This has become one of our all-time favorite afternoon snacks. I have tried to sneak it past Nathan before (kinda hard to muffle the whirr of a blender), but I have realized that it is easier to use it as leverage. Take a good nap, you get green juice. Clean up your room, you get green juice. Vaccuum and wash the floors, you get green juice. (A girl's gotta have some motivation, too).
Kale is, in my opinion, the perfect "base" for a smoothie. It has virtually no taste, thickens without added calories and is a great source of vitamins and protein. After a good spin in an ordinary blender, it provides a delicious and healthy drink that will get you to dinner without eating all the crackers in the closet.
If you want to give it a try, here's my version. There are a million ways to do it, but this uses what I have on hand and keeps it clean.
The Ingredients:
Kale (fill blender about 1/3 of the way, tightly packed--maybe about 2 cups, or a little more.
1/2 frozen banana. When they are starting to look to old to eat on their own, I peel them, break them in half and freeze them on a plate. Then pop them in the banana baggie in the freezer!
1/3 c frozen (or not) fruit--anything will do, though peaches aren't that great unless they are really sweet. Blueberries are one of my favorites! Mango, strawberries, etc...
1/2 c milk or any other liquid. Since I took this picture, I have stopped using soy milk not because of the soy but because of the carrageenan it contains. Almond milk (without carrageenan) might be a good alternative, but it has very little protein and that's what's gonna hold you. Sometimes I use juice for Danny's or just ice and water!
1-2 T wheat germ. Great source of DHA (omega-3s), vitamin E, etc.
a few ice cubes
The Look:
The Finished Product:
Isn't it beautiful?
The Reviews:
So that's that. A few variations that are delish:
Yogurt. Sometimes I will save the whey from plain yogurt and use that as my liquid (also great source of protein).
Peanut butter with or without cocoa.
Orange Juice.
*note: I once used what I thought were frozen strawberries from that season's pickings. I put about 6 in the blender with Nathan's smoothie. I poured it in his cup and took a sip of the leftovers. GROSS! I was pregnant and thought something was just wrong with my taste buds. He, of course, drained his cup in no time. There were only 2 strawberries left in the bag so I popped one in my mouth. To my surprise, it was tomato sauce that I had frozen in heart-shaped ice cube trays for use on personal pizzas! That is why it tasted so bad! Nathan drank a kale, tomato and banana smoothie. So don't feel bad if your kids don't like it. Something is wrong with mine.
3 comments:
When I've frozen bananas in the past - I'll line a zip lock bag with parchment paper, then just freeze them in the bag. It keeps the bag from sticking to the bananas without having to worry about getting a plate dirty and remembering to transfer them :)
Also...I've been afraid of kale for the past 2 years. This makes me less afraid.
Meghan, where did you read that wheat germ has DHA? I've been doing a lot of research on it b/c of the link to Parkinson's (http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/lack_of_DHA_linked_to_Parkinsons.aspx); it comes from the ocean and is found in sea vegetables and therefore in many fishes. Obv it's necessary for brain growth, which I'm sure you know about, and I recently heard that this is the reason for the forgetfulness many women experience during pregnancy--the baby is taking all your DHA! (duh! haha) You can use Spirulina or Chlorella in the smoothie for DHA--plus they have protein and are green as well. :) You could also add spinach, good for getting iron and with the vitamin C in the kale, your body can use that iron!
On a similar note, I've been eating this thing called Energy Soup every day for the last month, it's great, just you have to make rejuvelac (if you can't find a health food store that sells it) which takes about 4 days. It has B vitamins, protein, beneficial bacteria, and active enzymes. I bet Nathan would LOVE the soup, haha. http://www.annwigmore.org/living_foods.html#soup
Recipe is 1.5C rejuvelac, 1 tsp dulse flakes (a sea vegetable you can get at whole foods), 1-2 yellow apples, 1 c baby spinach, 1/2 cup sunflower sprouts, 1 avocado. If you felt like changing it up ;)
Btw, I just put the bananas directly in a bag in the freezer...I don't have a problem with them sticking, but there may be something wrong with our freezer because there's always ice inside the bag..
What's wrong with carageenan? It comes from Irish Moss, another sea veggie...I've been doing a raw vegan diet for the last few months and had to hunt some irish moss down b/c a raw vegan recipe for lemon bars called for it. Should I not be eating this?! :(
You could also put hemp seeds (or hemp milk I suppose, which is also very yummy) in the smoothie instead of nut milks, they have all essential amino acids, which is even better than having protein. :-D
I absolutely love that Nathan is so crazy for the green smoothie!! You are the best mother :)
love liz
p.s. In the recipe book I got with my blender there's a couple recipes almost the same as what you do!
Liz, as i am sure you know from your research, DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid. Wheat germ is relatively high in this particular omega-3. For a basic explanation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docosahexaenoic_acid. I am sure there are better source, but this is an easy one for us!
As far as the carrageenan, the type that is derived from Irish moss is different from the type used in most our foods. The red seaweed used to make carrageenan for food additives is immunogenic, causing inflamation in epithelial cells, especially the intestines. It thought to be linked to IBD and even Crohn's (though this is inconclusive). What is known is that the International Agency for Cancer Research has deemed it a "possible human carcinogen," and there is a really strong pull right now to get it removed from organic foods. And Europe is even more strict about its use. I do NOT think this is true for the Irish moss species, though. (Let me know if you want any references...I love the research stuff).
I should try spinach some time. I tend to be a little greedy with it, though, for salads and pizza and such.
Post a Comment