Green Smoothies

Drinking Green Smoothies is the easiest way to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet. My mother, who thought I was crazy for drinking something made with spinach, enjoyed them during our weekend getaway. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to make a Green Smoothie - put in whatever you have on hand. My standard recipe follows.

1 banana
1 pear
1 orange
1 apple
1/8 c. hemp seeds*
1 to 2 large handfuls of spinach

Quarter each piece of fruit. Put all ingredients into a blender, along with 1/2 cup water and several ice cubes. Blend on high speed until completely smooth.

Note: It is not necessary to remove seeds or cores from fruit. It will blend in and you will never know it was in there. I would, however, recommend peeling the orange and banana. :~)

Tip: Use any kind of greens - kale, chard, spinach - whatever you have on hand. Frozen fruit can be used in place of fresh fruit and you won't need to add ice cubes.

*The hemp seeds can be purchased in bulk at health food stores or ordered online. If you don't have hemp seeds, you can use flax seeds, which are sold at most mainstream grocery stores and health food stores.