Tag Archives: green smoothie

GSOTD: Autumn Harvest Green Smoothie – spinach + apple + orange + cranberries + grapes + cinnamon!

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last night, i trekked to the supermarket to get back on the green smoothie wagon, but for some reason, i was utterly uninspired.

 

then i went to the “organic” section in back and cast my eyes on a box of fresh cranberries! i was inspired to make something to celebrate all the delicious harvesty flavors of Autumn!

 

here’s what i made today:
  • 1/2 cup of fresh cranberries  (boy, are these SUPER tart!)
  • 1 orange (for juice)
  • 4 small organic apples
  • 1/2 cup of red grapes  (to offset the tart of the cranberries)
  • 2 cups of organic baby spinach leaves  (i like using spinach sometimes because in addition to being PACKED with nutrients, it also doesn’t have too strong of a flavor, so it doesn’t interfere too much with the overall taste)
  • pinch of cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • a few ice cubes
the result: a deliciously sweet & tart green smoothie, packed with a really delicious warmth and Autumn feel.  :)
not only did it start my week off right, it also got me in the Autumn mood!  Fall back!

today’s brainfood: mango, orange, spinach & kale green smoothie

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straight up: last night & today were uber stressful.  so when i woke up, i knew i needed my brain to be functional and full of nourishment!

lately, i’ve gone “off book” with my green smoothies and have begun improvising with what i put in them.  today:

  • 2 small mangos
  • 2 small organic oranges
  • spinach
  • kale
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 6 ice cubes

i try to keep a general rule of 50% fruit, 50% dark leafy greens.  another thing, i usually put something “fiber-ous” like a mango or banana in there, so it can make the smoothie nice and thick!

verdict: brainfood = yummy.

rainbow swiss chard smoothie! crazy yummy

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CONFESSION:  before becoming a raw vegan, i don’t think i’ve ever seen, touched or consumed swiss chard of any kind.  if someone wacked me over the head with a bunch of it…i’d have no idea what hit me.

but Momma Park just so happened to get some organic rainbow swiss chard in, so she brought over a few bunches for me.  my plans are to use them in some green smoothies and also as “wraps” for fresh veggies.

swiss chart is a great source of Vitamin A, Iron and Potassium.  rainbow swiss chard contains a good source of calcium, vitamin C and fiber. AND……it’s PRETTY!

this morning, i went rogue for my smoothie.  i put:

  • fresh strawberries
  • 1 banana
  • 1 apple
  • handful of green grapes
  • 8-10 leaves of rainbow swiss chard

VERDICT:  absolutely delicious. for being such a rich, nutrient-packed leafy green, it doesn’t have a strong or bitter/pungent flavor.  it’s actually quite benign!  can’t wait to try them in some living wraps this week!

Saturday morning green smoothie!

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weekends are “me” time.  at the very least, i try to make a 10am yoga class each day.  so i got up a little extra early to make my daily green smoothie!today, was a matter of using up my week’s worth of groceries.  i followed Victoria Boutenko’s Basic Balance Recipe:

  • 1 mango
  • 1 cup kale
  • 1 cup water

Yields 1 quart
i also followed @sarma‘s advice, and added some fresh squeezed lime juice to give it some freshness, and 4 ice cubes to give it some coolness. :)
delicious! and packed with nutrients so i can really “carpe” my weekend.

going ROGUE! my own Romaine Rogue green smoothie concotion

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i must have felt adventurous this morning, because i decided to go ROGUE with my green smoothie recipe and just whip up something impromptu.  i had a kale green smoothie yesterday, so in an attempt to rotate my greens, i was hell-bent on using up the 1/2-head of romaine lettuce i had left in my fridge.
here’s my concoction:
  • 2 oranges, peeled
  • 1 banana
  • 1/4-inch fresh ginger root
  • 1/2-head of romaine lettuce, washed
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 6 ice cubes
the interesting thing about romaine lettuce (to me at least) — the “chlorophyll”/green taste is very strong, and the smell is quite pungent.  stronger (i think) than the smell of kale.  i don’t know why, though??  i already know i love my kale smoothies, so maybe next week, i’ll experiment with swiss chard, parsley and spinach…
overall, my “Rogue Romaine” smoothie wasn’t half bad!  in the future, i would maybe add a 1/2-cup of grapes for more sweetness, or maybe slightly more ginger for some kick!

“Party In Your Mouth” Green Smoothie

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i was reading in Victoria Boutenko’s Green Smoothie Revolution that you’re supposed to rotate your greens when you make green smoothies.  the reason is: each green has its own alkaloids. in small doses, they are fine, but if you OD and eat the same green for weeks, they accumulate and become toxic.  (this is a natural defense mechanism for these greens in the wild, so that they aren’t being monopolized when eaten!)
so while yesterday was all about KALE, today was about…romaine lettuce!
it’s hard to believe that romaine is considered a dark “green”. i guess because i often associate romaine with Caesar Salads.
here was today’s recipe:
Party In Your Mouth Green Smoothie
1 small pineapple, cored
1 large mango, peeled
1/2 head of romaine lettuce
1/2 inch fresh Ginger Root
yields 2 quarts
while it was very delicious, surprisingly…i actually preferred yesterday’s KALE smoothie instead! go figure…

green smoothie success! kale & pear green smoothie

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two lessons learned in green smoothie-making
  1. don’t be over-zealous and pretend you’re all “hard core”…start simple & fruit, then work your way up to more super green.
  2. i don’t know what kale looks like
ok, so to be fair, i live in Astoria, where the local Trade Fair Supermarket is a culinary dream. they have every single fruit, vegetable, exotic spice and olive variety you can imagine.  AND they’re open 24-hours.  their green vegetable section has all the leafy greens crammed in one section…so the other night, when i went to pick out “kale” for yesterday’s green smoothie, i think i accidentally picked out Mustard Greens instead (DOH!)
last night, i ate some humble pie and asked the attendee which one was kale.
needless to say, this morning, my 2nd green smoothie was a SUCCESS!!!  i made a recipe i plucked from the VitaMix.com Website.
Kale and Pear Green Smoothie

4 cups (960 ml)

1 cup (160 g) green grapes
1 orange, peeled
1/2 Bartlett pear
1 banana, fresh or frozen, peeled
1 cup (70 g) kale
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
2 cups (480 ml) ice cubes
1. Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.
2. Select Variable 1.
3. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.
4. Blend for 1 1/2 minutes or until desired consistency is reached.


my 1st green smoothie attempt = utter fail!

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yesterday, my parents brought over the Vita-Mix blender they scored for me! i had been DYING to try it (particularly after reading all about the power of green smoothies)

this morning, I tried my hand at Victoria Boutenko’s Green Smoothie called “Basic Balance”:

Basic Balance

1 cup water
1 cup kale
1 mango
Yields 1 quart

naturally, i had to try and “finesse” it…so I also added a mango + a piece of fresh peeled ginger.
lesson learned: DON’T FINESSE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING.

i think had i left it alone, my smoothie would have been delicious.  unfortunately it was way too spicy from the fresh ginger…
however, it did fill me up and give me that incredible energy (even though it was utterly spicy going down)!
i’m going to try my hand at it again tomorrow morning…but this time, i’m going to stick to the recipe exactly!!