jen hansard with kids, husband and green smoothie

About Jen Hansard

Hey there, I’m Jen—plant-based recipe creator, smoothie queen, adventure chaser, and your go-to gal when you’re ready to ditch “counting calories” and celebrate nutrients so you can actually feel good in your body.

I’m the founder of Simple Green Smoothies, bestselling author of two Random House cookbooks, and creator of Rawk the Year: Meal Planner — which has have helped millions of people lose weight, gain energy, and pursue their passions.

Yet that was never my plan. I just wanted to feel better and boost my kids immune system when our health insurance ran out and we were on unemployment in 2011. Excited to share more of my story with you. Let’s dive in!

Media Features

The Oprah Magazine
Runner's World
NBC News
Well + Good

From Coffee Addict to Smoothie Lover

In my 20s, I lived on Lucky Charms, grilled cheese, and Taco Bell bean and cheese burritos. I’d buy a bag of spinach and watch it go bad in the fridge until I tossed it. Then I had kids, two under 2 years old, hit a wall of exhaustion, and realized something had to change. Coffee wasn’t cutting it anymore. That’s when green smoothies entered the pictured. It was love at first sip.

Plant-powered results: What started as an experiment turned into a daily habit that transformed everything. I had more energy, my cravings changed, I lost weight, and for the first time in years, I actually felt good in my skin.

If you build it, they will come: So I did what any overwhelmed mom with a journalism degree would do: I talked with my girlfriend, Jadah, and we thought it would be great to share these recipes online. So when the family went to bed, I would work until midnight blogging about green smoothies. Our Instagram account took off overnight, the blog quickly followed and we cranked out recipes to share with anyone who was willing to blend spinach and kale.

Challenges + Cleanses: I quickly realized that the world didn’t need more recipes. We needed accountability. We needed community. So I decided to create and host:

And TONS of people started getting results with me!

Beverly D. lost 37 pounds after menopause

Shannon B. lost 45 pounds after covid

I lost 20 pounds and wore a bikini

people drinking green smoothies

A Few More Things I’m Proud Of

  • Trained 25 women from THIS community to run rim-to-rim across the Grand Canyon (and they crushed it!!!!)
  • Helped over 1.5 million people complete my free smoothie challenge
  • Went on national TV and blending smoothies for The Doctors (I was nervous and you could tell!)
  • Published two best-selling cookbooks: Simple Green Smoothies and Simple Green Meals
  • Lost 20 pounds, ditched the all-day coffee habit, and hiked 43 national parks with my kids.
  • Partnered with World Hope International to fight human trafficking in Cambodia and trained as a technical operator for a desalination and solar-powered water system to provide clean water for Hurricane Dorian survivors.

Where I Am Now

These days, I’m living in Norman, Oklahoma with my husband (he’s an Air Force chaplain), two incredible teens, and a fridge full of smoothie ingredients. We’re doing college tours, spending weekends at volleyball tournaments and planning our next National Park adventure.

We travel, we hike, we eat a lot of tacos, and we dream big. I’m currently training to run the Alps this summer, backpacking Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop with my kids this summer and planning to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail in 2028 when my kids are off in college and living their best life.

If you’re ready to eat more plants, feel better in your body, and live with more energy and purpose—you’re in the right place. I’m so glad you’re here.

TImeline

Jen’s Journey

2004

Married my high-school boyfriend, Ryan (we were 21 and had been dating since we were 16!). I became a pro at making grilled cheese on the George Forman grill. A few months later, my dad was diagnosed with leukemia. I joined Team in Training, ran my first marathon and raised $5,000 for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

2006

Graduated from CSU-Long Beach with a BFA in Visual Communications + BA in Print Journalism (while I was pregnant with our son). I ate bowls of Lucky Charms and ate lemons like oranges throughout my pregnancy.

2007

Had our son, Jackson, and lived in a small apartment in Studio City. My mom and dad came to the hospital to meet their first grandkid. I joined a mom’s group and did lots of hiking and park/coffee dates. I also fell in love with Trader Joe’s frozen meal section.

