You can’t change a man but you can change a green smoothie.

My first green smoothie … not the first I’d ever HAD but the first I’d ever MADE … was very phhfft plffht phhlffft. (That is the sound of spitting it out.)

I actually got half way through it, only because I knew it was “good for me” … and then never wanted to ever venture anywhere near another one for the rest of my natural born life.

As I write this I sit happily sipping my TENTH green smoothie … not because I’m a changed woman (becoming happy with gagging down a miserable mess in a cup) but because my smoothie is a changed smoothie.

Out of this experience were borne …

Green-Smoothie-Luvin’ Tips

1. Texture, texture, texture: bananas.

   A smoothie which is not, well, smooth … can be a real bummer.

   Choking down gritty slime is not my idea of a good time. My first smoothie was this way. See, I like using the whole fruit or vegetable … because the “good for you stuff” is found in abundance in the peel.

   First timers may want to peel their apples if it’s really an issue but I found that I can leave my peels in if I add a banana to the mix.

   The first time I ever made a smoothie I didn’t use banana because I didn’t feel I needed that flavor. But the awesome thing about a banana is that it blends up ultra smooth. Try tossing one or two in there if you’re having texture issues.

2. Broccoli is not for the faint of heart.

   If you’re a first timer or easing yourself into this thing, do not, I say do NOT, add veggies which have pungent or strong flavors to your smoothie. Unless you just love, love, LOVE that flavor.

   Pineapple chunks are strong-in-a-good-way. Vegetables with strong flavors like broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and chard may be best saved for later.

   One thing which may surprise you is …

3. Spinach is your friend.

   The cool thing about spinach is that it’s jam packed with good stuff —folate, vitamins A, C, E, and K, and several anti-oxidants­—and better yet, it blends down pretty nicely into a relatively smooth consistency. And the flavor is pretty easily masked with other things.

   Such as …

4. Flavoriffic additions: ginger, lemon, mint.

   A little punch of flavor can be added by tossing in a hunk of fresh ginger, half a lemon or even some mint.

   Ginger is the one which surprised me most because when I’m at a sushi restaurant I only eat a tiny bit of the ginger and it’s not my absolute favorite. But when I’m drinking a smoothie and taste that little hint of ginger, it’s really delicious.

   Go figure.

5. Get good tools.

   Years ago, before my hard-core green smoothie experiment, I used to try making smoothies with my blender. Not good.

   I had to chop down my ingredients into small, small pieces … blending took forever … some things just didn’t want to blend at all … and the end result wasn’t even all that smooth.

   Tools like my HealthMaster really go a long way in determining whether or not you will actually MAKE these things more than once.

   The HealthMastersucks ingredients in effortlessly, makes your smoothie super-smooth and eliminates the need for wasting lots of time chopping. You can have a nice delicious and healthy smoothie on its way to your belly in minutes.

   And that’s the whole point, right?

And here it is now …
my new boyfriend, um, I mean, my green-smoothie-maker!

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