When you come down with one of those energy-zapping colds with annoying symptoms that make breathing a struggle, you want to get rid of that cold fast so you can get on with your life. That was my mission when I decided to whip up a healthy smoothie with ingredients to defeat a cold that left my appetite waning, so drinking my breakfast was preferable to eating.
By the way, I make smoothies all the time with my Ninja Mega Kitchen blender and food processor, using the individual smoothie cups. I love it! Ninja isn’t paying me for these reviews, I truly find their small kitchen appliances to be amazing. While I love the power of the Mega Kitchen’s food processor for working with large amounts of food, I use the also-powerful Ninja Express Chop almost every day.
Healthy Smoothie Ingredients
I looked in the fridge and grabbed the ingredients that seemed good for my healthy smoothie, then I did some investigating and discovered that my intuitive fruit and vegetable selections really were good for fighting a cold. While research on vitamin C and cold prevention has been inconclusive, the U.S. National Library of Medicine reports that large doses of vitamin C can reduce how long you suffer from a cold. Here’s the main good stuff that went into my smoothie:
- Spinach: Lots of vitamin A along with vitamin C.
- Apple: Apples have fiber and vitamin C.
- Blueberries: Blueberries have extremely high levels of disease-fighting antioxidants and a good amount of vitamin C.
- Orange: Loads of vitamin C, along with B-6 and magnesium.
Smoothie Making Tips
Consider the Power. If you use a regular blender with an average or large pitcher or a high powered smoothie maker like the 1500 watt Ninja Mega, go ahead and pack the ingredients into the smoothie jar (within reason, of course). If your blender is not as capable, cut down on the ingredients so you don’t burn out your blender. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. I burned out many blenders over the years when using frozen fruit and ice in smoothies. Or margaritas.
Wash! Wash all of your ingredients, even if you peel them. Why? Because there can be germs and other yucky stuff on the peel which can get transferred to the fruit or vegetable that you eat after you peel it. I’ve been using Dr. Bronner’s unscented organic and vegan castile soap concentrate to wash produce along with the very-awesome OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner for a couple of years and I’m very happy with the results.
Save RecipeIngredients
- A handful of spinach
- 1/2 apple, sliced with peel
- 1 mandarin orange, or 1/2 - 3/4 navel orange to approximately equal a mandarin orange
- 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
- Whey protein powder, 1/2 scoop
- 2 ice cubes, optional
- 1/2 cup almond milk or milk of choice
- dash of cinnamon or apple pie spice
- 1 drop almond extract, optional
Instructions
- If you're using a small bullet-type of personal blender jar or smoothie maker, smoosh the spinach into the bottom (which becomes the top when you flip it over). Then add the apple, orange and protein powder in that order.
- Add all other ingredients, blend til smooth.