I’m a fan! This has a really nice flavor to go along with the its lovely orange-peach hue. And the goji berries provide a plethora of health benefits! What’s not to love? (serves 2)

In the blender:

• 1 orange, peeled
• 1 white peach
• 1 banana, peeled
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 1 sprinkling of dried goji berries
• ice and water

Growing my own food is something I’ve long fantasized about. I thought I was lacking in green thumbery. And my thumb never proved otherwise until now. I love my plants. Watching these tomatoes go from green to red has been pretty entrancing. Cherish the small victories.

Papaya adds a great smooth texture to a smoothie. Also adds great color. Mellow, lovely flavor.

In the blender:

• 2 big slices of papaya
• 6 strawberries
• 2 peeled carrots
• 1 radish
• ice and water

Delightful! Not too sweet, not too tart. A pleasant green drink. (makes 2 healthy servings)

In the blender:

• 3 kiwis, peeled
• 1/2 a cucumber, peeled
• 1/2 a zucchini, peeled
• 1/2 a celery stalk
• water and ice

The little flecks are from the kiwi seeds.

It’s just a really nice smoothie with a ridiculous name. Soothing flavors. Not too powerful. Just good. (makes 2 healthy servings)

In the blender:

• 1 banana
• 3/4 cucumber
• 2 apricots
• 1 Golden Delicious apple
• ice and a little water

I’ve unintentionally color-coordinated my drinks today. This morning was pink juice. This evening is a pink smoothie. An incredibly tasty pink smoothie! Yum yum. (serves 2)

In the blender:

• 1/2 a cucumber, peeled
• 1/2 a yellow squash, peeled
• 1 kiwi, peeled
• handful of Concord grapes
• 1 apricot
• handful of chopped pineapple
• 1 radish
• handful of ice and a little water

Here are the before and after blender photos. See the cute little radish on top? Precious.

The hubs is a little hungover today, so I decided to wrastle up lots of nutrients to revive him.

This juice has a lovely pink/salmon hue. And it tastes sooo good. No joke.

Ingredients

• 2 sliced carrots
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 Golden Delicious apple
• handful of concord grapes
• sliver of ginger
• 2 handfuls chopped pineapple
• handful of Russian red kale
• water

Served over ice. This is definitely one of my favorites. Cheers!

I’ve already had a pretty fantastic day. Slept in a bit, started my day off with a delicious Carrot-Orange-Pineapple Drink, went for a perfect weather bike ride, bought a bunch of books at Borders’ going out of business sale, read outside, and now I’m rounding out the afternoon with a refreshingly tangy neon green drink.

Ingredients:

• 3 celery stalks
• 3 Brussels sprouts
• lemon juice
• big wad of kale
• water

Served over ice. Great afternoon refresher!

In the blender this morning:

• 2 peeled oranges
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 slivers of ginger
• 2 handfuls chopped pineapple
• 3 peeled carrots
• half cup of water

Vibrantly orange and very tasty! (feeds 2)

I encourage you to try starting your day off with a healthy blended/juiced drink. Once you start, you won’t want to stop. I think it’s the perfect time of day to get all those nutrients, because your body has been fasting while you’ve been asleep and is thirsty for nourishment. Start off fresh and healthy! Then, if you are less healthy throughout the day, at least you’ve got that nutritious foundation to keep your body happy. And chances are, you won’t want as many unhealthy foods throughout the day, anyway. At least for me, these drinks put my very ornery sweet tooth at ease, and make highly processed foods seem much less appealing.

photo by Kaushal Karkhanis

I really look forward to my green drink in the morning (and then another in the evening). I’m starting to crave it. This morning, I decided to forgo the smoothie route and do an all-out juicing. Since we didn’t end up buying that juicer, I did my own makeshift juicing process. This entails blending everything up, and then straining it all through a wire strainer.

It’s more tedious, but the results are well worth it.

In the blender today:

• lemon juice from one lemon
• handful of kale
• a lil’ broccoli
• 2 carrots
• sliver of ginger
• one Brussels sprout
• one Golden Delicious apple
• one celery stalk
• water

And wouldn’t you know it? It actually tasted really good! Looked strange, but tasted yummy. I could get used to this juicing thing. What a great way to start off the day!

photo by Food Thinkers