You know when you buy something really expensive & you’re riddled with guilt so you try to use it as much as possible to justify the expense?
 Yeah, that’s pretty much what my recent “smoothie-revolution” was born out of.It’s also probably why you may just see me wearing my new orange heel$$ to the supermarket.
 
I had spent all of this money on a VitaMix & I figured I shouldn’t just make dough & chop nuts in it.  Do you even know how many loaves of bread I’d have to make for this little beauty to pay for itself?
 
So I decided to get on this smoothie bandwagon & what do you know?  
It’s totally paying off!

Not only have I not gone to Jamba Juice or my gym’s smoothie bar ONCE since I started juicing everything I can get my hands on, but I’ve also lost about 4 lbs in two weeks…which makes me wonder what the hell I had been eating that made my belly hold on to 4 lbs of obviously easily dispensable fat…yikes.  
I’m not in any way saying that this will happen for you, too…but it can’t hurt to try, right?
 
I had no idea what to put in a smoothie other than strawberries & ice at first so I started exploring with different mixes, fruits-both fresh & frozen, & VEGGIES.  Yes, I know, the whole idea of veggies-in-your-smoothie thing kind of grossed me out at first too, but I started slow with just a 1/2 leaf of kale, then one & now a full cup!  

The tart but sweet cherries I added to this smoothie add a little “pucker” to a normally boring berry smoothie & I think it also helps to cover the “leafy” taste of the kale.  A frozen berry mix & a 1/2 cup of apple juice helped to sweeten the whole thing while the chia seeds add a little omega-3-blood-pressure-lowering-keep-you-full-longer health bonus.
I’m not going to go into the details of making a smoothie because, well, there’s really not that much that goes into it. 
This total lack of effort is what makes these drinks a nice little on-the-go breakfast option on those morning when you don’t feel like cracking eggs & cleaning up countless dishes.
Basically it goes like this:
1. Put ingredients in blender.
2. Turn blender on.
3. Blend until smooth.
4. Drink.
You can’t really see the chia seeds in these pictures because my blender is a BEAST & pulverizes anything that it touches.  I like using frozen fruit in my smoothies (or a mix of fresh & frozen) because it allows me to skip the step of struggling with my ice tray at 6am…& honestly at that hour, it’s really all about two-birds-one-stone, right?
Feel free to add yogurt, coconut oil, or any other healthy thing you find in your kitchen to this recipe. I’ve tried them all & prefer the cherry flavor without the creaminess of yogurt but hey, you know what?
 You do you
, boo. 
Get it.

Enjoy!
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Tart Cherry-Berry Kale Smoothie

Yield: 2 servings

Serving Size: 2 cups

Tart Cherry-Berry Kale Smoothie

Ingredients

  • 1 cup frozen (or fresh) cherries (pits removed)
  • 1 cup mixed berries, frozen
  • 1 cup kale leaves, stems removed
  • 1 cup apple juice (all natural/not from concentrate if possible)
  • 1Tbsp chia seeds
  • honey, agave nectar, sugar to taste if needed

Instructions

  1. Place ingredients in blender & blend until smooth.
  2. Taste the mix & if it is too tart, add either more apple juice or sweetener of choice.
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