2009

Had my daughter, Clare, and bought our first house in Palmdale, CA to be closer to my parents. My son had food sensitivities and we eliminated corn, corn syrup and all food dyes from our diet. He stopped getting colds and ear infections within days. That’s when I saw the power of food.

2011

Moved to Florida so my husband could pastor at a church plant with a friend (he just finished Seminary). We were on unemployment, no health insurance, WIC nutrition support and my parents floated us rent. I started blending green smoothies to boost our immune system so we didn’t get sick.

2012

Started sharing recipes on Instagram and people liked them. I built a website (we called it Simple Green Smoothies) and invited the internet to join a free smoothie challenge. Over 1.5 million people have done the challenge at this point! My dad’s cancer came back, this time as lymphoma. He did treatment and made it back into remission.

2015

Published Simple Green Smoothies, a best-selling cookbook that got us on The Doctors, Oprah magazine and a trip to New York City with my family!

2016

We hosted our 7th live 21-Day Cleanse and wiped out the kale, spinach and ginger from grocery stores around the country. I took the helm of Simple Green Smoothies and Jadah went into her next passion project.

2017

Published my second cookbook solo, Simple Green Meals, sharing snacks, meals and desserts that are healthy-ish. It also became a best seller and got me back on the Doctors TV show, and interviews for Entrepreneur and Parade Magazine.

2018

Ran across the Grand Canyon (rim-to-rim-to-rim) with my friend Carissa. I fell in love with the adventure, the 47-miles of pain and the beauty of the canyon.

2019

Invited the community to run across the Grand Canyon with me. Over a year, 25 of you said YES and we trained virtually and then met up and conquered the canyon together.

2020

Covid happened and all live events were halted. I did a lot of cooking demos in my kitchen to help us boost our immune systems naturally. I still got covid, but I bounced back quick.

2022

My dad’s lymphoma was back, alongwith a new cancer they couldn’t pinpoint. He chose to fight again and made it back into remission… for a few months. In September, he took his last breath and our world was shattered. I’m still putting my heart back together.

2023

I had moments of happiness, yet I essentially lived in a grief cave for a year, just doing the motions of life. I stopped running, started drinking, ate crap and gained 20+ pounds. What little I could give, I gave to my kids. I joined a local GriefShare support group and started to work through it all.

2024

I decided to lose the weight and reclaim my life. I did all four of my 21-day cleanse events and lost 20 pounds over the year. I felt better and decided to train for the Air Force Marathon with my husband, I felt like more of me than I had in a long time.

2025

We made it! I’m settling into my 42nd year and def feel wiser and older after all that. I’m heading to the Grand Canyon in June and running through the Alps in July. My kids are heading into their junior and senior years of high school and the most amazing human beings. Ryan is an amazing Air Force chaplain and we’re settling into a new season of life in Oklahoma.

Press + Interviews

Common Questions

How do you make money food blogging?

Great question! A lot of what I do is create free content for all. Yet that just gets your toes wet into eating plant-based. If you wanna dive in the deep end with me, I have three ways you can do that and support my small business: Rawk the Year Meal Planner, 21-day cleanse and cookbooks.

What types of recipes do you make?

We are a plant-based lifestyle blog, which means we make recipes using a loooooot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. We aren’t vegan, which means on occasion, you will find eggs in a recipe or cheese as a condiment. If you love meat, you can add grilled chicken, ground beef, etc to most of our dishes. We don’t care how you do it, as long as we help you eat more plants that makes us happy.

Where can I get your cookbook?

I currently have two best-selling plant-based cookbooks published with Rodale, a division of Random House Publishing. You can purchased them from my online shop link.

When is your next live cleanse?

I try and host 4 live cleanses each year to supercharge your plant-based wellness goals. Our Winter Cleanse is usually in February, Spring Cleanse is May, Summer Cleanse is August and Autumn Cleanse is November.

When did you start Simple Green Smoothies?

Simple Green Smoothies started as a mommy blog in 2013 between Jen Hansard and an old friend, Jadah Sellner. In 2016, Jen took it over completely and has been the personality and CEO behind Simple Green Smoothies since.