and you restrict yourself to just a little bit, you’re still gonna be hungry, and then later today, or tomorrow, or maybe next week, that hunger is gonna get the best of you and it’s gonna happen in a weak moment, when you’re tired and stress from work, or taking care of your kids, for example, and then you’re gonna give in and scarf something junky and gross. It happens every time!

Remember: calorie restriction leads right to weight gain, every time! So don’t do it!

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

When you’re eating nutrient-rich fruits & veggies, and you’re eating them as full meals unto themselves (as with green smoothies), that old deprivation/calorie restriction mentality has got to go, folks!

Fruit and veggie meals are based on abundance, not deprivation.

Raw fruits and veggies are comprised of mostly water, thus you need to eat a greater amount of them to fill you up than you would calorically dense, cooked foods like meats, dairy products and carbohydrates (beans, rice, potatoes).

One banana is not going to fill you up the way one steak or one baked potato would. Rather, you need to consume four or five bananas to constitute a full meal, and smoothies make that incredibly easy for you to do!

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

VI. FABULOUS GREEN SMOOTHIE RECIPES FOR BEGINNERS! A. Banana-Spinach

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B. Strawberry-Banana-Romaine

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C. Mango-Strawberry-Banana-Parsley

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D. Blueberry-Banana-Spinach

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E. Peach-Banana-Parsley

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F. Pineapple-Orange-Banana-Chard

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G. Banana-Spinach-Date

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H. Banana-Spinach-Celery

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I. Melon & Romaine

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J. Strawberry-Apple-Banana-Kale

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

A Banana-Spinach Smoothie: This is the most basic, easy green smoothie recipe. It’s perfect for when you’re in a hurry and just want something quick for breakfast without a lot of fuss or mess.

Unlike cereals, pastries, bagels and other processed, refined breakfast options, this green smoothie recipe will actually GIVE you energy, not make you sleepy and lethargic and looking for the nearest coffee pot.

You’ll love how it liberates you from morning fatigue!

Ingredients: 3 ripe bananas 1 frozen banana 1/4 cup water 3 big handfuls of baby spinach Directions: 1) Blend ripe bananas with ¼ cup water 2) Add baby spinach and blend until smooth 3) Add frozen banana and blend until smooth Serves 1 – 2

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

B Strawberry-Banana-Romaine Lettuce: Another winner! I recommend having this smoothie for a lunch meal instead of for breakfast.

Did you know that romaine lettuce is actually full of nutrients? It’s true! Lettuce is often falsely regarded as a benign ingredient without much nutritional value, but in fact, these are just some of the vitamins present in a head of romaine: Vitamin K Vitamin A Vitamin C Folate Manganese Just 2 cups of romaine satisfies your entire daily requirement of Vitamin K! You’ll feel the power of all those vitamins after you drink your green smoothie and you begin to notice how awake and energetic you feel!

Ingredients: 4 ripe bananas 10 unsweetened frozen strawberries 1/3 cup water 6 to 8 leaves of romaine lettuce, chopped (chop leaves to about the size they would be in a salad) Directions: 1) Blend bananas with 1/3 cup water until smooth 2) Add chopped romaine and blend until smooth (keep blending until it’s very smooth!)

3) Add frozen strawberries and blend until smooth.

Note: the smoothie should have a creamy consistency with no chunks or lumps. This is a piece of cake when you have a powerful blender (see my section on Equipment if you haven’t yet read it).

Serves 1 – 2 www.my-healthy-eating-secrets.com

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

C Mango-Strawberry-Banana-Parsley: Yum! This smoothie makes an excellent, nutrientpacked breakfast! I love love love it!

Vibrant parsley is often relegated to the inconsequential role of table garnish, but in fact it is loaded with vitamins and minerals! Green smoothies provide an excellent venue for us to consume a large amount of parsley and reap all the nutritional benefits (this would be hard to do any other way).

Get ready to have a big blast of Vitamins K, C and A, as well as iron!

Parsley is a milder tasting green, so is more appropriate for a breakfast smoothie.

Ingredients: 3 room temperature ripe bananas 1 frozen banana 1/4 cup water 1 mango, peel removed, roughly chopped into pieces (mango is ripe when it’s soft and it indents when you press your thumb into it) 8-10 fresh strawberries 1 medium sized bunch of parsley (curly or Italian) – chop off stems *For this recipe, parsley should be about as much as you see in this photo:

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

Directions: 1) Blend mango, strawberries and room temperature bananas with ¼ cup water until smooth 2) Add parsley (make sure to chop off stems!) and blend until smooth (keep blending until it’s very smooth!)

3) Add frozen banana and blend until smooth.

Serves 1 – 2

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

D Blueberry-Banana-Spinach: I just LOVE this smoothie!

