Green Smoothie Challenge - Update & Recipes

So how is the challenge going for those of you who have taken it? Please post in the comments and let me know what you think so far.

Today was Day 10 for me, Day 9 for Big P, and Day 7 for the rest of our crew. We are all seeing amazing results!!

Just to list a couple of them:

• Big P and I have had dramatically reduced cravings. I am going to add in an afternoon green smoothie because the cravings tend to creep up on me around 2 in the afternoon.
• Not hungry until lunch. With a quart of green smoothie, I don't feel the need to eat anything else for breakfast and I'm not really hungry until lunch time.
• The kids aren't needing snacks. They just don't seem to want to snack as much. We have very little processed food in the house right now, and they are running to the fridge for things like grapes or oranges when they do want a snack. These are by my prompting, it's like the greens have gotten in them and the craving that they are having are for things actually good for them. These are essentially the same things that Big P and I are seeing in ourselves.
• Reduced trash! You are probably like "what?", but because they aren't snacking as much and I'm not filling up the pantry with processed snacks and foods, there isn't a whole lot of trash going out of our house! Funny, huh?

A few days ago I purchased several young coconuts and have been using those in my smoothies in the morning along with the "Festival Blend" of fruits from Costco. This includes: strawberries, papaya, mango, and pineapple. I'm realizing that this combination of fruits isn't the best for me and is bothering my tongue. The Triple Berry mix from Costco is working out great for Big P and the kids, because it turns your smoothie purple, whereas mine has been VERY GREEN the last couple of days.

I also picked up a little bottle of stevia glycerites. This is supposed to be better than the extract by itself and isn't as concentrated as the extract, in terms of sweetness. I've been adding that to each pitcher of the purple smoothie to sort of round out any sourness from the berries. If you don't have stevia, you could just add a tablespoon of honey.

Here's how much green smoothie my family drank this morning:

Big P: 1 quart
Me: 1 quart
C13: 20 oz. (he's been drinking smoothie then eating a ton of breakfast and getting hungry before lunch, so we up'd his smoothie, which he was in total agreement with)
P10: 1 pint
B5: 1/2 cup (even after 7 days, we are having to "convince" him that he needs his smoothie, but about halfway through his this morning, he seemed to "get it" and started gulping. I had to make him slow down and chew.)
L3: 1 cup (this boy can eat and loves his green smoothie)
A1: 1/4 cup (another one that is taking some convincing, but after spooning it to him for a few mornings, he's slowly getting it.)

A couple of friends have been asking for recipes, so here are a couple:

The Purple Smoothie:

1 frozen banana
1 cup triple berry mix (from costco: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries)
4 frozen strawberries (also from costco)
4 handfuls of spinach (heaping handfuls)
2 cups water
1 dropperful of stevia glycerites

Tropical Island Green Smoothie:

water from 1 young coconut (add water if needed to make it to 2 cups)
meat from same coconut
1/2 frozen banana
1 cup of "festival blend" fruit combo from costco
4 handfuls of spinach

One from a friend:

1 banana
1 orange
1 handful of blueberries
3 handfuls of spinach
2 cups water

Oh, and this morning I found in the fridge 1/2 an orange and a peach that was going to go soon, so I threw those in the blender with some of the smoothies.

Where's the cheapest Blend-Tec?

The cheapest place I have found it is on Life Begins Raw.

So, how many greens are too many?

Well, this may be a bit too much for those of you who don't want to know all the nitty gritty. But, for people like me, this kind of stuff just makes me do a little dance!