Smoothie Prep

July 15, 2014

A green smoothie or juice is a great way to start your day. Starting your morning with a green smoothie or juice first helps to not only cleanse but heal the body. This month in the personal and business development group I'm a part of we are doing a smoothie challenge while reading "10-Day Smoothie Cleanse". This was perfect for me because I've been off my choice of either a green juice or smoothie first thing in the mornings. Yes this is part of my routine/diet. I decided I'd make a fiscally responsible call and shop for all my ingredients at Sam's Club as it was the closet budget friendly location to my house. A better choice would have been to go to the Farmer's Market and it would have been even more economical. Nevertheless here is the breakdown of my trip to Sam's Club. I picked up everything from my list except Kale as they didn't have it and so I modified the recipes that had it (top pic). I prepped 10 days of smoothies as I was too tired to do the rest, lol (bottom pic). Still enough ingredients to make another set of 10. I spent $71.30 and all I have to do is add the last 2 ingredients (sweetener and flaxseed, no protein powders for me) when making them up as well as my coconut water. This was a bargain and I'll show you why.

#1 When I get juice delivered from a service to my door... $68/ wk for (5)16 oz bottles

#2 Purchase Bolthouse smoothie/juice $3 ea 16 oz bottle

#3 Green Smoothie at Panera $5

Preparing myself I’m spending about $1.80 each and I know exactly what’s in each one and no additives. Note each one of those bags makes 2 (16oz) servings.

The message in this is it's more cost effective to simply DIY it and you can bank the money you'll be saving. It will also save time. Before I forget the kids absolutely love them and you can even make popsicles out of them as well.

Here are a few recipes to get you started:

Berry Green Smoothie

• 3 handfuls spinach
• 2 cups coconut water
• 1 apple (remove core/seeds)
• 1 cup frozen mangos
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 handful frozen or fresh seedless grapes
• 1Tbsp. of raw organic honey or coconut sugar (optional, try not to use a sweetener if possible)
• 1-2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
• If you are a protein powder person add 1 scoop

Pineapple Spinach

• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup pineapple chunks
• 2 cups frozen peaches
• 2 bananas
• 2 cups coconut water
• 1Tbsp. of raw organic honey or coconut sugar (optional, try not to use a sweetener if possible)
• 1-2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
• If you are a protein powder person add 1 scoop

Spinach Spring Berry

• 2 handfuls of spring mix
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 2 cups of coconut water
• 1 apple (remove core/seeds)
• 1 banana
• 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1Tbsp. of raw organic honey or coconut sugar (optional, try not to use a sweetener if possible) 1-2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
• If you are a protein powder person add 1 scoop
• Note: You can use regular water. I like coconut water as it has many benefits one of which helps to keep the body hydrated.

All ingredients added to blender and blended till smooth. I used my preferred choice of blenders which is a Vitamix however any blender will work.

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