Green Smoothie Juice
Hi! How’s your day going so far? Last night we had a little grill party. Whitney and Wyn came over, we grilled BBQ chicken with sweet potatoes and zucchini, enjoyed some wine, and it was glorious.
(Some little appetizers: cheese board with bleu cheese, different types of goat cheese and strawberries + TJ’s chips and salsa. Don’t mind the smashed goat cheese log; I crushed it with my brute strength removing it from the package.)
So lucky to have this girl:
(Wyn leaned back for the sweetest snuggle when my mom took the pic!)
and so very happy to spend time with my family this week <3 Liv is in heaven. I can’t keep her away from her nanas for two months ever again.
Whitney also introduced us to Niederfrank’s ice cream: chocolate chip and chocolate cherry, handmade using real ingredients. Face plant in 3, 2, 1…..
Out of control.
So today, let’s talk about smuice.
Have you heard about this? I’ve been a “thing” I guess for a couple of years now -which doesn’t really make it a thing anymore, but you know- and I’ve been hesitant to try it. The major difference between smoothies and juices is that juicing removes the fiber from the fruits and veggies. You’ll still get the nutrition, but miss out on the satiety and benefits of the fiber (plus some antioxidants from the skin). So, many people blend their juice ingredients in a high-speed blender to get the taste of a fresh juice + the fiber of the smoothie = smuice. The best of both worlds.
But, it’s just not the same.
I took a hint from this Fitsugar recipe and combined 2 cups of greens (1 cup romaine, 1 cup spinach) with 1 whole diced apple, 2 celery stalks, 1/2 banana, 1 1/4 cup water and 4 ice cubes.
While the taste was pleasant and definitely green, the texture may take some getting used to. The Vitamix is powerful (and could make iPhone butter if you wanted it to) but I still felt like I was chewing my beverage. I don’t like to be reminded that I’m essentially drinking a salad. But, it was a nice way to get a blast of fruits and greens as an afternoon pick-me-up.
Have you tried smuice before? Am I doing it wrong? If you make juice type drinks in the blender, what’s your favorite combo?
Have a great day!
xoxo
Gina
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My “smoothie” is typically cucs, spinach (or romaine depending whats in my fridge) and almond milk first in the blender, once it’s a juice like consistency I add chia and/or flax meal, maca powder*, hemp seeds, green superfood powder (wheat grass, chlorella, spirulina, broccoli and kale) and a cup of fruit. Blend and get ready for the day!
*I only use maca powder 2-3 days a week
I have been toying with the smuice idea! I can’t fit another appliance in my shoe box and I already have a blender so maybe I’ll give it a go. I usually just buy my juices. 🙂 These photos look so appetizing though!
That baby is deliciously cute.
I literally just tried this for the first time last week. I would skip the apple- that might be giving you the texture. I did handful of spinach, cucumbers, squeeze of lemon, small splash of OJ, almond milk, chia seeds, and about a 1/2 tsp of ginger for freshness. OH and a frozen banana. It blended together beautifully! Never felt like I was chewing.
that ice cream looks incredible… my weakness!
We make smoothies in the blender every morning. Best recipe we’ve found:
2-3 big handfuls of power greens mix from Costco (bag of spinach/kale/chard)
2 Apples or Oranges
Small handful of berries if we have them
1/2-2/3 cup frozen fruit (pineapple or mango works best)
Tablespoon or so of chia seeds
1/2 cup of water
Throw the greens and water in the blender first, then add the fruit and the frozen items on top. Blending takes a few bursts (you may need to stop it, mix it, start it again) but the end result is fairly smooth and tasty. Gets smoother if you add more water and less frozen fruit, and obviously adding seed-y fruits like berries gives it a chewier texture.
The trick with greens is to make sure they’re broken down fully, so water+greens first can help make sure you don’t get that weird fiber-y texture. We drink this every morning and love it.
