Kale Spinach and Pear Smoothie from Joy the Baker

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I was browsing through the blogs I read on a regular basis, and came across Joy the Baker’s kale and spinach smoothie. Even though all of her pictures of what she makes look eat-off-the-page good, I had to click on this beautiful photo of neon green liquid in a cup: Kale Spinach and Pear Smoothie.

My initial thoughts about this smoothie would probably just as all of yours are – how does kale and spinach taste good blended together?

Well my friends, it is good. It is really good, and it is really healthy. You barely taste the kale and spinach because the banana sort of takes over, in a good way.

Instead of just giving the recipe here – you can find it right on Joy’s blog – I’m going to explain why this is a delicious and nutritious way to get in a serving of fruits and stay full for a few hours.

I’ll admit, I never have been one to count calories. If you’re trying to lose weight, counting calories is the best way at first, but maintaining a healthy weight comes from consuming the correct amount of nutrition to keep your metabolism high and body healthy.

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I was curious to see just how healthy this smoothie was, so I jumped onto SELF Nutrition Data and analyzed this recipe. This website is actually pretty convenient if you want to know the caloric and nutritional content of homemade cooking.

This smoothie (for 100 grams) contains 64 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 2 grams of protein. It’s vitamin content: Vitamin A 41% and Vitamin C 25% of your Daily Value (%DV).

The good: This food is low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Riboflavin, Calcium and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin K.

The bad: A large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars.

Another good: the kale cost me $.75! and a bag of spinach, $1.99! There you have it folks; a smoothie full of yummy goodness, that’s good for you! (I like to think those sugars don’t count because they’re fruit sugars. I’m probably wrong.) So drink up… no one will judge you if you put the straw right in the blender =)


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