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You’ve probably been hearing it since you were old enough to chew…

Eat your vegetables!

Mom and dad tried everything. They bribed you, they tricked you, they punished you, but to no avail. Perhaps you tried the “give your green beans to the dog under the table” trick. Maybe you held your nose and gulped down your peas with a glass of (soy) milk. Or perhaps you were like me, and sat at the table in front of a plate of cold broccoli for hours, refusing to eat even one tiny stalk.

Now you’re an adult, and nobody is forcing you to eat your vegetables. But the U.S. government is urging us all to eat more. Unfortunately, they are having about as much success as mom and dad did. We’re not trying to hide Brussels sprouts in our napkins anymore, but we are still not eating our vegetables.

The latest USDA recommendations call for 5 servings of vegetables (about 2.5 cups) and 4 servings of fruit (about 2 cups) per day for most American adults. Meanwhile, only about ¼ of Americans eat between 3 and 5 servings of vegetables per day, and a mere 14 percent eat 3 to 5 servings of fruit!

So how are we to go about eating all these servings of fruits and vegetables each day? Enter the perfect fruit and vegetable delivery system (aka the smoothie).

Smoothies pack a huge dose of nutrition in a convenient, easy to prepare, and delicious package. They are also an excellent way to jump-start your day with several servings of fruit and vegetables!

You can easily incorporate 1-2 cups of greens and 1-1.5 cups of fruit in a regular-sized smoothie. For example, the Strawberry Kale Smoothie (recipe #7, below) has 1 cup of vegetables and 1.5 cups of fruit, and the Doesn’t Taste Green Smoothie (recipe #4, below) has 2 cups of vegetables and just over 1 cup of fruit.

Ready to make your own delicious, fruit- and vegetable-packed smoothie? Check out 10 of our favorite recipes below!

  1. Watermelon Mint Vega Summer Smoothie
  2. The Pink Powerhouse Smoothie
  3. Beginner Green Smoothie
  4. The “Doesn’t Taste Green” Smoothie
  5. 3 Delicious Vegan Smoothies
  6. Piña Colada Vega Smoothie
  7. Strawberry Kale Smoothie
  8. Dreamsicle Smoothie
  9. Coconut Ginger Smoothie
  10. Cranberry Coconut Smoothie

CLICK HERE for more recipes.

For even more awesome smoothie combos, check out our Amazing Green Smoothie Guide!

Got an awesome smoothie recipe? Share it with us!

Image Source: Little Blue Hen/Flickr