We’ve been drinking our green smoothies for more than two months now, and are loving how healthy we feel. And I love knowing that it doesn’t get much better as far as what I could be feeding our unborn baby. I’ve started adding a banana and a couple carrots, along with the berries and greens. When I use kale, I put in a little pomegranate juice to cut the bitterness of the greens – works great. I think I’ve perfected the art of green smoothie making, and we plan to keep drinking them forever.
But they aren’t cheap. I only use organic greens, and they cost about $2.50/bunch at every store I’ve checked. Costco sells a 16 ounce container of organic spinach for $3.50 (makes two days worth of green smoothie), but I don’t like all the packaging that gets wasted when I buy those. I prefer to just buy a bundle of greens held together with a twist tie. (But whenever we’re near Costco, I do buy a container of spinach, because the price is really good). On average, I’d say we’re spending about $12/week on greens, in addition to what we get in our vegetable delivery service box each week. I’ve started substituting greens for a couple other things in the delivery each week, so I usually get three bunches of greens delivered every Wednesday. I don’t want to get more than that, because they lose their flavor and nutrients if they sit in the fridge for more than a few days.
I have no problem spending the money (it’s for spinach and kale after all – hard to begrudge that sort of spending…) but I sure am looking forward to garden season! We always plant lots of chard in our garden, and this spring we’re going to plant even more than usual. It’s very hardy and keeps producing all the way through October, even if it gets frosted. So starting in about May/June we should be getting our greens for free for a few months. Very exciting!
M- says
Do you use a juicer or blender? Which kind? Have you ever put ice through it does it work well? Thanks for the help… =)
Your Blog is my favorite… keep it up…
FrugalBabe says
M – we use a Cuisinart food processor. I’ve put pretty much everything in it – ice, almonds, etc – and it works great. To make a smoothie with carrots, berries, banana, and spinach, I process it for about 4 – 5 minutes, and everything is smooth.
Carla says
What a fantastic idea! We are terrible at getting dark, leafy greens onto our plates. I’m going to give this a try. Thanks for sharing!
Bellen says
Can/do you use sprouts? They are easy to grow and, except for broccoli sprouts, inexpensive. Plus, you can use the soak & rinse water in cooking. You can even sprout almonds!
FrugalBabe says
We love sprouts, and usually have at least one jar going in our cupboard all the time. But since I got pregnant, we’ve taken a break from them, as everything I read cautioned against eating them during pregnancy – even if you grow them yourself – because of bacterial contamination. As soon as I have the baby, we’ll be adding sprouts to the green smoothies!
Glass Bottles says
Thanks for sharing this with us. I love a good smoothie, even if it cost a pretty penny!