TGIF Green Smoothie

• 1 journeyman pear
• 10 frozen cherries
• 1 banana
• dash of lemon juice
• 2 handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 handful of green lettuces
• 2 leaves of organic red lettuce
• 2 tbsps flax seeds
• 1 cup water
• ice

I made the mistake of using room temperature filtered water and even though I added ice, then added some more, the smoothie was room temperature so I had to portion it out and refrigerate for an hour.  I added some ice cubes to the serving I was using immediately.

I also made the mistake of putting in the pear first--it really should have been sliced into smaller chunks to float in the water, as 2 quarters of the pear got stuck at the bottom on the blender, which I didn't realize until I was pouring the smoothie.  I had to re-blend that portion.

The taste was very nice.  No additional sweetness was needed.  The banana, while high in sugar, really does make for a creamy smoothie.  To cut down on the sugar I will try using 1/2 banana and 1/2 avocado instead.  More healthy fats needed for satiety...I was hungry yesterday.

You can see my VitaMix Total Nutrition Center V-S (model V0103) base in the background.  This is the first model after the infamous stainless steel VitaMix machines.  The TNC came out in 1993.  I think I purchased mine in 1994 or '95

I upgraded the 64oz canister in 2008.  I've just received the 32oz canister and a new tamper, and am awaiting arrival of the centering pad that is standard on the 5200 model, along with a new drive socket.  The centering pad is required to use the smaller containers on the VitaMix.