Beginning the day off with a green smoothie gives me a radiating glow, knowing that I’ve given the cells in my body exactly what they need to feel energized and nourished.
Green smoothies also happen to be the perfect breakfast if you happen to have polished off an entire box of Bernard Callebaut dark chocolates in the span of 2 days.

If you’ve been enjoying the holiday festivities just as much as I have, then you’re body is probably right where mine was on Monday morning – craving anything green!
So, I did what any nutritionist/blogger would do – I searched my recipe archives.
Then I realized that I haven’t exactly excelled at sharing green smoothie recipes on the blog this year.
My bad…

It’s just that when I wake up at 4am with a grumbling belly, the last thing on my mind is taking a picture of anything, let alone the food I’m about to devour.
By the time I’ve realized that the breakfast I’ve just enjoyed is tasty, beautiful, and blog-worthy, it’s long gone and any photo op would just be of a empty green glass with specs of leftover flax.
I promise I’ll get better with sharing for next year.
Until then, I wanted to share 4 green smoothie recipes that I’ve enjoyed this week and hope you forgive me for not including any pictures.

[source]
Ultra Green Smoothie
The avocado adds the smooth to this smoothie. Not only is avocado high in antioxidants, they’re also jam packed with many of the nutrients an expecting mother needs to have in her diet!
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 cups organic spinach
- 1/2 avocado, frozen
- 1/2 banana, frozen
- 2 tbsp hemp hearts or hemp seeds
- 3 ice cubes
Place in your blender in the order of the ingredients listed, then blend for 30 seconds or until smooth.

[source]
Classic Green Smoothie
This classic green smoothie will give you 44% of your daily recommended intake of calcium!
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 cups organic spinach
- 1 banana, frozen
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed
- 1 tbsp raw almond butter
- 3 ice cubes
Place in your blender in the order of the ingredients listed, then blend for 30 seconds or until smooth.


[source]
Blackberry Vanilla Green Smoothie
Each 1 cup serving of blackberries gives you 6 grams of usable carb and 8 grams fiber, the best carb to fiber ratio of any other berry.
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 cups organic spinach
- 1 cup blackberries, frozen
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed
- 1 tbsp raw pumpkin seed butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 15g/half scoop of vanilla protein powder – I used egg white protein
- 3 ice cubes
Place in your blender in the order of the ingredients listed, then blend for 30 seconds or until smooth.


[source]
Chocolate Covered Raspberry Green Smoothie
Did you know that raspberries have the highest amount of fiber per serving than any of the other berries? And that beginning your day with a serving of raw, unprocessed cacao that will help to balance your mood, first thing? What’s not to love about this smoothie?!
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 cups organic spinach
- 1 cup raspberries
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
- 1-3 ice cubes
Place in your blender in the order of the ingredients listed, then blend for 30 seconds or until smooth.

Do you have a favorite green smoothie recipe? If so, please share or link to it!












