In my continued quest to live a healthier lifestyle, I was seeking to create smoothies that are not only amazing for your physical health but also that taste great.  I know healthy food can taste amazing, and I really hope that this smoothie helps people believe that!  

Laura

I know I have hit the winning combination of taste verses health benefits when my husband approves of the green smoothie.  My husband is really healthy when it comes to exercising.  I’m super proud of him right now because he’s training for a sprint tri-athlon.  All that being said though, his weakness is his sweet tooth!  We have a running joke whenever I try to make a new recipe that I think will prove my point.  Whenever I make a new recipe,  I always ask him, “Hey, what do you think of this?”  He’ll taste it and say, “It’s good, but you know what would make it better?…More sugar.”  That’s him, so when I had him try this green smoothie and he actually liked it without adding that it needed more sugar, I knew I had hit a winner on my hands!

Creating Whole30 compliant smoothies is a bit of a challenge because a ton of smoothie recipes call for yogurt, milk, peanut butter, fruit juices, or other non- Whole 30 compliant ingredients.  I am also trying to create some smoothies that avoid bananas as bananas are fairly calorie dense and have a hefty dose of carbohydrates and sugar (There are approximately 22 carbohydrates and 12 grams of sugar for a medium-ripe banana according to Healthline.com.) so I would like to find smoothies that taste amazing, but that are really intentional about the amount of fruit sugar and carbohydrates they utilize. 

In my quest for a healthier lifestyle, I did Whole 30, an eating plan that focuses on changing your food cravings and your eating habits.  Whole 30 seeks to help people break their sugar dependence which is ingrained in our modern diets full of packaged food and aisles and aisles of cookies, candies, and chips.   If you’re not familiar with Whole 30, I would definitely recommend reading Dallas and Melissa Harwig’s book, It Starts with Food.  This book really made me really want to have a healthier lifestyle and to start that healthier lifestyle by trying Whole 30.

            Whole 30 has a long list of “no eat” foods which makes it seem pretty extreme and why many people find it to be a really hard program to complete.  You can’t eat grains, dairy, beans, peanut butter, and any sort of sweetener such honey, agave syrup, or Splenda.  See the entire program directions here.

            Trying to get creative in the kitchen while adhering to the Whole 30 “no eat” list took me an extra level of creativity. I love variety and wanted to have something new and exciting to eat everyday, so I started thinking about  foods that have intense flavor and I immediately thought of cherries with their tart, burst of flavor and sweetness. I used Simple Truth Organic Dark Sweet Cherries. I knew I needed to try to make a smoothie with them!

            While smoothies are allowed on Whole 30, they are not particularly encouraged.   The argument is that smoothies often have you eating way more fruit than you would probably do if you sat down and ate a meal.  Green smoothies are a good workaround for this because you’re still getting in a decent amount of greens with just a little bit of fruit. I definitely understand the argument against smoothies, but honestly, I really don’t think they understand just exactly how terrible my eating habits actually were and how crazy my life actually is.  Sometimes I just need be better, not perfect.  Green smoothies help me do that.  I can whip them up in a couple of minutes and I at least know that I am giving my body something worthwhile to work with.

I include coconut oil in my smoothie not only to make it smooth, but also to ensure that this smoothie really does fill me up and not leave me hungry.  Many people, especially those who are just getting started on Whole 30 say that they are just so hungry and that they can’t seem to feel full no matter how much they eat.  I know my sister found that to be the case when she did Whole 30, she just wanted to eat all the time.  I haven’t found that to be the case when I’m intentional about including oils in my eating.

What Makes This Smoothie So Special?

Spinach

Spinach has loads of health benefits and has an incredibly low calorie count.   One cup of spinach has less than 10 calories in it according to MedicalNewsToday!

Cherries

Some research has shown that cherries can be a great food to eat if you’re exercising.  In the study, those who drank tart cherry juice had reduced pain after exercising according to WebMD. 

Coconut Milk

The coconut milk I used in this smoothie, Simple Truth Organic Coconut Milk, is really calorie, fat, and sugar conscious.  For an 8 ounces or 1 cup, it contains 90 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 4 grams protein! All of these benefits while only having 4 grams of sugar for each cup. 

Cherry-Apple Green Smoothie Whole 30 Compliant

The cherries make this green smoothie taste like a decadent treat! This recipe only yields a small smoothie, so if you want this to be a full meal, doubling the recipe would be a good idea. 

• 1 Cup Spinach

• ¾ Cup Coconut Milk

• ½ Cup Frozen Red Apple

• ¼ Cup Frozen Tart Red Cherries

• 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

Directions:

Add all the spinach, frozen apples and coconut milk to a blender. Blend on a high speed until pieces of the spinach and apple are no longer visible in the blender.  You’ve blended enough when you no longer see any little green or red flecks in the blender.  Add in the frozen cherries and the coconut oil and blend on high speed until you don’t have any chunks of cherries in the blender.  (Tip: Pull the ingredients directly out of the freezer right before you use them. It will make the smoothie taste better.)