Fun With Smoothies

This obviously isn't a green smoothie, but it sure is pretty, isn't it? That was Christmas Morning Smoothie. There was nothing green about it. I'm not sure a picture of a green smoothie beginning would do the ingredients justice because I blend it up in parts: first the greens and water, then the fruit. A picture of it would just show fruit submerged in murky waters. Not nearly as pretty as the one above.

Here's a green smoothie gone a-muck:


mmmm....doesn't that look good?

I've had a few people ask about green smoothies, so I thought I'd say a bit more. (If you really want details, go to greensmoothiegirl.com).

Sarah- yes, I do add water. I started out doing half water, half juice, but quickly found that I preferred the lightness of water. The more greens I had, the more sensitive I became to sugar. I started my kids out with some juice, too, but now even they will sometimes say it's too sweet when I do that. I do have to always check their smoothies before handing them out because you never know how ripe frozen fruit was/is and that always affects the sweetness level. I don't want to kill their enthusiasm with bitter smoothies.


Sometimes I'll add a little bit of Stevia (herbal sweetner)- like 1/4 teaspoon or less- it's pretty powerful. Recently I found a Mango drink that Costco sells that I sometimes use for the kids' smoothies. It's Mango puree/pulp and apple juice mixed. To me, it tastes a little like canned peaches in the smoothie, which isn't my favorite flavor, but it works when the fruit I have isn't so sweet. I only put in about half a cup of it with the water. The smoothies I make for myself are only lightly sweet, and sometimes not at all. I think the appeal is psychological for me- drinking the greens is refreshing! Kale can be bitter, but I really like it now when I get proportions right.

Sally- You are way beyond me on the "fat-soluble vitamins." Thanks for the tip. Up until a few weeks ago, I was putting flax seed oil or ground flax seed in my smoothies nearly everyday, BUT, I am pleased to announce that after a long and frustrating investigation, I have discovered that flax is the evil ingredient that has been giving me cruel acne for the past 8 months. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me! All this "clean" eating and I was breaking out like never before. I had a Thermogram done last month and learned that flax seed oil contributes to the level of abnormalities in breast scans. I had wondered how wise the oil really was in the beginning (I'm skeptical about isolating "miracle" foods like that) so this was all I needed to hear. I stopped using it. And guess what! My skin started clearing up. But I didn't make the connection until two weeks ago when I made some granola and put ground flax seed in it. Not 24 hours later I was broken out all over again. I googled it, and sure enough, I'm not alone. For some reason, I am one of many who can't tolerate the phytoestrogens. Which probably means something else about me and estrogen that I don't understand yet. All I know is NO FLAX = NO ACNE, and that's enough for me for now.

 So, I used to put oil in my smoothies regularly. Half the time I still put a small handful of nuts and/or shredded coconut in it- but I do it for "good measure" to keep blood sugar levels in check, and because I like the flavors. Now I have another reason! You always did have the brains, Smelly. I mean Sally.
Tina- This is my favorite smoothie recipe:

2 cups water
handful spinach, handful kale (stuffed up to the water line)
1 medium stalk celery
3 inches of cucumber
small handful cashews or almonds
1-2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
frozen equivalent of one mango
AND
1 cup frozen blueberries
OR
1 cup frozen strawberries and 1-2 clementines
OR
2 cups frozen mixed fruit (strawberries, honeydew, peaches, pineapple- Costco)

Mangoes are hands-down my favorite smoothie fruit. I put them in every smoothie if I have them. Too bad I can never say that they are "local and in season." =)