St. Patrick’s Day, like many other holidays-turned-American-excuses-to-drink, is really a time of year for me to have flashbacks to hangovers. Which, as much fun as the mashed potato eating contest was, my friend Robbie lost, unfortunately. And there was the time that we pretended we were in a sorority because of some enthusiastic moms who refused to believe we weren’t actually in one–times, have changed (e.g. this green smoothie).

As I’m sure most of you probably dread a hangover as much as I do (‘cuz, #30), I went into this weekend with explicit intentions to not drink alcohol.

This goal earned me many-a suuuuure’s and mmhmm’s which I don’t particularly blame anyone for. As I’ve recently found out, I’m exceedingly good at holding my own with alcohol. As in, under the correct circumstances (good food, company, and beverages), I will stay up all night, and potentially all morning, without much prompting.

So, when I decided this year to take a little break from social drinking (because staying up until 4 in the morning listening to Janet Jackson and sipping tequila was enough for me to actively give my liver a rest), it was interesting timing that my plan ran straight into St. Patrick’s Day. Since I’m still recovering from that overwhelmingly fun weekend in Minnesota, I found a different way to celebrate the Emerald Isle this year. I decided to make a green smoothie.

I’m not a chef (*gasp*). I can cook a few things well, but I sure can’t bake. And it’s because I don’t have the patience to measure anything. So there is no great sense of measurement at the end of this. Spoiler alert. And I’ll try anything once just so I can speak to it (i.e. juices cleanses, smoothies, and any potion or tonic that is out there to try). But this was simply a way for me to use the oranges we had. They were the annoying kind that aren’t easy to peel.

I made this green smoothie with the intention of using as few sweet ingredients as possible. Particularly because in every deceptively delicious smoothie recipe out there, there’s a secret stash of fructose waiting to spike your blood sugar. But that didn’t really work out. Regardless, this is still pretty green, but not like in a gross way that makes you hate it while you drink it. Hi, celery-based drinks!

Anyway, because I wasn’t hungover today, I was able to enjoy the process and take some pretty pictures. Plus, I’ve got a few breakfasts to sip on this week! It’s nothing to do with the Irish or St. Pat, but it’s green so that counts for something, right? Anyway, here’s the basic recipe:

Emerald Isle Green Smoothies

Ingredients:

• 6 handfuls of kale
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 1 bunch of celery
• 2 medium oranges
• 3 small cut up frozen Bananas
• 1 cup-ish frozen blueberries
• 2 green apples
• 1/2 cup of mint
• 1 inch of ginger
• 1/2 a medium lemon’s juice

Instructions:

Add to a blender. Hit blend. Add water as needed. There’s no magic to a smoothie because I’m sure you’ve all made one. I blend until it’s incredibly smooth because I don’t like chunks in my straw. I divided 1 into a mason jar and put the rest in a vacuum-sealed container in the freezer. I’ll take it out tomorrow night and sip on it the rest of the week.

Cheers!