Bananas and blueberries blended together is one of my favorite combinations. The mildness of the spinach makes the taste of the blueberries and the banana really stand out. The spinach lends a fresh, invigorating undertone to the smoothie that I know you’re gonna love!

This smoothie is really perfect for any time of day. I’ll enjoy it for either breakfast or lunch.

Say hello to spinach, the World’s Healthiest Vegetable!

These are just some of the vitamins & minerals that you’ll get a big helping of when you make this smoothie: Vitamin A Vitamin K Vitamin C Manganese Iron Magnesium Fiber Vitamin B2 Vitamin B6 Calcium Potassium Spinach truly is an amazing superfood. You’ll feel just how powerful it is after you have this smoothie!

Ingredients: 4 ripe bananas 1 cup of frozen unsweetened blueberries 1/4 cup water 3 big handfuls of baby spinach

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

Directions: 1) Blend bananas with ¼ cup water 2) Add baby spinach and blend until smooth 3) Add frozen blueberries and blend until smooth

Serves 1 – 2

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

E Peach-Banana-Parsley: More delicious, nutrient-dense parsley!

I recommend this green smoothie for breakfast. These fresh, vibrant fruits and veggies are full of life and will impact your entire day. Replacing your usual breakfast choices with a green smoothie a few days a week will be one of the smartest healthy eating decisions you will ever make!

I’m going to give you two versions of this recipe, one for summer (when peaches are in season) and one for winter (when they are not in season and you have to use frozen peaches).

Summer version: Ingredients: 2 ripe peaches, roughly chopped with pits & stems removed 3 room temperature ripe bananas 1 frozen banana 1/4 cup water 1 medium sized bunch of parsley (curly or Italian) – chop off stems *For this recipe, parsley should be about as much as you see in this photo:

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

Directions: 1) Blend peaches and room temperature bananas with ¼ cup water until smooth 2) Add parsley (make sure to chop off stems!) and blend until smooth (keep blending until it’s very smooth!)

3) Add frozen banana and blend until smooth.

Winter version: Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of frozen unsweetened peaches 4 ripe bananas 1/4 cup water 1 medium sized bunch of parsley (curly or Italian) – chop off stems

Directions: 1) Blend bananas with ¼ cup water until smooth 2) Add parsley (make sure to chop off stems!) and blend until smooth (keep blending until it’s very smooth!)

3) Add frozen peaches and blend until smooth.

Both recipes serve 1 – 2

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

F Pineapple-Orange-Banana-Chard: This green smoothie is an excellent choice for a dreary winter afternoon, when your spirits and energy need lifting. Oranges are in season in the winter months, which makes sense because the vivid colors of citrus are the perfect antidote to the steel gray skies and shortened days of winter.

This recipe incorporates Swiss chard, either green or rainbow chard, which is a dense leafy green absolutely full of vital nutrients. The darker the color of a leafy green vegetable, the more vitamins & minerals it has. Chard in particular is loaded with antioxidants (13 different kinds!) and phytonutrients. Antioxidants are those powerful little buggers that protect us from disease and decay as we age…

Chard always pops out to me because of its lush, deep green beauty. Here is just a taste of the nutritional wallop you’re going to get from this recipe: Calcium Copper Iron Tryptophan Fiber Vitamin A Vitamin E Vitamin C Vitamin K Chard is actually considered one of the world’s healthiest vegetables, second only to spinach!

Ingredients: ½ pineapple, cut into bite-size chunks (or 3 cups) 2 oranges, peeled and separated into wedges 2 frozen bananas 1/3 cup water 6 large leaves of Swiss chard (either green or rainbow) – chop leaves to about the size they would be in a salad

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

Directions: 1) Blend pineapple chunks and oranges with 1/3 cup water, until smooth. You may have to stop the blender and give it a shake if the pineapple becomes stuck in the blades.

2) Add chopped chard and blend until smooth 3) Add frozen bananas and blend until smooth Serves 1 -2

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

G Banana-Date-Spinach: Say hello to my very favorite green smoothie! This one knocks my socks off every time, it’s soooooooo good!

The secret of its divine flavor is in the plump Medjool dates, considered one of the world’s tastiest fruits. This is a perfect lunchtime smoothie, as it’s guaranteed to give you a steady buzz of energy to help you power through your afternoon! You can kiss that coffee and those energy drinks goodbye! When you’re not eating heavy, badly combined foods for lunch, you won’t feel lethargic in the afternoon.

This smoothie is so thick and luscious, I can’t wait for you to try it!

