Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Go Green

Smoothies with added spinach or kale. They are kinda all the rage.
I’ve always heard how great green smoothies are (taste and health benefits), so I decided to try one. I had my premade smoothie bags, so in my first concoction; I blended 3-4 cups of spinach then added my smoothie bag. The smoothie bag had a cube of yogurt, a cube of pineapple juice, frozen kiwi, a frozen banana, and a cup of water. It was delicious. Full of flavor and I couldn’t tell that I had added vegetables to my drink. The color was also a bright green, which was fun.  My only complaint was the seeds from the kiwi. They are slightly annoying.
Thanks to pinterest, I’ve got a ton of green smoothie recipes. This morning, I decided to try another flavor, this time using kale rather than spinach. First thing I noticed was the kale had a stronger smell than the spinach. Fingers crossed, I added the yogurt, banana, and ½ cup of blueberries. It didn’t have the smoothie consistency that I hoped for…so I added some ice... still not quite right. Hmm. Let me add water (I’m trying not to add a bunch of calories). Crap. I’m now looking at a blue-green soup. Into the sink it goes.  Since this is supposed to be my breakfast, and I’m starting to run out of time, I decide to go back to the spinach…its safer. In goes the spinach, banana, yogurt, and blueberries… Blend, blend, blend. Voila. A blue-green smoothie.  This smoothie didn’t have an amazing flavor like my first one. Bland is the best way to describe this one. I’m posting this combination under the fail category simply because I’ve experimented a lot with smoothies and I have tons of full flavored combinations.

So far, I’ve learned a few valuable lessons on smoothie making. 1. Prepare everything in advance. Freeze your juice and yogurt in muffin tins and then place one of each with your desired fruit into sandwich bags…it saves a lot of time and mess. 2. Buy frozen fruit. It saves money. During the summer, I’ll prob buy some fresh fruit, but right now I’m not spending my money on half rotten fruit. 3. If you don’t like it, tweak the recipe. This is how I’ve come to enjoy my shakeology packets, including the greenberry. (Sidenote: I’ve read there is a third flavor now. Tropical.) 4. Do not try to eat plain yogurt. I love yogurt. But I decided to buy the plain low fat yogurt. While putting the yogurt into the muffin tins, I got some on my hand. What do I do? Lick it off. Worst. Decision. Ever. I immediately spit it out. Just trust me and do not try this.

I don’t do a smoothie every day because I love food. I miss chewing my food if I have too many. I probably have two a week. The great thing about them, they fill me up better than any other breakfast food. Thanks to the Trumps, I have a fantastic Steelers Turvis Tumbler. It holds about 4 cups of smoothie goodness. I can make it at 7 in the morning and it takes me a few hours to drink all of it. Any other breakfast is gone by 9 o’clock and I’m ready for a snack. Since it takes longer to consume…I’m not hungry till much later. Score.

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