Green Machine Smoothie... yum!

My husband recently went on a Pinterest frenzie searching for every delicious smoothie recipe he could find. We both want to eat better for our own health and for the sake of our future child. How can we teach our kids to eat healthy wholesome foods if we can't do the same? So here it begins with a green machine smoothie. I tried out a recipe yesterday that Matt had found online and I couldn't believe it tasted as good as it did considering what was in it. We made about 1.5 quarts yesterday afternoon and it was gone by 9am today! YUM! So today I ventured to the grocery store for a few more ingredients and this is the recipe I used to make our "green machine" smoothie!

Green Machine Smoothie

1/2 c. broccoli

1 1/2 c. cucumber

1/2 c. pineapple

1/2 c. cantaloupe (the original recipe calls for mango, but this is what I had and decided to use)

2 green apples

1 banana

3 kiwis

1 c. spinach

6-8 oz. pineapple juice

1 tray of ice

Because I did so much prep work yesterday, today was a much easier day when it came to all the chopping and preparing of the fruits and veggies. 

I've never really been a fan of blenders/choppers/smoothie makers, etc. because no matter how good people say they are, they never truly do what you expect them to. SO I used my mini-food processor and ran everything through it except the pineapple juice and the ice. I then used my blender to mix the ice, pineapple juice, and the now pureed mix of fruits and veggies. IT ACTUALLY CAME OUT THE CORRECT CONSISTENCY! I am very happy! Maybe in the future I will invest in a fancy Ninja or something, but for now I'm sticking with my $3 Walmart black Friday mini chopper! ha ha. 

My husband's co-worker brings his green "jungle juice" to work in a mason jar so I figured I better step up my game today and include some fancy packaging in this new product of my kitchen! :) 

Overall this recipe compares to Naked's green machine smoothie which sells for $2.99 for a 15.2 ounce bottle at Target. 

I made 4 pints (16 ounces each) following the above recipe which cost me a total of $7.20 for those ingredients, or $1.80 per 16 ounces. 

SAVINGS: $2.99-$1.80= $1.19 per pint! 

PLUS: I have leftover broccoli we can eat with dinner, I have cantaloupe & pineapple to snack on, spinach for salads, AND I actually know what went into making this green juice which makes for a great breakfast or snack! AND ... can there be more? YES, if we keep this up we will be consuming way more fruits and veggies than we normally would! I've already got an idea for a protein smoothie we may have to try next week and the search begins for a more veggie orientated smoothie NOW!