Monday, November 12, 2012

How to Eat 5 Cups of Kale in One Sitting

My run was brutal this morning.  Bru.Tal.  It was 26F.  Now you cold-hardened Northerners, don't laugh at me.  I live in the semi-south.  26F is cold here even in the dead of winter.  Besides, I married a Texan who thinks water isn't fit to swim in unless it is the temperature of bathwater.  I have been softened.  I bundled up in about 10 layers of clothes.

I'm pretty sure that there were wives rushing to their windows to stare at me as I ran by.  Their conversations with their husbands went something like this:

Wife:  "Look, Frank!  I decare -- there's a load of laundry running down the street!"
Husband:  "Huh?"

But I digress.  You didn't want to know about my frigid running experience.  You desperately want to know how to eat 5 cups of kale in one sitting.  Right?

I was having trouble getting enough dark leafy greens in my diet.  I mean, you can only eat so many salads before you just want to eat something else -- anything else.  And I don't know about you, but a salad made of collard greens or kale just doesn't do it for my taste buds.  But I knew those things were good for me, so I started looking around for other ways to consume raw, dark leafy greens.

Enter the Green Smoothie:




As one blogger said, it looks like lawnmower pulp.  But it is surprisingly not disgusting.  If fact, it is almost good.  And once you get used to the idea, you start to look forward to them.

I have been having at least one green smoothie each day for the last several weeks.  In that time, my energy has been outstanding, I feel stronger and my skin looks better.  What's not to love?  I know I am doing something that is great for my body, and it just happens to be simple and easy to do.

So how do you make your own green smoothie?  Grab your trusty blender and a bunch of spinach, and I'll tell you how.

Green Smoothie:
Adapted from Kimberly Snyder's Glowing Green Smoothie

5-6 cups dark leafy greens (I suggest Spinach for your first one, because it tastes pretty yummy.  Other greens to use are Kale, Turnip Greens, Collard Greens, Dandelion Greens, Romaine, etc.  You need to rotate your greens because using just one type of green can eventually cause you to have problems with it.  Simply varying your greens avoids this.)

1 Celery Stick, cut into chunks

1 Banana, cut into chunks

1 Apple or Pear, cut into chunks

Juice from 1/2 - 1 Lemon (about 1-2 Tbsp.)

1 1/2 - 2 cups water

Ice cubes (I use 3-4)

That's it.  Dump it all into your high powered blender (Vitamix, Blentec or Oster 18 speed.  It needs to be able to crush ice or it will leave lots of lettuce bits.  Not really a big problem, you just might have green stuff in your teeth when you're done.)  Process on high until smooth and sip your way to good health.


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Side notes:
*There are a lot of people out there who believe you should consume only green smoothies.  I think our bodies need more than that.  I look at this as a quick, easy way to up my vegie consumption, not a new diet.
*There are a lot of Green Smoothie advocates out there who subscribe to complicated and legalistic food combining rules.  I don't.  If you want to spend all your time figuring out want can be eaten with what and when it can be eaten, more power to you.  I don't have the time or energy for that.  I just want my food to be simple and good for me.
*Making smoothies (as opposed to juicing the fruits and vegies) keeps the fiber intact.  Most of us need a good deal more fiber than we normally get.  Also, juicing leaves the sugars without the fiber to help our bodies process the sugar.  An occasional fresh juice is fine, but I like to keep the whole fruit and vegie, fiber and all,  for daily consumption.
*Organic is best, but honestly, wouldn't you agree that getting enough fruits and vegies in your diet is still going to be good for you, even if it isn't organic?
*Dark leafy greens are incredibly healthy for your body.  They are chock full of nutrients.  They are also wonderful detoxers.  If, about 3 days into your smoothies, you start feeling like you have the flu, it may be detox symptoms.  The worse your diet and lifestyle, the more likely you are to have detox symptoms.  If you experience this, drink plenty of water and get some extra rest.  It will pass in a few days and you will begin to feel better than ever.  If your symptoms are severe, back off the smoothies a bit and ease into it.   That will give your body time to "catch up".  You can find out more information about detox with a simple internet search.  Some detoxes are incredibly harsh and can actually be harmful.  Be good to your body.  This is simply adding fruits and greens to your diet each day, which no one can argue against.

There you have it.  My secret to getting plenty of fruits and vegetables each day.  I drink lawnmower pulp.

Have a Great Day!

