Green Smoothie - "Mixi"

3 leaves lacinato kale
Large handful baby spinach
1 cucumber
1 small ruby red grapefruit
1 small handful raspberries frozen
1 handful mango frozen
3 T ground flax seeds
Water

I love the way a bit of citrus can really liven up a smoothie. The acidity balances out the bitterness of the greens and the sweetness of the cucumber and mango. This was a great blend.

Green Smoothie - "Swamp Thing"

3 leaves lacinato kale
Large handful baby spinach
Large handful frozen blueberries
1 small orange
Small handful frozen mango
Dulse
3T ground flax seeds
Water

This sure was ugly but nutritious!

I put a few pieces of dried dulse in water before I start chopping the produce. Then I add it to the blender along with the water it soaked in. This ensures that no minerals are lost.

I grind the flax seeds in this coffee grinder and add the powder in at the very end of blending.

Green Smoothie - "Frozen Blue"

3 leaves rainbow chard

2 large handfuls baby spinach

1/2 cucumber (not pictured)

1 small handful mango frozen

1 small handful pineapple frozen

1 small handful peaches frozen

1 large handful blueberries frozen

Handful raw pumpkin seeds

Ice 

Water

When I made this (a long time ago--I can tell by the plastic straw and the poor picture quality), I had a lot of partially used bags of frozen fruit. I decided to use it all up and not let the fruit get that frosty again. Because a lot of the ingredients were frozen, the blender had a hard time mixing it up. I didn't want it to be too watered down so I added the cucumber. Cucumbers and watermelon are great ways to add liquid to a smoothie without that weird watered-down taste.

Green Smoothie - "The Cuke"

3 leaves rainbow swiss chard

2 large handfuls baby spinach

1/2 cucumber

1 handful mango frozen

Meat from young Thai coconut

Handful raw pumpkin seeds

Ice

Water

I forgot to take a picture of the smoothie...nothing special...green.

Even though it only had 1/2 a cucumber, this one came out tasting like a cucumber smoothie. The cucumber must have been very intense! I love cucumbers so I thought this tasted great, of course. 

Green Smoothie - "The Tracy"

2 large handfuls baby spinach

2 leaves Swiss chard (yellow)

3 leaves dandelion greens

1 thin slice watermelon

Handful frozen pineapple

Handful frozen cranberries

Ice

Water

Made this for my friend,Tracy. She was looking for a way to get more greens and veg in her diet. She doesn't like greens (or most vegetables) at all and I wanted her to try them in this form. She wanted me to include the pineapple and cranberries. I thought she wouldn't like it because it wasn't very sweet (cranberries add tartness but not sweetness and it doesn't cover up the greens' bitterness well) but she said she liked it. I believe her because she drank all of it!

Green Smoothie - "Green Watermelon"

3 leaves swiss chard

2 large handfuls baby spinach

1 large handful frozen mango

1 thin slice watermelon

Ice

Water

Maybe not the most original name but very descriptive. The watermelon flavor was very strong but the greens complemented it perfectly. The frozen mango added sweetness, minimized foaming, but didn't add flavor so it let the other ingredients shine.

Green Smoothie - "Tart Thanksgiving"

1/2 cucumber
2 handfuls baby spinach
2 leaves lacinato kale
1 handful frozen cranberries
1 thin slice watermelon
1 small handful raw pumpkin seeds
Water

I call this Tart Thanksgiving because of the ingredients--cranberries and pumpkin (seeds) not because I made it for Thanksgiving. I kind of figured I'd have to add more than just the cranberries for the fruit part but wanted to see how it tasted alone. As expected, it was way too tart so I added the watermelon (more than you can see in the picture--it had already sunk down). The smoothie was very tart (but in a good way) after that.

Cranberries add flavor, tartness, but not sweetness. If you use cranberries, you will need to have another fruit that is sweet enough to balance out the bitterness of the greens.

I added the pumpkin seeds at the very end so that there would be something to chew on. Something to change things up.

Juice - "Santa's Juice"

3 granny smith apples

2 pears

1 lemon

Large handful baby carrots

2 large handfuls baby spinach

3 leaves swiss chard

There's nothing jolly about this juice in particular--I made it on Christmas day for my family. Everyone liked it and it disappeared quickly. I guess I could have made it more festive by floating raspberries in it. 

Green Smoothie - "Green Melon"

1/2 cantaloupe
1 cucumber, peeled*
2 leaves lacinato kale 

2 large handfuls baby spinach
2 leaves red chard 

Water

*I didn't know it at the time but you do not need to peel cucumbers.

It looks like there is less greens then there really is because the cucumbers are sitting on top of all of it. This is the first green smoothie I made that didn't need major tweaking. The only thing I would change knowing what I know now (other than not peeling the cucumbers) is add ice and less water to compensate. The ice (or frozen produce) keeps the foaming to a minimum. 

Green Smoothie - "Purple Leaves"

~5 oz frozen blueberries

2 lacinato kale leaves, ribs removed*

2 large handfuls baby spinach

1 handful of purple/red leaves from packaged spring mix

1 stalk celery

Water

*I didn't need to remove the ribs but didn't know it at the time

I love how purple this one turned out! The combo of purple leaves and blueberries overpowered the green colors. However, the greens overpowered the taste. I now know that blueberries are not sweet/strong tasting enough to be the lone fruit. I should have added mango or watermelon if I wanted more sweetness without a strong fruit flavor or added pineapple for strong flavor and sweetness. 

Green Smoothie - "Green Pine"

1/2 pineapple
2 lacinato kale leaves, ribs removed
2 large handfuls baby spinach
Water

This is the first green smoothie I ever made. I had no idea if my Oster Beehive blender would work on greens (I had only used it on frozen fruit before). I didn't blend it long enough at first so it was chunky. Ended up pouring it back in to blend longer and it was fine.

I now know that I should have added ice or frozen fruit to keep the foam to a minimum. I hate foam! Also, There is no need to remove the ribs from greens. It's a waste of time and food and nutritional value.

But overall, it wasn't bad for a first attempt. I hope my experiences will help you make excellent green smoothies.