Copy Cat: Naked Juice's Kale Blazer (Hello, Vida!)

So yesterday, this happened:

Thanks to my mom throwing in for my birthday present, we are now in possession of the hippest of all hippie machines:  the Vitamix Pro Series 750.

Yes, I tried to rationalize getting the lesser one, but I kept coming back to this one line in the ad copy for the Pro Series:  "40% quieter run volume..."  And there were the reviews... and the 10 year available extended warranty (done).  So... yeah. :)

Since I am still unable NOT to anthropomorphize and therefore name every single thing that comes into our home, I am happy to introduce you to Vida.  (No, she is not named after a girl who grows up in a mortuary wishing to be Jamie Lee Curtis and ended up with a morbid fear of bees; she is named in honor of my great Aunt Vida, thankyouverymuch.)

Vida got a short test run last night for a couple of light "night cap" fruit drinks, but this morning was the real test!  So, without ado, I give you....

Sunny's Copycat Version
of Naked Juice's Kale Blazer

4 big handfuls of kale
1 big handful of spinach
1/3 cucumber, cut into chunks
1 celery stalk (with leaves), cut into chunks
1 very large tangelo, peeled* and sliced horizontally
1/2 (very large) Gala apple, cored and cut into chunks
1-inch piece of peeled ginger, cut in half
1 small lemon, peeled* and seeded and sliced horizontally
3/4 cup coconut water

Put all ingredients into the blender & process on Smoothie setting (or whatever setting works best for your blender).  This made enough to fill a quart mason jar (the picture shows less because, yeah, I had already wailed on it by the time we got into the car!)

Notes:  
This tastes almost exactly like the Kale Blazer (retailing from $2.99 to $4.99, depending on where you buy it!) with several minor tweaks that I prefer:

1. It's less sweet
2. It's a little creamier (I think I put more spinach in there)
3. It has a slight bit more "kick" (I think I put more ginger in there, too)
4. It (obviously) has more substance/fiber to it.   You could strain it if you don't like that.

** I used a technique on the lemon and tangelo called "supreming" rather than just peeling them.  Even though these tangelos peel like Sumo oranges (the skin is just not even really attached to the pulp inside), there is still some pith there, and while kale and celery both are bitter-in-a-good-way, I was afraid that it would get out of control if I didn't eliminate all the white stuff from the lemon & tangelo.  You can see how to supreme citrus fruits here on the Joy of Cooking blog.