As I struggled with the diagnosis, my weight, my overall aches and pains and my mental well-being, I began to notice ads for a service called Greenblender which sends you the organic ingredients for smoothies right to your door. I ignored the ads for a while, then broke down and clicked on one, then closed the browser window. I was in a bit of denial that I'd have to make changes. As the weeks progressed, even with beginning to change my eating habits, my stomach was still a mess. Low and behold, the ads kept popping up, so I took it as a sign to try it and chose to ignore the fact that it was because I clicked on the ad once so now all the companies that mine data knew that I might be interested. I signed on the proverbial "dotted line" and a week later my first shipment arrived.
What I noticed first was a well-packed, insulated box.
There were five smoothie packs in the box that contained all of your organic smoothie contents with the exception of your liquid base and ice cubes. The amount of the ingredients in each pack are enough for two smoothies. Now, Greenblender recommends using almond milk, coconut water or just plain water for their smoothies, the choice is yours. I prefer mine with almond milk. Here's a list of smoothies for my first box with a link to the recipes:
I decided to be daring and try the Wheatgrass Elixir first.
I layered the ingredients as they recommended, fired up the blender and watched the ingredients swirl. As a note you don't need a fancy blender, Magic Bullet or food processor to make these smoothies, just one that can handle ice cubes. I have a super cheap blender which is working awesome. I just have to remember to unplug it after use...it tends to mysteriously turn on by itself. I know, pretty creepy right? After blending I ceremoniously removed the lid and the first whiff I got was that of fresh cut grass on a summer day. I erroneously thought it's going to taste better than it smells. Bwahahahhaha....nope. It overwhelming tasted like grass. Keep in mind I'm not a cow that loves to eat grass and I hate mowing it because I seem to get stung by bees when I do. Don't ask, I don't know why. Now I know some folks swear by wheatgrass and if you're one of them, then this smoothie is for you...and only you. On a positive note, the consistency was good, the color looked pretty, the green straw I put in it accented the green of the smoothie, but is still smelled AND tasted like grass.
Recommendation...unless you're familiar and like wheatgrass, don't use it. Luckily Greenblender allows you to go on and swap out your smoothies each week. I've been checking mine just incase this little "gem" of an ingredient pops up again. Also, they tell you if you aren't sure about an ingredient or know you don't like it, don't add it. It's a wonderful flexibility to have.
Next up was the Hydrating Maple Protein. Not my favorite because, well, I made it wrong. I forgot the coconut water and banana. I'd have to try this one again. I will say out of all the recipes listed above, Warming Apple was my favorite. It tasted just like fresh-baked apple pie a-la-mode (but without all the guilt). The other two were tasty as well. My week one was complete. I realized I had used up all my packs before the next delivery was scheduled, which was a total bummer. Since these are so easy and quick to make, I'd been making them for my breakfast and lunch. To make each smoothie a balanced meal, I added protein powder. I use Wegmans brand protein powder, but any unflavored or vanilla protein powder would work. I like Wegmans because they use stevia instead of artificial sweeteners and the cost is excellent. Voila, meal in a to-go-cup. I drink my breakfast on the way to work, it keeps me filled up until lunch and then I have another for lunch. You can't beat the cost per serving, depending on your plan it's $3.90 - $4.90 per serving, that's cheaper than most meals and it's all organic, non-GMO products.
Honestly I was skeptical at first. I was worried that the smoothies would taste like garbage and I wouldn't drink them. Worried that they wouldn't fill me up for breakfast and lunch. Worried that it wasn't going to help my stomach issues. After three weeks, I'm happy to report that the other smoothies I've had taste awesome. I don't feel hungry after breakfast and lunch and best of all, my stomach is feeling better. My heartburn is being reduced, the bloating and pain I've been experiencing is decreasing and I feel good about what I'm putting in my body. I totally miss my smoothies on the weekends, so much in fact that I'll probably begin making them with my own ingredients. I've also got my kid trying each one with me. He's found a couple he likes that I can replicate easily. As a pre-teen getting ready for those wonderful teenage years, nutrition is going to play a key part in his development. He's starting to worry about his looks and getting acne, also he wants to begin working out. Totally understand where he's coming from and I keep telling him nutrition is going to play a big part in the next few years and hopefully for the rest of his life. I'm hoping to get him started down the right path.
So now you're wondering about cost. Below are the three cost plans. I chose Fresh Start which is a week by week plan. I didn't know if I was going to like it / keep it so I selected it. I've now moved to the Healthy Habit plan because I do plan on keeping it for a while. I completed the switch via email, it was quick and no hassle. You get a 20% savings with this plan as well. All plans are automatically renewed each week, month or quarter - depending on what you selected. In addition you can postpone a shipment, great for when you're heading off to vacation and you can cancel anytime, they will refund the unused amount. Basically with all of these plans, the cost per serving is cheaper than a trip to Starbucks and you're getting an entire meal.
The other thing you may be wondering about is their customer service. You can call them, you can email them, they have a great FAQ page, their web-site is easy to navigate...I know, all good things...but what if I have a problem? Well, I did. Last week I opened up my box and one of the packs was wet and kinda slimy. I found the culprit, it was a pear. Now let me tell you, this was no longer an ordinary pear, it was a black, mangled, hot mess of a pear. It was so messy you'd scratch your head and go, "WTF?" I snapped a couple picks of the pear-that-was-no-longer-a-pear and emailed them on a weekend. In less than 24 hours Greenblender responded with an apology and a $5 credit towards my next shipment. Now that's customer service I can get behind. No questions, no accusations that I did something wrong, just a simple, "That's not acceptable." and a credit. I wish all customer service worked like this. In the few weeks I've been using this service and the fact there has only been one bad piece of fruit, you've gotta admit, that's good quality. Another thing other companies should learn about.
Overall, I'm very pleased with Greenblender and would recommend this service to anyone who likes a good smoothie, is looking to make a healthy change in their eating habits or who likes quick, simple meals. This is the service for you. If you've had similar experiences with Greenblender, I'd love to hear from you.
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