My first green smoothie

It's starting to get warm again here in Texas. It's that time of the year when I stop wanting my hot coffee and start wanting something cool and refreshing.

I happen to love fruit smoothies, but when you buy them at somewhere like Jamba Juice, there is a lot of sugar and not a lot of nutritional value in there. Don't believe me? Here's a list of the ingredients in some of their basic smoothies.

http://www.jambajuice.com/menu-and-nutrition/menu/smoothies/classic-smoothies

Sherbert? Dairy base? 300 calories for a small smoothie?

The vegetable smoothie has been catching on, and I was reluctant to jump on the bandwagon. But I tried it, and I am here to tell you, it can be done. And it can be done well.

Yes, you do have to start with a green, leafy base. For my first foray, I used spinach. Don't be stingy with it! I included three large handfuls of fresh, organic, raw spinach. That dark green color? That means it is chock full of nutrients.

Then, add a cup of orange juice. Avoid sugary orange juice drinks that have a lot of sugar. In fact, go for a juice that has only one ingredient: oranges. I like a full pulp version that was fresh squeezed that day. It's available in my local grocery store. Is it more expensive than Tropicana? Yes. It is fresh, preservative free, and ten times more delicious? Yes, yes, and yes.

Now toss in five sliced up strawberries. You guessed it... organic.

Blend for a bit. Pro tip, you will break your blender if you start blending with the tough stuff like ice.

After you've smoothed our your mixture - mine was a pinky green color - toss in a stalk or two of chopped up organic celery. The flavor of celery brings a really lovely fresh taste to the smoothie. It also has a lot of fiber to encourage digestive health!

Blend again, and then pop it in a cup and enjoy! A smoothie like this packs a major punch when it comes to the daily quota of veggies. The more celery and spinach you toss in there, the better! It's low calorie, nutrient dense, and oh so delicious.

How delicious, you ask? So delicious that I already can't wait to try a new combo for breakfast tomorrow!