So, it turns out that you can definitely spend $1 a day to drink a green smoothie. We didn't even try all that hard to keep the price down during these 10 days.
- DAY 1: spinach, banana, frozen organic blueberries, frozen mango, local strawberries, water, flaxseed
- DAY 2: spinach, banana, frozen organic blueberries, frozen mango, local strawberries, water, flaxseed
- DAY 3: spinach, banana, frozen organic blueberries, local strawberries, water, flaxseed
- DAY 4: spinach, banana, frozen organic blueberries, local strawberries, water, flaxseed
- DAY 5: spinach, banana, frozen organic blueberries, local strawberries, water, flaxseed
- DAY 6: spinach, banana, frozen organic blueberries, water, flaxseed
- DAY 7: spinach, 2 bananas, 2 tablespoon peanut butter, 2 tablespoon date syrup, water
- DAY 8: spinach, banana, frozen mango, water, flaxseed
- DAY 9: spinach, banana, frozen organic blueberries, water
- DAY 10: swiss chard, 2 bananas, 2 tablespoon peanut butter, 2 tablespoon date syrup, water
And the shopping list:
- ½ pound spinach ($2)
- oz bag spinach ($1.99)
- frozen organic blueberries $3.99
- local Carlsbad strawberries ($2.99)
- ½ container local Carlsbad strawberries ($1.50)
- frozen mango chunks ($2.69)
- bananas $2.28
- + peanut butter and date syrup (about 28 cents + 48 cents)
- a bit of swiss chard (30 cents)
Total cost: $18.50 which comes to about $0.93 per smoothie! Under a dollar a smoothie. :)
The real question: is it worth it?
I'd say that if you have trouble getting a lot of vegetables and fruits in your daily diet, then green smoothies are an excellent idea. I'd definitely give them to kids and even use them as an awesome snack in the summer. I'm a big fan of strawberry-banana-yogurt smoothies in the summer, so I don't see anything wrong with throwing a handful of greens in there. I really happen to love salads, and we both like vegetables in many forms, so vegetables are not the problem. I'm not much of a fruit person though, so perhaps I should be using smoothies to consume more Vitamin C-rich fruits. Well, as Fareed Zakaria would say: that's my take!
This brings us to the end of our 30-day green smoothie challenge, and I'm glad we did it. I'll leave you with a recipe for a peanut butter banana green smoothie! One of my favorites!
A Dollar a Day Green Smoothies + Peanut Butter Banana Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach chopped swiss chard, or chopped kale
- 2 cups water
- 2 large bananas
- 2 tablespoons sugar-free peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons date syrup or use slightly warmed honey
Instructions
- Blend water and spinach together until liquified. (This might take longer than you expect!)
- Add bananas, peanut butter, and date syrup to blender. Blend again for about 30 seconds, or until all ingredients are well mixed.
- Pour into two glasses and serve!
Nutrition