the green smoothie challenge.

Avo-Banana Kale Smoothie topped with Goji Berries and a side of Avocado on Toast topped with Sriracha

For the month of April, I decided to take on the "challenge" of drinking a green smoothie every day. The concept was presented to me by Simple Green Smoothies, whom I had discovered via a friend on Instagram. It was perfect, and required limited effort on my end, unless you count flipping on my Vitamix as effort. They emailed you a shopping list and recipes every week, so there wasn't much you had to do!

Each week highlighted a different concept: switching up your greens, adding herbs to your smoothies, changing up your liquids, and adding citrus. Five recipes a week were sent in the email, and the other two days of the week were left to repeat some smoothies you liked or try something on your own. 

We ended up doing this probably six out of the seven days each week. I tried every recipe sent, but there was one reason or another why we missed a day - usually because I slept in from being up through the night with the babe, and Neel left for work before I could get to the smoothie!

Just the smoothie was never enough to fill us enough to be counted as a hearty breakfast, but paired with something else (like avocado on toast), it was perfect, and crazy healthy!

As for the benefits, aside from nutritionally, the best thing we see is Neel's skin clearing up! In addition, it gave us more energy to get up and get moving each day, and to exercise or cross things off the to-do list (see: new house, long list). And it should come as no surprise that the fibers left us both feeling plenty regular!

I have juiced and I have done smoothies. I much prefer smoothies. They're thicker, more filling, and there's something I like about the frozen goodness of a smoothie. Cleanup is next to nothing (unlike washing that juicer...ugh!), and you basically don't even have to do any chopping beforehand as the blender takes care of it all for you!

The initial cost was a little high because I had to buy a lot, and frozen fruits aren't cheap. But after that first week, I had a lot left over to reuse in the following weeks, that my shopping bills weren't too nuts. Oh, and I should point out that I cut every recipe in half to feed just my husband and I. The first time I didn't, and it was A LOT! (syntax side note: A LOT is two words!!!)

So overall I would call this a success. I don't plan to stop making smoothies, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed the herbs so I want to experiment with them some more! Simple Green Smoothies plans to do another challenge in August. Sign up! I plan on it!