liquid: unsweetened almond milk (vanilla, regular), unsweetened coconut milk, coconut water, 100% fruit juice, or plain greek yogurt. You can also use just water but I prefer a little flavor! (I have also tried artic zero... if you like milkshakes, I recommend!)
greens: my favorites to use are either frozen spinach or kale. Both give a great texture and smoothness to the smoothie without actually tasting veggies or bitterness they can give. Really though, any leafy green will do!
fruit: honestly any fruit will do! If it isn't already pre-frozen, I prefer to freeze it before I blend. I like to buy in bulk the big bags of frozen mango, pineapple, strawberries, and peaches. During the summer we always pick blueberries and freeze them to keep all year so I'll always have those on hand. Apples, bananas, and oranges are usually fairly cheap and easy to find as well. (If they are in season, I love to throw pomegranate seeds into mine for a little crunch, tastes AMAZING!)
fats: (healthy of course) my favorites are milled flax seed (your body won't absorb the nutrients if they are whole), hemp hearts, chia seeds, peanut or almond butter, coconut oil, or avocado.
flavoring: this is the part of the smoothie you could completely cut out or use to make your shake taste wicked good! If your eating this post-workout you could throw in any flavor protein powder you like, otherwise, I sometimes use flavored extracts or flavored stevia drops. get creative though, anything works!
texture: to make this a thicker drink I like to add in things like wheat germ and raw old fashion oats. It gives you complex carbs to help fill you up if your are having this as more of a meal as well.
method: it's probably self-explanatory, but you take your desired ingredients and desired amounts and throw them in a blender to blend! I have found putting your liquid in first helps everything to blend easier. You can also add ice if you didn't freeze you veggies and fruit first. I have tried making ice cubes out of my liquids as well which works awesome!
here's a few of my favorite combinations right now: [minus the greens]
1) a large frozen banana, 1t uns dark cocoa powder, 1/2 scoop chocolate whey, and 3/4 c uns vanilla almond milk. Vanilla maple artic zero or stevia both sweeten this one very nice!
2) A frozen orange, a scoop of vanilla whey, and 1 cup uns vanilla almond milk- tastes like an orange creamsicle!
3) a cup of coconut water, half a green apple peeled and chopped, 1/3 cup chopped pineapple, and a clementine.
4) half a frozen banana, 1/2 cup of the frozen fruit mixture, 1 cup uns almond milk, 1 T milled flax seed, and 1/2 T hemp hearts, 1/4 cup raw old fashion oats.
5) 3/4 c uns vanilla almond milk, 1/3 c frozen blueberries, 1/2 large frozen peach, 2T wheat germ, 2T pb2.
6) 3/4 c uns vanilla almond milk, 1T almond utter, 1/2 c frozen grapes, 1T vanilla whey protein powder. (tastes like a pb&j!)
7) 1/4 c pumpkin puree, a frozen banana, a cup of uns vanilla almond milk, a packet of truvia, 1/4 t vanilla extract, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and 1T vanilla whey protein powder. This one also tastes great using chocolate whey and 1/2T uns dark cocoa powder (Pumpkin pie!)