1. Creamy- the perfect smoothie has to be creamy.   Bananas, avocados, yogurt or milk will make your smoothie creamy and smooth.
  2. Thickness- If your smoothie is too runny, adding some ice will thicken it up.  Too thick, add some more liquid.
  3. Liquids- You can use any liquid really.  I usually use water, but coconut water, milk, yogurt and juice work just as well.
  4. Sweetness- You can use fruit for sweetness but if you are needing a little more, try adding honey, dates or Stevia.
  5. Other ingredients- You really have endless options for adding ingredients to your smoothies.  Try adding nuts, seeds, oatmeal, nut butters, protein powders, flax seeds, healthy oils etc.
  6. Use frozen fruit- I always have a bunch of bananas around to eat.  When they start to get really ripe, instead of making banana bread or throwing them out, I peel and freeze them.  I never have any waste and I always have frozen bananas for my smoothies.  Same goes for other fruits like melons, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple etc
  7. Put the liquid in first. It’s easier on the blender and lowers the chances of breaking  it on a big frozen piece of fruit.
  8. Lowest speed. Start blending at a low speed and then increase as the mixture starts moving, otherwise you may be left with air bubbles, blades spinning and no blending.
  9. Greens come after liquid. If you don’t have a high power blender like a Vitamix, you can still make good smoothies.  I recommend blending just the greens and liquid first until smooth and then adding the remaining ingredients.  If you are still finding big chunks, try straining the green and liquid mixture.  You also may need to use a spatula to push the contents to the bottom a couple times until it’s all blended.
  10. Clean the blender right away. Cleaning the blender first thing is always much easier than trying to clean it the next day when all the chucks of smoothie are dried up.  I recommend rinsing the blender and then adding a little dish detergent with water and blending again to clean.  Rinse the blender and store upside down so that all the liquid can dry.
  11. More Greens. When you are starting out, use a small percentage of greens and work your way up to smoothies that are 40%-50% green.  Spinach and Kale are pretty mild, so they are great to start with.
  12. Drink slowly. Some experts recommend that you “chew” you smoothie to get the digestive enzymes working in your saliva.  I try to just drink it slowly which will give your body a chance to get the digestion process going.