I hit the ground running when I came home from Florida. I arranged flowers for a Valentine's event in honor of a dear friend of mine. She is probably one of the classiest ladies I know. You should check out her website. She is a pro at all things pertaining to etiquette. Do you mind if I share? Here are some photos of the work I did.
On to green smoothies! I want to begin by giving you a basic outline for green smoothies. It isn't rocket science. I'm sure you will eventually develop recipes of your own. I begin with 1- 2 cups of water, add greens, add fruit and top it off with more water or almond milk. When I first started I would also use orange juice to top it off. I don't drink orange juice anymore. Juice, unless freshly made at home, is nothing but empty calories. (Or should I say harmful calories? Check out the previous link!) So, to be safe, I avoid it. I like to supplement my smoothies by adding flax or chia seed. You also could use whatever superfoods you have on hand (e.g., maca root, goji berries, acai berries). Although some of the recipes shown in this post have several ingredients, try to choose no more than five or six different ingredients for your smoothie, so that your body may assimilate the nutrients more easily. You may also sweeten your smoothies with agave nectar (make sure it is raw and organic), stevia, raw honey or dates.
I made a very basic smoothie for the photo below.
2-4 cups of water
2 handfuls of spinach
1 chard leaf
1 large apple
1 large orange
frozen strawberries
ice
If this were for my kids or someone new to green smoothies, I would probably add 1 -2 bananas and a few dates. Please adjust ingredients to make your smoothies to your liking!
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| My carafe before blending |
I have added a blog list on my right bar. One of my favorite blogs is written by celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder. I highly recommend it. She posts very frequently and provides an immense amount of very important information. She recommends a mostly raw, plant based diet. In fact, there is very little information on her site with which I disagree. Below is the green smoothie recipe that she puts all her clients on.
Kimberly Snyder's Glowing Green Smoothie:
Ingredients (64 ounces / 2-4 servings)
- 1 ½- 2 cups very cold, filtered water
- 6 cups spinach, chopped
- 5 cups organic romaine lettuce, chopped
- 2 stalks of organic celery
- 1 organic apple, cored and chopped
- 1 organic pear, cored and chopped
- 1 organic banana
- 1–2 Tbs. fresh organic lemon juice
Optional Ingredients
- Ice cubes (the extra coldness can help newbies with the taste)
- 1/2 cup of organic cilantro
- 1/2 cup of organic parsley
Directions
Add water, spinach and chopped romaine to the blender. Starting the blender on a low speed; mix until smooth.
Gradually move to higher speeds and add the herbs, celery, pear, and apple. Add the banana and lemon juice last.
*For 1 serving, cut out one of the fruits and the celery.
I hope you will choose to invest in a Vitamix blender. Yes, it is an investment in your health. Along with your purchase of the blender, Vitamix will give you a cookbook with lots of recipes. Included are green smoothie recipes. This is one that I found on their website.
Vitamix Smoothie Recipe:
Place all ingredients into container and secure the lid. Select VARIABLE speed #10, then to HIGH for 1 ½ minutes. Turn machine off.
Serve immediately.
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| Another Recipe from the Vitamix Website | ||
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Place all ingredients in Vitamix container in order listed. Secure 2-part lid. Select VARIABLE, speed #1. Turn on machine and quickly increase speed to #10; then to HIGH. Run for 1 minute or until smooth. Serve immediately. | |
I found this one on the Tera Werner blog:
Blueberry Bliss
By Christine Hansen
Ingredients:
2 bananas (fresh or frozen)
- 3 cups frozen blueberries
- 1 cup parsley tops, loosely packed
- 6 cups fresh spinach, loosely packed
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds (optional)
- 2 Tbsp. flaxseed oil (optional)
- 2 Tbsp. agave syrup (or use 2 Medjool dates soaked in 1/4 cup water)
- 1 cup of water, coconut water, or coconut milk
Directions:
Blend all ingredients well.
Here is a basic guideline for making smoothies so that they don't separate or taste green. The Boutenko Family has a blog dedicated to green smoothies and a book titled The Green Smoothie Revolution. Here is another site challenging viewers to commit to just 14 days of drinking green smoothies and changing nothing else. It doesn't take long at all before people notice some sort of difference.
There are tons of recipes online. I never look them up. I just use whatever greens and fruit I have on hand. It's fun for me try to come up with my own inventions. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as well. In time, attempt to increase the amount of greens to fruit ratio. Bottoms up!
Enjoy the Journey!
