Less Fruit, Not Gross Berry Green Smoothie

I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions for the obvious reasons: “Resolving” to do things stresses me out and makes me feel guilty when I inevitably stumble.

With that said, I do tend to ramp up my goal-/intention-/whatever-setting come January 1. Yes, I write down big picture goals—you know, the “get tv show, pose for Maxim, launch non-judgy Goop empire” type stuff—but I also note a handful of small, realistic lifestyle tweaks I’d like to make on the daily. Because we like to overshare here, this is my 2018 list:

• Hang your pants! And make sure they stay hanging!
• Drink more water. (Not LaCroix.)
• Stop using your phone 1 hour before bed. You’re an addict.
• Cut your hair cut more than twice a year.
• Call your parents more. You’re not that busy.
• Stop following people on social media that annoy you/make you feel shitty and insecure.
• Put your keys in THE SAME PLACE. What is wrong with you?!
• Add less fruit to your smoothies.

I’ve been more successful at some of these things than others over the past few weeks, but I’m thrilled to report that I’m at least crushing the less fruit smoothie game!!

I used to put about 1½ cups fruit in my morning smoothie, and I’m down to about ¾ cup these days, which I’m pumped about. I’ve been wanting to trim my smoothies’ fruit content for a couple reasons, the most important being that fruit has a lot of sugar. It’s natural sugar, yes, but it’s still sugar and as you may know, eating sugar tends to make you crave more sugar. After starting my day off on a very sweet smoothie note, I often found myself jonesing for other sweet things throughout the day. No bueno.

Not gonna lie, it took me a while to figure out a less fruit, not gross smoothie formula that I loved, but I think I’ve finally nailed it, peeps. I opt for blueberries and raspberries because they’re low in sugar and high in fiber, and I like baby spinach because I find it the least offensive-tasting green in smoothies. I add some unsweetened almond milk (I like Malk brand because it’s much creamier than most), a couple scoops of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides so I can have strong nails and Rapunzel hair, some hemp or chia seeds for a dose of omega-3s, and a tablespoon of almond butter for healthy fat and extra protein. A splash of vanilla extract, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a little cinnamon and ginger for flavor, and that’s it! It tastes shockingly good—not as delightful as it did with more fruit but still good—and it keeps me full for hours. I’ve also noticed my sugar cravings have subsided slightly since I started making these lower fruit smoothies, and each one tastes better and better. Great success!!

I always feel mildly ridiculous posting smoothie recipes—I know you know how to put things in a blender and turn it on—but many of you expressed interest in making your own less fruit smoothies, so I thought I’d leave this bad boy here for reference. Let’s all drink this not gross smoothie together in 2018!

Serena’s Less Fruit (Not Gross) Smoothie

Author - Serena Wolf

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Yields: 1 smoothie

Ingredients

• 2 cups loosely packed baby spinach
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk I prefer Malk brand.
• ½ cup frozen blueberries
• ¼ cup frozen raspberries
• 2 scoops Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides optional
• 1 tablespoon nut butter I like almond.
• 1 tablespoon hemp or chia seeds or a combination of seeds
• ¼-½ teaspoon ground cinnamon I use ½, but I love cinnamon.
• Good pinch of ground ginger or a small ½-inch piece of fresh ginger
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Small squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• Add all the ingredients to a blender.
• Blend until smooth. (Duh.)