Smoothies are a great way to get in a lot of nutrition in and please your taste buds at the same time. In another effort to up my iron without supplementing, I came home from work today and fixed a green one for lunch. Fast, easy and deelish! In addition to the iron, it’s also a great source for vitamin C and A, and packs a lot of calcium!
- 2 ounces spinach
- .4 ounces kale
- 2.8 ounce carrots
- 3.1 ounce apple (I just tossed in a half – seeds and all into the vitamix)
- 1.8 ounces grapes (I used green)
- .5 ounce fresh parsley
- .8 ounce lemon, with peel (if it isn’t organic, don’t use the peel)
- 1.5 ounces orange juice (optional – you could just add more water)
- a little water
When making a drink like this, adding fruit like lemon does a lot for the flavor, which comes in especially handy when making something like this for kids, and adding a bit of honey works well for that too.
It’s a super low calorie, nutrient-dense snack! For folks who love to eat, this is a great way to pack in a lot of nutrition while leaving a lot of room for more eatin’ later!
Approximate Nutritional Information for this (thanks Nutrimirror!):
A little green refreshment...
- Calories 163
- Total Fat 1 g
- Saturated Fat 0.2 g
- Trans Fat 0 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Sodium 115 mg
- Total Carbohydrate 40 g
- Dietary Fiber 8 g
- Sugars 25 g
- Protein 4 g
- Vitamin A 1084 µg (155% of my A for the day)
- Vitamin C 103 mg (138% C for the day)
- Calcium 149 mg (15% of what I need for the day)
- Iron 3 mg (Wow – 19% of my day’s iron requirement!)
The Whole Picture 