Ingredients: 4 medjool dates, chopped, with pits removed 3 room temperature, ripe bananas 1 frozen banana 1/4 cup water 3 big handfuls of baby spinach Directions: 1) Blend room temperature bananas and dates with ¼ cup water, until smooth 2) Add baby spinach and blend until smooth 3) Add frozen banana and blend until smooth

Serves 1 – 2

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

H Mango-Spinach-Banana-Celery: This is one tasty smoothie!

And I bet you didn’t know celery made such a perfect ingredient for green smoothies! It has a stronger flavor and has to be used sparingly, but when combined with the right fruits, it is incredibly delicious.

Celery, like lettuce, is often dismissed as a harmless, forgettable vegetable that should play second fiddle to the more nutrient-dense leafy greens like spinach and Swiss chard. It’s used more for flavoring in soups and salad recipes.

However, celery packs its own nutritional punch. For example, it has long been recognized for its ability to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It is also an excellent source of Vitamin C and Vitamin K. Once green smoothies become a staple in your diet, you will find yourself becoming more and more fond of celery, and using it more frequently in your smoothie recipes. Most green smoothie aficionados really develop a taste for it.

You’ll love the combination of celery with mango, a particular favorite of mine!

Ingredients: 1 ripe mango, with peel removed, roughly chopped (mango is ripe when it’s soft and it indents when you press your thumb into it) 3 room temperature, ripe bananas 1 frozen banana 1/4 cup water 3 big handfuls of baby spinach 2 stalks of celery, chopped into 5 or 6 pieces per stalk Directions: 1) Blend mango, celery and room temperature bananas with ¼ cup water, until smooth 2) Add baby spinach and blend until smooth 3) Add frozen banana and blend until smooth Serves 1 – 2 www.my-healthy-eating-secrets.com

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

I Melon & Romaine: Is there anything tastier than a succulent, perfectly ripe melon, so bursting with goodness that the juice runs down your chin?

The good news about melons is that they are in season all year long. It’s always easy to pick up some honeydews and cantaloupes from your local grocer, even in the dead of winter. And when summer arrives, get ready, because melons are in full swing! You’ll find exotic melons of all descriptions rolling into grocery stores in the summer months, and that is the time to play! Be bold and bring home a Santa Claus melon, or a guava, or a Canary melon, or a fragrant Musk melon. You won’t be sorry!

Nature gives us such an abundance of melons in the summer months because they are so hydrating. There’s a reason that watermelons (the juiciest melon of all!) come into season in July and August.

Unfortunately, melons are picked by farmers long before they are ripe. I have found that, on average, you have to wait at least a week, sometimes two, before the melon is ready to be eaten. You’ll know it’s not ripe if the flesh is hard and bland when you cut it.

A ripe melon usually emits a subtle delicious scent, but you may have to press your nose right up against either end to detect it.

This smoothie recipe uses any type of melon you like, whatever is in season and easily obtained from your grocery store. Just be sure to wait until the melon is ripe before you cut it open!

It’ll be worth the wait, trust me.

Ingredients: ½ melon, seeds and rind removed, cut into bite size pieces 6 leaves of romaine lettuce, chopped (chop leaves to about the size they would be in a salad) 1 cup of frozen unsweetened strawberries or cherries

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

Directions: 1) Blend melon chunks and frozen strawberries or cherries until smooth. DO NOT ADD WATER!!!

2) Add chopped romaine and blend until very smooth Serves 1 – 2 *This makes a wonderful, nutritious breakfast or afternoon snack for your kids (who will take to green smoothies faster than you can imagine!).

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

J Strawberry-Apple-Banana-Kale: Kale is one of my very favorite vegetables. It’s so dark and densely green, you just know it’s bursting with life-giving energy and nutrients. Green smoothies are the absolute best way to consume large amounts of raw kale in your diet, which would otherwise be difficult if you were relying on salads.

Increasing dark leafy greens like kale in your diet means really increasing your energy levels, and that’s because greens are packed with protein!

Are you ready to hear more about the sheer magic of the mighty kale? Its benefits include lowering your risk for at least five different types of cancer, including prostate, bladder, colon, breast and ovary.

This green smoothie will give you a big burst of Vitamins A, C and K, as well as a healthy dose of B6, E, potassium, calcium and tryptophan (important for keeping our serotonin levels up!). I recommend it for breakfast, in order to get an especially energetic start to your morning. Rev your engines, folks, the mighty kale has arrived!

Ingredients: 1 apple, cut into chunks, core removed 4 ripe bananas 1 cup of frozen unsweetened strawberries 6 leaves of kale, chopped ¼ cup water Directions: 1) Blend ripe bananas, apple and water until smooth 2) Add chopped kale and blend until very smooth 3) Add frozen strawberries and blend until smooth Serves 1 – 2

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The Newbie’s Guide to Green Smoothies: The Easy, Delicious Secret to Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Conquering Junk Food Cravings For Good!

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