But I don't want to eat my vegetables!

Are you like me and don't really care for vegetables?  I mean, I'll eat a salad (covered in not so healthy ranch dressing).  Or douse a veggie in garlic, cheese, and oil and I'm there.  But plain old raw vegetables just aren't my favorite.  This makes me feel like a five-year-old who doesn't want to eat her vegetables.  The current recommendation by the USDA is 30% veggies and 20% fruits on your plate at every meal.  That means, at every meal, HALF your plate should be fruits and veggies.  Here's a wikipedia link to the new "My Plate," that's replaced the old food pyramid.  Half a plate?  Eeek.  Are they begging me to complain about why I hate brussels sprouts?  Don't get me wrong, I want to be healthy, maintain a reasonable weight, and have the energy to keep up with a busy life.  So like any mature adult, I trick myself into eating them.  How?

SMOOTHIES!

I'm not going to lie, sometimes when I make a smoothie, I do have to chew a little tiny bit.  But you get used to it.  So what goes into these wonder drinks?  I don't really follow a recipe, just what I've got available in the fruit bowl, fridge, and freezer (frozen organic berries are the KEY to covering up that icky vegetable taste!).  For example, in the smoothie BB (before blending) pictured above there are:

Bananas
Manoges
White beans (I like Eden organic because they're BPA free.  YAY!  Or you can soak and cook your own, which is definitely cheaper, but more time consuming.)
Raw walnuts
Spinach
Kale
Blueberries (frozen)
Raspberries (frozen)
And a cup of filtered water.

All the fruits, veggies, and proteins listed are organic.  I know organic can be expensive, so check out the Environmental Working Group's list of the Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen to know which fruits and veggies you should try to buy organic.  Here's a link to the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen

I'll post a part two on smoothie making with more details and photos soon!