Yes, I do make smoothie/juice drinks in my Nutribullet, and I love them. I use kale, spinach, blueberries, almond milk, almond butter and stevia. If I use mostly frozen stuff, it’s an official smoothie, but if I use fresh stuff, it’s a smuice. 🙂
Yeah–I had the same issue. I don’t have a juicer, so I was trying to swing the idea of juicing with my blender. I normally have taste buds of steel when it comes to smoothies (since my smoothies tend to be whatever I can reach in the fridge that needs to be used up), but the green dominant ones are too much for me to handle (my almost-two-year-old daughter took a sip once, gagged, and shuddered the word “crunchy” in the most pitiful way).
I think it’s the celery. I ditched that immediately after that first experience. And I figured out that I have to balance it out with more sweet fruit than just a banana–mangos are my go-to. And raw honey if I don’t have mango/banana.
I guess I never thought of it as “smuice” but I do this all the time. My go to combination starts with a base of coconut water (which I personally think is a must have to get a palatable texture), then I add kale and spinach (a lot of both–like almost filling my Vitamix), half of a frozen banana, maybe a few mango or pineapple chunks and if I feel like it, ground flax seed and chlorella tablets. I guess it’s not true juice or a smoothie because of the coconut water, but I like both the added benefits of it and the texture.
We make “smuice” nearly every morning in our Ninja blender! We usually do (for 2 smoothies) 2 cups of unsweetened coconut water, a big handful of spinach or kale, 2 carrots, a banana, chia seeds and then some assortment of frozen/fresh fruit (just tried grapefruit yesterday and it was awesome!) and sometimes part of a cucumber! We’ve found that the trick is to add that extra water to get a more smooth “smuice” we’ve even used just regular tap water and the flavor has still been pretty good!!
I have a juicer so I like to use it to feel like spending the cash on it was a good investment. But when at the boyfriend’s, I use the blender. The only smuice I make usually involves spinach and fruits, sometimes frozen kale. I like having the texture in there because it feels like I’m getting more bang for the calories, but I couldn’t really imagine putting celery (stringy, blech!) into the blender and enjoying it. Heck, I don’t like celery in my juice either…so I guess I just don’t like celery 🙂 But, I’d be willing to try some heartier veggies in a smoothie I suppose…
I am new to the smoothie/juices/smuice world. (Hello braces at 30 and needing a way to still eat lots of crunchy things!) Apparently I’ve been smuicing and didn’t even know it. Haha. I have a Ninja and just throw everything in at once and go to town. I always use spinach, and it’s not an issue. My drinks just have pretty green flecks throughout. (It does totally gross out my husband, but he’s scared of anything green.) However, the one time I tried an apple, the texture grossed me out. It was n’t chunky enough to chew, it just felt like something was wrong. Since then I’ve stuck to mainly fruit and spinach combos, but maybe I’ll attempt apples again.
I find I only stick to spinach, other greens never blend up very well for me. I also add a little avocado as it makes it SO creamy and smooth. I am pretty new to making these ( about two weeks) and have been playing with options. Apple also makes it pretty chewy- I think pear does a little better job for me.
I agree that it was probably the celery and also all that water. If you do it again, try a frozen banana and almond milk or OJ in place of water and ice. I’d also skip the romaine and make it all spinach for the greens. It just seems to do better in the blender to me.
When your bananas need thrown out, unpeel and freeze for smoothies.
Skip the celery and add almond milk!
I’d leave the celery out and try adding in zucchini. It is one of my current favorite smoothie add-ins. I also love making mine with unsweetened vanilla almond milk in place of water. I am a green smoothie freak 😉
I do lots of green smoothies (or “smuices” :)) with spinach or sometimes kale, but I’ve never tried some of the other veggies like celery, romaine, etc. I’m intrigued though! I have a middle of the line Oster blender though, so I’m not sure how well it’d do with big ol’ chunks of vegetables in there.
