How to make the perfect Green Juice/Smoothie

A bunch of you have been asking how to make Green Juices and Green Smoothies (yay!), so I thought it was time I dedicated an entire blog post to it (yay again!).

So. What's the difference between a Green Juice and a Green Smoothie? A Green Juice is made by passing raw fruit, veggies and leafy greens through a juicer (I use a Breville Juice Fountain). A Green Smoothie is made by blending a combination of raw fruit, veggies, leafy greens and water in a blender (I use a Vitamix - pricey, but so worth it I cannot even begin to tell you - you'll use it a lot).

Why drink them? Because they are hands down, two of the easiest ways to fill up on major amounts of leafy greens on a daily basis. And they are delicious. You actually will begin to crave your greens. I'm not even kidding. Oh, and your skin will be amazing, you will have more energy (instantly!) and you will "go to the toilet" more regularly - yes, I'm talking number twos! Happy days.

How do you make a green juice? Simply pass lots of leafy greens (do them first), a few stalks of celery, 1 cucumber, 1 peeled lemon, fruit (only 1 or 2 pieces ideally) and ginger (if you like it) through a juicer. Then I like to add a carton of Coconut water to my jug of juice, plus a handful of ice. This is how I start almost every day:

(above) This amount of green/veg/fruit, once combined with a carton of Coconut Water, fills 3 x 500ml jars with juice - Two for me, one for Mr T!

How do you make a green smoothie? One of the best Green Smoothie blog posts I've ever seen was 5 Steps to the perfect green smoothie by "The Wellness Warrior", Jess Ainscough who explained it perfectly with the following graphics:

My Green Smoothie hot tips: 
- I always add 1 peeled organic lemon to my green smoothies. It cuts through the "grassiness" of the greens, particularly stronger/more bitter tasting ones like kale.
- New to Green Smoothies? Add lots of ice to the blender. The cold will neutralize the flavours to a degree, making it less taste "full on". And start with English Spinach as your green of choice (just 1/4 or 1/2 a bunch) - it's lovely and subtle.
- Familiarize yourself with Victoria Boutenko. Victoria claims to be the pioneer of Green Smoothies and her books The Green Smoothie Revolution and Green For Life are beyond amazing.
- Check out Kimberly Snyder and her Glowing Green Smoothie (the drink of choice of celebs worldwide!).
- Seriously consider investing in a Vitamix. It gets your smoothies SUPER smooth, making them even more "palatable" and is a breeze to wash up as nothing comes apart (you simply put soap and hot water in the blender and whizz it up for 10-20 seconds)! I make Jasper an oat, banana, almond and oat milk smoothie most mornings and last night I whizzed up roasted capsicum skins into the smoothest puree and added it to pasta tomato sauce. Yes, I should be on commission. 
- Click here if you still have any questions, or leave me a comment below and I'll do my best to answer it!

And remember, Green Juices and Green Smoothies should ideally be consumed alone, rather than with a meal or snack - so have nothing at least 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after drinking one. Not even water. That way, the nutrients will be absorbed by your body quickly and more efficiently. 


Happy Health Tonic-ettes!