I've gone green...sort of

So in another attempt to be a bit more on the healthy side of things I decided to give green smoothies a try.  I gave the green smoothie thing a try last year unsuccessfully.  When I first tried it, I put a bunch of spinach in the blender along with some water and a few other things that I don't remember.  It was definitely green.  I was a little skeptical but decided to trust in the fad that so many of my facebook friends seemed to be into.  I poured said concoction into a glass and drank it up.  Let's just say that it tasted like liquid spinach.  I gagged and sputtered and got most of it down feeling very proud at how healthy I was being.  The next day I whipped up said concoction again.  This time, I was unsuccessful and could not bear to drink the liquid spinach.

Recently I have become more consistent with the running.  I am planning on running a 5k on Thanksgiving that is how consistent I have been.  So with that in mind I have been trying to get onto that healthy kick again.  My main problem is snacks.  I sit at home all day long with nothing to do except try to convince myself that I'm not hungry and shouldn't have a snack.  Before you know it I have had like 5 snacks during the day.  So this was about the time that I thought I would try the whole green smoothie thing again.

I knew that I had to adjust my recipe for it otherwise it would never work.  I had just bought some frozen strawberries that I thought I might use for breakfast occasionally.  I was already buying spinach for a dish I was making for dinner that week.  So I went to work on a new green smoothie.

I put one banana in the blender.  Then I added about a cup or slightly more of spinach.  Then I added a handful of those frozen strawberries.  I saw on pinterest somebody used green tea in their green smoothie, so I opted for that instead of just plain water.  Plus I had cranberry pomegranate green tea, so I figured it would just enhance the flavor.  I put the lid on the Ninja and set him to work (best blender ever by the way)

So what came out wasn't actually green in color which already made it more appealing than my first attempt.  Poured it into a glass and what do you know?  It tasted like a strawberry banana smoothie.  You wouldn't even know there was any spinach in it.  So I have stuck with that recipe for several weeks now and have been loving it.  I know it isn't as intense as what a real green smoothie it like, but it is working for me.  What I like the best about it is that it is very filling.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't ever replace a full meal with it, but it is working for those random parts of the day when I would normally reach for the cookies, or popcorn, or whatever it may be.

So that is my green story.  Maybe if I feel brave I will try some other greens besides spinach, and add more of it some time.  We shall see.