How to Eat More Fruits and Veggies: Green Smoothie

I like veggies more than fruits, and there are days when I don’t eat any fruits. I guess that’s not necessarily a bad thing as fruits tend to be  higher in sugar. However, I know that each fruit and veggie has different nutrients, and it is a good idea to eat a wide variety of different colored fruits and veggies throughout the week. The toddler and I always try to “buy the rainbow” at the Farmers’ Market and at the store.

One way to get fruits into my diet is by juicing. I usually make green juice with cucumbers and lots of different leafy greens such as spinach, Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce and whatever else shows up in my CSA box. I always add some fruits to my green juice for sweetness and to make it taste “less green.” Lemons are also wonderful in green juice and truly “take away the greenness.”

The other day, I received a Tervis tumbler through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program. The tumbler is unique in that it keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold.



To be honest, my first thought was to make a nice coffee drink to put in the tumbler. But then I realized that I had already had my cup of coffee in the morning. So I opened the fridge and found some veggies to make a smoothie.



Green/Purple Smoothie

Ingredients

• Milk
• Blueberries (did not use all in the picture)
• 1 frozen banana (cut into slices before freezing)
• 2 stalks Swiss chard (cut into pieces)

The smoothie tasted a bit “green,” so I added a few Vanilla stevia drops, and they made it delicious.



Questions: Do you like fruits or veggies more? Or do you like them the same? I definitely prefer veggies. Unless you count tomatoes as fruits as they are my absolute favorite, and I eat several tomatoes each day when they are in season. Sadly, I picked the last of our tomatoes earlier this week… How do you make sure to get enough fruits and veggies into your diet? I try to build each meal around fruits and veggies (notice the word “try;” it does not always happen…). I also juice several times per week and make smoothies once in a while. Belonging to a year-round CSA also helps. There are always fruits and veggies in the fridge that need to be eaten. And I’m really careful not to waste any of the precious produce I receive from my organic CSA.

Be well,
Andrea