We all know the benefits of fruit and vegetable but sometimes we drop the ball on making sure we eat enough every day.

Smoothies are great way to get lots of nutrition in one tasty drink – you won't even notice all the green stuff!

In terms of preventing food waste, smoothies are also brilliant for using up leftover produce lurking in your fridge. Using a blender to tackle leftovers can dramatically decrease the amount of veg, and especially leaves going in the bin.

Tips For Making Smoothies

• The ratio of fruit to veg in your smoothie is really important. Ideally your smoothie should contain more greens than fruit.

• Invest in a good blender. Trying to force down a glass of green sludge will not make you look forward to smoothies.

• You can even freeze bananas that are about to go off, frozen bananas have a creamy thick texture and are great for throwing into a smoothie in the morning.

• Use berries to sweeten your smoothies. They are low GI compared to other fruits which means they break down slowly for sustainable energy. They are also very tasty!

• Use spices to flavour your smoothie. Antioxidant rich spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric and ginger have added health benefits and taste great. Half a lemon or lime is also delicious and helps to improve insulin signalling, boost liver function and stabilise blood sugar.

Love smoothies but never made one at home?

Try this smoothie recipe using the following bits and bobs floating around your kitchen cupboards..

Ingredients:

1 small carrot roughly chopped
1 pear cored and roughly chopped
1 orange peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger
1 half a lemon
A pinch of turmeric
Water

Method:

Place all the ingredients into your blender and add water. Process in the high powered blender for 30 seconds or until combined well. If you would like to be fancy, pour in a chilled glass and garnish with a slice of lemon.

Delish!