Green Ryder

I am obsessed with juicing, especially anything green. Because honestly, who really likes the taste of kale? But throw it into any smoothie and you can’t even taste it. However, what I’m not obsessed with is spending $7 on a juice from Whole Foods. Don’t get me wrong, their juices are delicious but I’m on a budget… a budget that makes me cringe when I spend $7 on a 16oz juice.

So today, post swim, instead of making a pit stop at Whole Foods to grab my favorite drink, Green Ryder, I drove over to Kroger for a little DIY action. Last time I ordered a Green Ryder I watched them make it so I could try to do it at home.

At Kroger I picked up:

• 2 Organic Cucumbers
• 1 Bag Organic Celery
• 1 big bunch of Organic Kale
• 1 bag frozen pineapple
• Organic Apple Juice (optional – can also use water)

All this came out to be $15

To make the juice you need:

• 1/2 cup sliced cucumber
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
• 2-3 kale leaves (remove the stem)
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/2 -3/4 cup apple juice (or any liquid). I prefer apple juice to make it a little more sweet.

While the smoothie was blending I continued chopping up the left over veggies and divided them up into bags to freeze. With all the ingredients I had left over I was able to make 6 pre-packaged smoothies (that’s $2.50 a smoothie y’all!). All I have to do now is throw it in a blender and add juice! And because they’re bagged up and frozen I can take my time enjoying them rather than worrying about my veggies going bad.

What I love most about the Green Ryder is the vast amount of greens in it. If I’m being honest, I don’t really favor any of the ingredients that go into the green ryder alone. Funny huh? But the cucumber and the pineapple combined with the apple juice gives it just the right amount of sweetness. It made me want to be back in Key West soaking up some rays by the pool!