The Daily Balance

Good afternoon, friends!

Happy June! Too bad it feels like March in my neck of the woods – RAINY and cold! I did everything I could to embrace the day, though. In fact, after reading many bloggers’ experiences with a certain GREEN smoothie, I finally tried out a GREEN MONSTER this morning! Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon…

But, for good reason.

Jenna and Rose — the two bloggies who inspired me to try my own — had the right idea, people!

Admittedly, I have put off trying the monster for awhile now. Seriously? Spinach in a smoothie? How could that possibly not taste terrible?

Well, I always say that I’ll try anything, so try I did.

I used a combination of recipes and creations to develop what I thought would be a good green monster for a newbie.

In the mix:

• about 4 cups of spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I used Giant Eagle’s Nature’s Basket natural vanilla whey protein powder)

The Green Monster - in all of its glory!

Frothy goodness

Since I was confronting this MONSTER reluctantly, I decided to make him a bit more appealing by pouring him into an adorable, summery glass that Miss Jenn was generous enough to give me (isn’t it adorable?!). Well, I’m here to tell you, there was no need to be frightened! This was delicious! You could barely taste the spinach. This mix resulted in a creamy, frothy, vanilla-y mix of deliciousness! I loved it! I felt so good knowing that before 7:30 a.m. I already had 4 cups of spinach. Watch out, Popeye!

It’s no secret just how amazing the addition of spinach in your diet is for your health and well-being. Spinach has been proven to protect against osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, arthritis, and several other diseases.

Amazing! I think that peanut butter would make a fine addition, as well! I also want to point out the fullness factor of this lil monster. It kept me going for awhile – I was able to make it to lunch without a snack! That is UNHEARD of for me.

I’m so happy I finally jumped on this bandwagon. I don’t intend on getting off – I’m hoping they’ll let me stay – it’s not like I have spinach in my teeth or anything!

What’s your favorite power food to add to smoothies?

Have you entered my all-natural Annie Chun’s Asian food giveaway? THREE winners will be randomly selected. Contest ends at midnight tonight!

19 Responses to “Daily Delish – How to eat lots of spinach and not get any in your teeth”

1. Rose said:

   I’m honored! I can’t believe I was one of the reasons you tried it – but so happy you did. Wasn’t it great to take the plunge??

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 3:29 pm | Reply
2. Shelly said:

   I like to make my green monsters with banana, spinach, chocolate protein powder and frozen cranberries. Yum! (I often toss in a little spirulina and ground flax as well)

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 3:30 pm | Reply
3. Jaime said:

   haha, I did it today too. I’m having a smoothie-a-day all week. Not always spinach though…just whatever smoothie strikes my fancy or is recommended.

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 4:03 pm | Reply
4. Amber said:

   I tried the green monster for the first time a few weeks ago and I’m addicted now! I have one almost every day! It’s such a great, sneaky way to get a big serving of fruit AND veggies!

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 5:49 pm | Reply
5. Mara @ What's For Dinner? said:

   My green monster the other day looked JUST like that one, glass and all!!! LOVE THEM!

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 5:58 pm | Reply
6. Meg said:

   Ahhh I’ll totally admit to being scared to try a green monster! I want to have the best possible experience with my first one, so maybe I’ll follow your recipe

   Can’t wait to get addicted and reap the benefits of the ever-popular GM

   Love,
   Meg

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 6:05 pm | Reply
7. Mary said:

   I have to say, I’m a little intimidated by its green-ness, but I think I’m going to have to try it after all the rave reviews! Does the banana have to be frozen, or does that just help with the consistency?

   undergradfab.blogspot.com

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 6:35 pm | Reply
8. K said:

   Way to go with the GM! Unfortunately I haven’t tried them yet because it’s so DANG cold in MI Some day soon I will!

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 6:40 pm | Reply
9. Melissa @ For the Love of Health said:

   I seriously have to try one myself I see it all of the time! It’s
   long overdue! Yours looks really good!!

   Posted on June 1, 2009 at 7:24 pm | Reply
10. Andrea@WellnessNotes said:

    I have read soooo much about the green monster, but I haven’t tried one yet. I think I’ll have to try one soon…

    Posted on June 1, 2009 at 7:25 pm | Reply
11. Anais said:

    I just had one today! I love having them when I’ve been lacking veggies, or when I’m not sure whether I’ll bee able to get many servings in during the day! I start stressing out about it and then I remember – I already had 2+ handfuls of spinach!! You should try it with almond milk it’s SO good! I also sometimes like to add blueberries because they’re so good for you

    Posted on June 1, 2009 at 8:23 pm | Reply
12. Michelle said:

    They are amazing. I’ve added 1 c. of frozen blueberries and made it a green monster. Or one orange and made it an OJnanner Monster. You can also add 1-2 c. of spinach to oats while they’re cooking and blend it down with a hand immersion blender and get spinach oats. I usually throw a banana in and some cinnamon. I love it. Glad you had your first monster. You wont go back. I love them.

    Posted on June 1, 2009 at 8:49 pm | Reply
13. Sarah (Running to Slow Things Down) said:

    Mmm…the green monster! Your combo is the first one that I tried to (minus the protein powder,) and is by far my favorite. So tasty.

    Great blog, by the way!

    Posted on June 2, 2009 at 7:53 am | Reply
14. Twitted by thedailybalance said:

    [...] This post was Twitted by thedailybalance – Real-url.org [...]

    Posted on June 2, 2009 at 1:46 pm | Reply
15. Heather said:

    Hooray for the Green Smoothie! I just love adding almond butter and 1/4 cup plain yogurt to mine… vanilla soymilk is also SO delicious. Be sure to experiment with added fruits too! SO much fun!

    Posted on June 2, 2009 at 2:07 pm | Reply
16. Lara (Thinspired) said:

    Love it! I did mine yesterday just like that but with chocolate protein powder…it was sooo yummy!

    Posted on June 3, 2009 at 4:36 am | Reply
17. barbara said:

    Mmmmmm Green Monster = YUM!

    Great blog!@

    Posted on June 3, 2009 at 9:36 am | Reply
18. Oh She Glows » Blog Archive » My Ode To Green Monsters said:

    [...] more? It’s my favorite! Also– I tried my first green monster yesterday — AMAZING! http://www.thedailybalance.com/2009/06/01/daily-delish-how-to-eat-lots-of-spinach-and-not-get-any-in... I had no idea that you were the MASTERMIND behind the goodness! I had just heard about them through [...]

    Posted on June 12, 2009 at 8:01 am | Reply
19. P90X update — Week 2 | The Daily Balance said:

    [...] Make sure you have some good recipes for an awesome recovery smoothie – you’ll thank me [...]

    Posted on May 3, 2010 at 3:59 pm | Reply