facebook
twitter
pinterest
rss
flickr
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
They all look so beautiful and pretty! Makes me wanna….slurp!!
Great pictures and recipes!
Those smoothies look great, especially after all the holiday unhealthy eating!
I have the opposite problem – I think I ONLY show my green smoothies. People probably roll their eyes every time I post one. LOL!
Your Blackberry Vanilla Green Smoothie looks wonderful. I make a similar one, only I use pumpkin in place of blackberry. Berries are coming up next!
We need to do a little trade then! I really just need to get in the habit of stopping myself before I gulp them down!
I love making green smoothies in the morning – always starts my day out right
In your blackberry smoothie you use raw pumpkin seed butter, can you make this from raw pepitas in a food processor, I wonder?
Thanks! I’ve been needing some good “green inspiration” lately… Appreciate it! The chocolate covered raspberry sounds great.
yumm! i have a green smoothie every day
usually after my workout – about 3 huge handfuls of organic spinach, frozen banana, organic chocolate protein, few drops of dark chocolate extract (that i found on rawfoodworld.com which is amazing!), cocoa powder, 2 TBS chia and 1 TBS ground flax, ice, almond milk and a few drops of stevia. not sick of it yet! so thick and chocolatey!
Dark chocolate extract? That sounds amazing! I’ve never been to rawfoodworld – just visited. Wow! I could spend far too much money on that site. Thanks for sharing this, Felicia
yay! your welcome
always get my chia seeds, royal jelly, and face lotion from them
What do you do with royal jelly? I’ve always wanted to incorporate it into my diet, but wasn’t really sure what to do with it. Smoothies? On it’s own?
ha, Leanne I am the same way… some of what I eat “between planned blog foods” ends up being made again so I can share it!
I love Love LOVE smoothies, and yours always look SO good!
I wish I had more time in the morning for smoothies. They’re definitely weekend treats for me. The blackberry one sounds fantastic!
Right there with you on not wanting to drag out the camera in the morning. These sound delicious and no pics needed.
The fave in our house is the Blueberry Banana smoothie:
http://themommybowl.com/2011/07/11/kiddo-creations-blueberry-banana-smoothie/
Smoothies just aren’t my thing for some reason, as many healthy ingredients as you can pack in they leave me feeling weirdly full and bloated
These are beautiful!
Oh no, I couldn’t imagine a life without smoothies!
that’s my confusion too…sometimes i get so bloated and an “airy” feeling and worry that smoothies mess me up (i have awful digestion)..problem is that i tend to overeat at night
…so i have zero breakfast appetite…don’t really want a smoothie but assume i ought to eat something becuz i need to gain at least 15 lbs…
Interesting… smoothies should do the exact opposite, especially if you have poor digestion. I’ve had countless clients come to me with weak digestion and have had great success in eliminating solid foods at breakfast and sticking to smoothies only. Chances are its more of a matter of what you’re putting in the smoothie that could be bothersome. And also, if you’re having large amounts to eat before bed and aren’t hungry in the morning, and then you’re eating… it may just be too much on your body.
I wish I could email you to tell you my situation…get your thoughts at least …but i can’t pay for consultations at all (really really low in things now
let me know if i can email u about it…i’d try to be as brief as possible…i’m a mess ;(
Sure thing, send me an email and I’ll see what I can help you with briefly
Thanks…I’ll email soon.
Hi Jane, Did you get to the root of the bloated – ness? I get this way after drinking 2.5 c. green smoothie made with a frozen banana, frozen berries, water, greens and ice. I tend to eat too late I think and skip breakfast. Thx for sharing.
So, the timing of this post could be more perfect for me right now: I got a blender for Christmas! Yay!
Have you seen the movie “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”? I just watched it over the weekend and it’s inspired me to make more smoothies in my life (basically it’s the story of an Australian who goes on a green smoothie diet for 60 days to shed extra weight and fight some skin disease he’s been struggling with). It’s really fascinating and well done and makes me realize how essential what we put into our bodies is!
I haven’t heard of it, thanks for passing it on! I’ll have to check it out. I love being inspired by others’ stories
Oooooo YUM!!!! I wanna come to your house for breakfast! These ones look amazing, especially the chocolate one…hubba hubba
xxoo
These are awesome and I’m definitely adding you to my google reader…i’m not vegetarian
but i like smoothies…never had a “green” one though (i eat a lot of veggies in the day anyone,,so…)
the thing i wonder about though is getting more protein in the morning…is it okay to have a full scoop (30 g) of protein powder for a morning breakfast smoothie with the other ingredients? or is that much protein too harmful?…also, are these each 1 serving or two?
i recently decided to start adding flax to my smoothies..is it okay to start with 2 tbsps and mix with a bucn bunch of other stuff (as in your recipes above) or should i make it less complicated and less fiber-iffic…
would love to ask you about nutrition courses…can i email u or me to chat breiefly??? thanks. love your site!!
Hi Jane – 1 full scoop of protein is fine, go right ahead! The more protein you have at breakfast, the better
each smoothie is 1 serving, the whole recipe. Keep adding the ground flax, it’s great for your digestion, among other things. Have you checked out my FAQ page? There are loads of details on it about the course I attended and my experience in the field. If you feel like I’ve left anything out, feel free to email me!
I’ve been having smoothies everyday for a few days. Today I actually had your sleepy chocolate chip cookie dough smoothie. It was good. The other day I had a green smoothie with frozen banana, ice, almond milk, coconut milk, agave, cinnamon, and a pinch of cayenne!
Mm I like that you added a pinch of cayenne!
Well, one of my favorite green smoothies for the moment is actually a twist from a recipe in the Blendtec recipe book. It uses1/2 -1 cup plain yogurt, 1/2 to whole cucumber, 1-2 cups spinach, 2-4 cups green grapes, and a handful of cranberries. I also add celery if I have some and you can omit celery for the spinach as well…but it seems to me that spinach is a little healthier. So refreshing, I’m in love! And my 4 year old and 10 month old love it!
That sounds really tasty! I have a whole bag of frozen cranberries that I wasn’t too sure on what to do with now that Thanksgiving and Christmas is over. Going to give this a try tomorrow morning
Thanks!
Wow, this is the best site for starting a New Year. I’m going to try a new one every day.
I feel just like you – my body screams for anything greeen…
Looking forward trying your yummi recipies…:-))
Happy New year from Denmark
I had never made a smoothie myself before and had never tried a green one but now I am a total convert!! Had one yesterday and a different one today – love them! even found myself using a spoon to scoop the last bits out of the glass!! Just wondering though…do you think its ok to freeze the spinach too or is it better fresh? Will never get through the whole bag before its use by date! Thanks Leanne, love this site.
Hi Maria – I’m so happy you love green smoothies! I can be found licking my cup sometimes, so I’m right there with you. I’ve been wondering if freezing the spinach would work but haven’t tried it myself. It will decrease the nutrients in the spinach, but not too bad.
Do you have any smoothies that are good for those watching blood sugars?
Hi Stacey – one came to mind that I made a long, long time ago called berry fiberlicious. It’s packed with fiber and uses berries which don’t impact blood sugar as much. Here’s the link: http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6006998
Where would you buy almond or pumpkin seed butter? Trader Joe’s?
Hi Becca – I usually make my own nut butters to save money. If you have a food processor, here’s one of my favorite nut butters: http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2011/08/vanilla-almond-flax-butter/ if not, I’ve heard Trader Joe’s has great nut butters
Gorgeous! I love the pictures and inspiration for new ways to incorporate greens into my daily routine. Green smoothies are definitely one of my favorite breakfast ideas! I have my best recipe here, using kale and blueberries: http://queenofquinoa.blogspot.com/2012/01/alyssas-favorite-green-smoothie.html
Hi, Can you please send the links for the pics of smoothies at the beginning of this post? Thx.
Hi Bonnie – you can find them all in this post: http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2012/07/18-healthy-vegan-smoothies/