Beginners guide to green smoothies

Now we have our Vitamix I’m looking forward to experimenting with green smoothies, but I have to admit to feeling a bit unsure. I mean, how good can they taste?

Fortunately our guest writer today has a wealth of experience and delicious recipes to share!

Tess Masters is an Australian actor, presenter and voice over artist living in Los Angeles, CA. Her alter-ego “The Blender Girl” writes a quirky blog called Healthy Blender Recipes, sharing super quick and easy vegetarian, vegan, and raw recipes using a blender, mixer or food processor. Follow Tess on Twitter and Facebook.

For almost 30 years I have been on a never-ending quest to find the perfect diet or eating plan that would make me feel at optimum health.

I started going to a naturopath when I was about 12 after suffering from chronic lethargy, candida and allergies.

Since my first experience with holistic and natural medicine, I have experimented with what feels like every single whole foods diet known to man — Macrobiotics, Ayurvedic and Chinese principles, Acid/Alkaline balance, Raw Foods, Veganism, Vegetarianism, The Body Ecology Diet and many other wonderful whole foods diets.

But, it wasn’t until I started including raw green smoothie recipes into my daily diet, that I found the missing link in my search for health and vitality.

Raw vegan sweet kale shake

I have been drinking a green smoothie (or two or three) every day for about 20 years now and I have never been healthier, or had more vitality.

Not only are green smoothies loaded with live enzymes and vital nutrients; they are quick, easy, and taste delicious! Green smoothies make it easy for busy people on the run to “eat healthy” and get their daily dose of fruits and vegetables in just 5 minutes!

I always recommend starting with mild tasting greens like baby spinach and romaine lettuce that are easily masked with sweet fruits like mangoes, pineapple, apples, pears, and berries. One of my favourite “sweet introductory smoothies” is my tropical green energy smoothie.

If you’re cutting down on sugars try my spicy vegetable smoothie or an alkaline green smoothie.

I am a huge fan of hiding green vegetables in as many dishes as possible so thought I would share two of my most popular decadent green smoothies to show any “greenphobics” that “eating green” can be fun and taste AMAZING.

The Blender Girl’s Chocolate Spinach Shake

My raw vegan chocolate spinach shake looks and tastes like a conventional chocolate milkshake. This sweet smoothie does have quite a high natural sugar content so I recommend you gradually reduce the bananas and dates and increase the greens as you get used to the taste.

Another incredible green smoothie is my sweet kale shake, which, I swear, tastes exactly like pistachio ice cream. This recipe has become one of the top 5 visited recipes on my site, and I am overwhelmed with emails every week from readers who entertain me with stories of how their unsuspecting children, teenagers and partners gobbled this up and asked for seconds!

Another great way to get your family excited about green smoothies is to make them together! This strategy works a treat with my niece, who LOVES green smoothies. In fact, when I make my apple pie smoothie for her, she asks me, “Auntie Tessy, can we could put some spinach in that to make it green?” HA!

For more detailed information about the health benefits of green smoothies check out the “Why Make Green Smoothies” page, and for more delicious recipe inspiration visit Healthy Blender Recipes.

“Healthy Living with Vitamix” is in association with Vitamix. The Vitamix Total Nutrition Centre® can do the work of 10 kitchen appliances and lets you perform more than 50 kitchen tasks. Join their community on facebook and keep up with the latest news on twitter.