Angela (Oh, look!  All those Green Smoothies are turning me green!!)



10 comments:

  1. Mmmm. I have been thinking about doing green smoothies for a while. Time to quit thinking and get to doing!! I also think it would be a good way to get more into my picky eater.

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  2. I'm with you on that. I've been thinking about making more of a fruit smoothie for the kids and throwing the greens in there. I'll have to post my concoctions if I come up with some tasty ones that the kids like...

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  3. I made it!! And surprisingly, it did not make me gag. I think the lemon really helps. I think my blender broke on my last 'blend' so I'll have to get that fixed. lol. I love the idea of doing something good for my body that dosent take forever to consume and tastes not too bad. I even had my three year old asking for seconds! Woot! I did experience some mild stomach pain....not so much fun but I'm very excited to get some more veggies in my and my kids diet! Thanks for the recipe!

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  4. That's awesome, Dawn! I'm so glad it worked for you! You do need a strong blender, though. I got mine from Walmart for about $30. It's an 18-speed Oster that is able to crush ice. I got the biggest motor they had. It has done well for me with everything from green smoothies to grinding the grain in my pancakes, muffins, etc.

    If you experience stomach/digestion issues, you might want to take things a little slower and work your way up. This will give your body time to adjust. That's a lot of fiber to throw in there all at once --especially if you don't eat a clean, healthy diet as a general rule. Even though I have been eating an extremely clean whole foods diet for a year, I still had to give my body time to adjust when I first started doing this. Don't forget to rotate your greens, too.

    Kudos on getting your 3 yr old to drink it! My kids tasted it, admitted it wasn't disgusting, but wouldn't drink any more. Now I take some of my shake, add tons of strawberries and bananas, some raw milk and maybe some vanilla. I whir that up for them and they love it. It isn't strictly green, but I'm slipping them some greens they wouldn't ordinarily eat. That's got to count for something, right?

    Have an awesome day!!

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  5. Uhh yes that counts! Thats a great idea! I'll try that for my more picky 6 year old. Thankyou.

    I do have a oster blender. The nut that holds on the fan flew off. So it was marvelous at liquifying the greens.

    I love love this. Helpinge keep veggies in my kids...even if its sneeky!! At least it tastes good!

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  6. My kids are used to me by now. They all watched with interest as I doctored up my green smoothie into a fruit smoothie for them. It was kind of like a science experiment. They were all thinking, "Can she really make lawnmower pulp taste like a yummy fruit smoothie?" It got a thumbs up!

    Let us know what works for your 6 year old. We are always looking for good ideas!

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  7. You know what..you are right. I am not gona be sneeky. I can talk him through it an show him how I do it. It will be a learning experience for him to see the same thing I learned, getting veggies in, healthy foods...is easy...thankyou. Im growing! Ill let you know how it goes once I get my blender fixed! Hopefully today. :)

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  8. Alright, finally got a new blender, its a 14 speed but it was the highest speed I could get at walmart. So, it has a ice crushing option but it still leaves some stuff not liquified. Its not aweful. And for my kids I add some banana strawberry yougart. So now my 6 year old has accepted that most days he will have a small glass of vegie smoothie waiting for him. And he is actually happy to drink it. Which I think is the neatist thing ever. And my 3 year old has decided that he wants nothing to do with it. I have got him to drink a little...maybe I need to add more fruits to his...hmmm....
    So also, now I have my sister hooked.
    I love that I dont have to have a diet mentality with this. Its something that makes me feel really good and I know is wonderful for me. I have been wishing for years that I could get more veggies in myself and my kids. I think this is an very easy way to do that.
    Thank you again!

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  9. Ok, so, I just made another vegie full juice. It only had one apple so not very sweet. I poured a medium glass and took two small spoon fulls of strawberry banana yougart and mixed it in just with a spoon. Both my 3 year old and my 6 year old looooved it. They said it tasted like a smoothie. I had chilled it on Ice a little as well. Just wanted to share. I can hardly contain my excitement. Maybe this will open up the door to them having veggies in other ways. :D

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  10. That is awesome! Not only are they getting their veggies, but they are getting some good probiotics in there, too. What could be better?

    My kids tend to watch my kitchen adventures with great interest and are always willing to taste my experiments. If nothing else, it gives them an open mind when it comes to food. And they are bound to like at least some of the things they try, right?

    Great idea! Thank you so much for sharing!

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