Smoothie for Dinner

We were invited to dinner last night in Capital Hill, and while it sounded delicious, I was feeling more like returning home after Oly-lifting. My lifts have been increasing consistently! Yeah! I am going to plot them out in Excel to show the Rolfer.

I got home and, while there were plenty of leftovers, I didn't really feel like anything warm. It's been fantastically warm for Seattle the last few days, and I have been making efforts to get outside and revel in the sunshine. I didn't really feel like turning on the grill, either, and I wasn't super hungry. So I decided to make a green smoothie. 

This wasn't necessarily a low-carb smoothie, but it was pretty darn tasty. 

Green Smoothie 

- 2 cups Swiss chard, chopped, lightly packed

- 2 cups spinach leaves, lightly packed

- 1 inch of ginger, chopped finely

- 1 cup coconut water (I used Zico unsweetened coconut water)

- 1/2 banana

- 2 small kiwis, peeled

Dump ingredients into a Vita-Mix and blend till smooth.

Some notes: 

- The kiwis were getting wrinkly in the fridge, so rather than see them in the compost, into the drink they went. 

-  I love my Vita-Mix. It really makes big leaves process down to a smooth texture. I can't say the same for any other blender. 

- All that volume filled about 2/3 of a pint mug I have sitting around from college. 

Of course you could change this up - don't want coconut water? Use tap water or coconut milk for more fat. Maybe you have some apple sitting around, or lemon juice to brighten things up? Go for it.

Yes, half a raw banana has about 14 g of carbohydrates. Two kiwis have about 18-20 g of carb. One cup of coconut water has about 9g of carbs. Get this - the four cups of greens have about 4-5g of carb, total.  So if you're really low-carb, consider going light on the fruit.

All that being said, I don't know many more ways in which you can drink 4 cups of greens and consider it a treat!