Super Amazing Green Smoothie and 365 Workouts

Happy Monday! Today’s recipe is my Super Amazing Green Smoothie! Some of you are already green smoothie experts, and I don’t have to tell you about the deliciousness involved with green smoothie drinking, or the health benefits. But others, not so much. So I’m going to talk to you , the unconverted, for a minute, because in the not so distant past, I WAS you. I am not the kind of person that will eat or drink something just because it’s ‘good for you’. It HAS to taste good, and if it’s a green drink, that goes double! Life is too short right? So how did I end up as a green smoothie convert? A couple of things… First, I have a friend, Susi, who is always juicing, and she was sending me all of these yummy photos of the rainbow of veggies that were going in her juicer. It was inspiring! Not enough to actually break out my juicer, but more in the I need a trip to Jamba Juice kinda way. So I went to Jamba Juice, and instead of ordering my usual strawberry, banana, and a scoop of peanut butter smoothie, I decided to live on the edge and try a GREEN smoothie! I was pretty convinced that I wasn’t going to like it, and that it would be a waste of money, but I decided to be VERY brave and try it anyway. To my surprise, I actually liked it! And I felt really good after drinking it too! (Not to mention, pretty darn proud of myself too!)  And then I started thinking about when could I go back and get another one?! You guys,  it’s GREEN and the whole thing tastes like peaches and bananas, so what’s not to love?!

And that’s how it began. So, now I have this food blog thing happening, and I’m like, am I even a real food blogger if I don’t have a green smoothie recipe on my blog? I mean, you need that to get the official Food Blogger membership card right? 😉 So why not share my favorite green smoothie recipe with you guys? So I will. But first, I have to make a little confession.

I haven’t been exercising.  Like, for a long time. Ok. I said it. Sad, I know. I walk a few times a week, and do some hiking here and there, but nothing really consistent and nothing very challenging. In my pre-kids life, I used to work out all the time!! I was at the gym pretty much every morning, 4-5 days a week, and I loved hiking, bike riding, and yoga! And then 2 kids, and an injury, and an illness,  and a lot of life happened,  and the first thing that goes out the window, when you’re busy, or not feeling great? Yep. Exercise. Has this ever happened to you? About two years ago I went back to yoga, and that has been great, but don’t get the wrong idea, I go to the laziest yoga class possible. Seriously. It’s restorative yoga, which basically means that you lay on the floor a lot, and when you are standing, you are usually supported with a strap or something, and you don’t really have to work. Which is AMAZING, and unbelievably healing and relaxing. Just what I needed then, and I believe everyone needs some time like this so I’ll keep that in the schedule. But I’m ready to get. back. to. it. fitness wise!!! So I shopped, and shopped, and researched and compared, and I ALMOST bought a piece of exercise equipment, that I don’t really have room for, and then I found something else, that I am soooooo excited about!!

I found Daily Burn! Do any of you guys do this? It’s so fun! I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty sore, in just about every place, but it’s so worth it (endorphins!!).  If you haven’t heard about, I’ll just give you the skinny (exercise pun anyone?). Basically, it’s online, and they have a bunch of different channels, or programs on their website. You can pick any  of them, and within those, they have a bunch of different classes. Classes range from super easy, just getting back into it or never worked out before, to maternity classes, to total weight lifting classes for the beefcake crowd and everything in between. I did a kick boxing one yesterday, and it was fun and a really great workout. My absolute favorite one so far is the new 365 class. It’s live every morning from New York. It’s a different teacher and they do a 30 minute workout. There’s some chatting before, and a little after, and if you’re watching live, you can comment in the online chat. I’m not working out at 6 am on the west coast, so I watch it a little later, but the whole atmosphere is fun and kind of like a morning show. The workout is fun and a little challenging (some times a lot!) but there are people there in all different levels of fitness, so you can modify or rest if you need to. Anyway, I’m doing the free trial (30 days) right now, and I’m really loving it so far, so I thought I’d tell you guys about it. When the trial is over it’s $12.95 a month, which is a lot cheaper than a gym membership, and I don’t have to drive there, or feel embarassed if I just need to lay on the floor for a minute!  Oh, and you don’t need a lot of room to do it. I shove my coffee table out of the way, and do it in my little living room. So far, I’ve only needed my yoga mat, and that was more for comfort than an absolute necessity. If you check it out, or if you’re already doing it, leave me a comment and let me know what you’re favorite class is!  Also, what other kinds of workouts are you guys into? My goal is to tone up and be more fit, and feel more confident in my bathing suit! I live in Southern California, so I know that even though it’s January, we could get one of those freakishly hot days at any time, and I’m gonna be ready for it. Oh, and strength, and heart health and all that kind of stuff too. 😉

So, that’s what new around here, and now I want to talk a little bit more about this Super Amazing Green Smoothie! I thought I would try to figure out the recipe, a kind of reverse engineering situation, crack the code, and then yay! Your favorite green Jamba Juice smoothie at home! But when I went into the interwebs to find the ingredients for this, I found that their recipe is already posted online, and not only was I a little disappointed because I thrive a little on the excitement involved in code cracking, but I was surprised that there’s actually a lot juice in their recipe. So for my recipe, I took out the juice, replaced it with coconut water (which is super hydrating) and added a little more actual fruit, so you get the fiber, and the same taste, but the sugars that are naturally present in the fruit hit your system in a more controlled way, and it  still tastes exactly like the original! The other bennies of this yummy smoothie are protein from the pumpkin seeds, (which are high in zinc) and kale gives you folate, vitamin K, vitamin A, Vitamin C, Manganese, and it is healthier than what ever else you were going to eat instead! And it’s kid approved! My kids love this smoothie, and their friends do too! So, if you’re a green smoothie newbie, rest assured that I’ve got you on this… it’s green, but it tastes like peaches and bananas, with a little hint of lemon. Trust me.

So bottom line is that I love Jamba Juice, and I love to stop there and get smoothies with the kids, and I even love it enough to get a smoothie for lunch when I’m out by myself  (even though I have to walk past Chipotle with a little devil on my shoulder shouting “Chips and Guacamole!! when I go there), but for every day, drinking green smoothies at home action, I wanted to slim it down a little bit. That’s right,  I slimmed down a green smoothie recipe!! I think I’m gonna get some extra stars on my Official Food Blogger membership card now! (Doing a little dance right now!)

****Make sure you guys are signed up on my email list so you don’t miss my next recipe, because you never know what I might do next! 😉 (It’s soup, actually. I planned it already. Sorry for the spoiler! It’s hearty. It’s Vegan. It’s comfort food at it’s best, and I can’t wait to share it with you! )****