Hahaha, “smuice!” Oh, am I ever familiar. I got a Ninja blender for Christmas, and the first thing I tried to make was a green juice (the packaging advertises that it’s powerful enough to make juice…the packaging also lied.), and it turned out with a smoothie texture and a salad taste. I choked down about 1/3 and used the rest as the “liquid” part of my next few smoothies – all of which were actual SMOOTHIES with plenty of fruit and no salad ingredients in sight. 😉
I imagine that “smuice” probably works best with greens that aren’t too fibrous like spinach and cucumbers. Not sure though, I’m a bit too preoccupied by thoughts of handmade ice-cream 😉
I use the vita-mix, and I’d suggest leaving out the celery. I typically use almond milk and/or water, spinach and/or kale, and frozen fruit…all blend up smooth and the little one loves them too. We have previously included other things like apples, bananas,lemons, limes, etc with no issues.
Yum! This is amazing!!
I like the idea of smuice, so maybe I’ll start out slowly adding greens to my normal fruit smoothies. I think I’d also be a little freaked by the texture at first.
Every morning (I am such a creature of habit!) I put a good handful of spinach in my a blender, top with a cup of tap water into which I have stirred a spoonful each of milled chia or flax seeds and some mixed green powder. I whizz that then add half a banana and some mixed frozen berries. It is so very nice! Bit smoothie like but I feel like I have had a suitable green hit! Xxx
I only have a blender so that’s all I use to make smoothies and juices. My 20 year old Oyster just died last weekend and now I need a new one. I would love a Vitamix, but it’s a too pricey. Any recommendations for a more reasonably priced one?
my parents are divorced and i have an Oyster at my dads, it works GREAT! at my mom’s house, we had a crappy blender so she bought me a vitamiz last year. honestly the only major difference is that the vitamix can make soups. any high speed blender is good, but if a vitamix is what you have in mind, i’d save 🙂
my fave smoothie in the mornings is one whole apple, a nice-sized chunk of fresh ginger (i peel, chunk and freeze mine so it keeps longer), plain greek yogurt, maybe some frozen fruit, a ton of frozen spinach or kale, maybe half a banana if i have any and some water. i think the apple makes it more frothy than other smoothies i make. the ginger adds a nice kick.
I usually make a smoothie, so I can’t help you there. I do add mixed greens, spinach, and/or banana to my smoothies, though, and I’ve never really had to chew my drink (thoug I know what you’re talking about. Perhaps you could make a smoothie as well as make a juice, then combine them for the best of both worlds? Plus, then you’d have two (or more) servings so you could save some for later.
P.S. I do make smoothie water, though. Basically, instead of cleaning out my smoothie cup when I’m done, I’ll go to the sink and add water to the cup to get the rest of those little bits. Then I drink my smoothie water. Smooter? Smater?
smater. haha
I tried it too and thought the same thing! Except the first time I made it and I let the vitamix heat my smuice to a soup so gross!
I have been wondering how this is. It is something I really want to try because I honestly just don’t have the time to get out the juicer all the time. Look forward to reading tips!
Ok – totally trying this! I’ve been considering buying a juicer, but I never considered putting the VitaMix up to the task. HAPPENING!
I’ve never heard of “smuice”; I thought a smoothie was any variety of ingredients–with a base of fruits and/or veggies–blended to drinkability. Learn something new every day! 🙂 I’ve used apple in my smoothies just twice and always find the texture abhorrent, probably the only form of apple that I don’t like. 🙂 The picture of your smoothie looks like it has the exact same unpleasant texture I experienced. Our family classic is baby spinach, frozen blueberries, one banana and enough water to bring it to the consistency we like. I was short on blueberries this morning, so I added plain greek yogurt and used pineapple juice instead of water; the kids loved it. I use primarily fresh greens for the veggies and I have a pretty basic blender from Target. Hope you find a blend that works for you!
