Kale, Apple, and Banana Smoothie
I love green smoothies. I feel like I am off to a good start when I begin my day with vegetables and fruits.
Today’s low-calorie smoothie, Kale, Apple and Banana Smoothie is from Belle of The Kitchen.
Ingredients / approximate calories – 188 calories according to the recipe on Belle of The Kitchen linked above.
- 1/2 large apple,, chopped
- 1/2 banana,, chopped and frozen
- A few large leaves of kale,, ribs and stems removed
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- handful of ice,, if desired
Low-Calorie Smoothies
Spinach has always been my go to leafy green of choice in all food items. I remember my mom first making me smoothies in high school. Thanks, Mom. They were not green, but purple and consisted of spinach, blueberries, milk and protein powder. I remember being grossed out initially and then loving them and wanting one everyday. I still love my spinach smoothies but I have recently been reaching out to Kale due to all the health benefits I have been reading about.
I was first introduced to Kale Smoothies by Joe Rogan. My husband and I were doing a detox for our wedding and Joe Rogan’s smoothie was part of our plan. Not only am I no longer really a Joe Rogan fan, I also did not think it was to terribly delicious so I started to branch out a find more kale based smoothies.
Smoothies are nice a versatile. There are so many options. The author from Bell of the Kitchen suggests using coconut water instead of orange juice, which I love for mornings where I need something a little less acidic. I sometimes find orange juice to be too much. She also suggests pineapple instead of apple. I love pineapple. And, I have now learned it is a superfood. Read more about “The Power Of Pineapple” I find these suggestions amazing because I never would have thought of either.
You can play around with smoothies all day to find your favorite recipes.
Additional Thoughts
Smoothies are so easy to make. And, they take minutes. But there is room for error. For example, sometimes, when I make a smoothie, I come out with four or five cups of smoothies instead of the two I was aiming for. At first, I just drank them assuming it was supposed to be like that, but I do not think that is the case and I was probably really overdoing it on the fruit. I have googled this and have not found other people having this problem. Since this problem still occurs even when measuring out the ingredients, I freeze the remainder for later. I read you can leave a smoothie in the refrigerator for two days, but I personally do not think they keep and just do not think they are that good.
I prefer frozen fruit to ice in my smoothie.
I tend to get hungry after a couple of hours after a smoothie so I like to keep some carrots on hand to avoid any junk food mishaps.
I try and taste my smoothie before pouring it out just in case I need to add anything to it. I feel like this is like tasting food before adding salt.
My husband told me drinking from mason jars is very early 2000. I do not know if that is true or not, but I love my mason jars and use them for my smoothies with reusable straws such as metal.
Smoothies are easy and quick to clean up if you clean your blender right away.
I am not going to lie, my vegetable intake would be very limited without smoothies. It just never occurs to me to make sides with my meals and sides are usually vegetables. So, unless I made salad, there are not vegetables
Equipment is everything. I feel so lucky because my sister in law gave me a Vitamix a few years back, which is completely life changing. Prior, I used the bullet and it is just not the same. It works, but a nice blender is ideal.
Lastly, I find green smoothies an excellent way to get vegetables into my kids diet. They get a little messy, but whatever works.
Here are some additional Low-Calorie Smoothie recipes I found online.