I have never tried this before, I have tried juicing but it all honesty it is quite expensive! Especially for me since I just graduated college and I am starting to have expenses! I am not a huge fan of smoothies! I do love them but I have a hard time mentally feeling full when I don’t chew something! This interests me very much though! If you find a great combination I’d love it if you shared it 🙂
i’ve been calling mine joothies (juice + smoothies) forever! i think the secret to the green ones is lemon, LOTS of ginger, and more water than you’d think. My standard in the vitamix is 2 big handfuls of spinach, 3 or 4 leaves romaine, 1/2 banana, peeled ginger chunk length of 3/4 my thumb, half lemon squeeze, 2 or 3 celery stalks and a hunk of cucumber if i have it. I put about 1.5 c water in with that so the consitency leans more juic-ey than thick smoothie. (totally gross when it’s thick). helps to serve over ice cubes!
My favorite addition to juice in the blender is avocado. About 1/4 to 1/2 of a small avocado depending on the size makes it a little creamy. Its really delicious.
You probably need more liquid. I usually add at least a 1/2 cup water or almond milk. I definitely think they stick with you longer when you use the blender.
I feel like there was a Simpsons joke a million years ago about blended salad. Personally something like celery is not a texture I want in my smoothie. I like them smooth.
I came across SMUICE recently, since I have been craving juice but don’t have a juicer. I am an OG thick smoothie in a bowl, so thick that you have to drink it with a spoon but I am really enjoying these as well.
My favorite SMUICE is:
2-3 Cups of Spinach
1-2 Kiwi Fruit
1/2 Frozen Bana (or not frozen)
1 Celery Stick Chopped
Juice of 1 Lemon
Coconut Water and Ice
Try this!! It is so good 🙂 I promise.
that sounds fantastic! thank you!
I smuice everyday! I purchased a vitamix before juices got big and I can’t really justify buying a juicer since I spent so much on my vitamix and have very limited counter space. So to satisfy my juice craving I make smuice! I noticed you forgot half a lemon, this is VITAL to the smuice. It helps to take out the bitterness and makes it delicious. My recipe is : handful of romaine, handful of spinach, 2 stalks of celery, one small apple, one banana, half of a lemon (skin and all). The banana and lemon are key, though sometimes I sub jalopeno and avocado for the banana if I want a kick! Another fun one is spinach, romaine, apple, pineapple, cilantro, lime! Just need to play around with proportions of each to find one that suits your taste buds 🙂
i will try those! thank you! it’s funny because i always add a lemon to my juices but skipped it in the smuice for whatever reason. that citrus kick helps a ton
There’s a juice/smoothie recipe I got from the book ‘Honestly Healthy’ and it’s my fav. It’s called the skin booster
1/2 cucumber
handful of spinach
juice of 1 lemon
2 celery stalks
1 kiwi
1/4 avocado
1 cup water
So fresh tasting and the kiwi adds the perfect amount of sweet!
i will have to try that! i LOVE avocado in smoothies
I ?? Smuice! I do this most mornings: 2 handfuls of greens (usually power green), inch of ginger, small handful of parsley, coconut water, juice from 1/2 a lemon, 1/2-1 c frozen mango and 1/2 frozen banana. So very good!
And two celery stalks! Oops
I don’t like the feeling that I’m chewing either. I will sometimes add spinach to my smoothies but my blender isn’t powerful enough to fully blend it.
I put kale and frozen pineapple in my nutri bullet fill halfwY with water and top with oj makes a yummy green smuice
This is how I drink my morning greens. It took some getting used to, but I love smuice for the flavor of juice but texture of a smoothie.
What I’ve done in the past (the texture of a smuice throws me off) is to juice the veggies that cannot blend too well and then throw it in my blender with a banana. A different take on a smuice!
Right now my favorite smoothie is spinach, 1/2 banana, pb, honey and almond milk… yum!
I’ve been doing a cup of water, 2 clementines, 1/2 c. frozen green grapes, looooots of spinach, a squeeze of lime, and a few mint leaves. Blend it up! It’s SO delicious.
I didn’t know I’ve been making smuice all along! I just throw whatever I have into the blender and top with lots of water and hope for the best. Sometimes I have to plug my nose to drink it, but it’s a great way to clear out the fridge and start my mornings with a kick. 🙂
PS — Apples are my least favorite addition. Their texture makes my “smuices” feel rough/grainy.