Thought for Today...

"The purpose of our lives is to be happy." --Dalai Lama

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Green Smoothies

Thank you to Sara Janssen for introducing me to the Green Smoothie. I'm enjoying my very first one right now. Think I'm going to make a trial run of these and have one every day and see where it takes me. She issued a challenge several years ago (before I found her super-happy, always fun, inspiring blogs) to have a green smoothie every day for 30 days. Great idea, I think. Should I issue that challenge to my (5) followers? I think I will. I like to throw that gauntlet thing around. :)

Here's my challenge (and this is new to me, too!): Drink a green smoothie every day for 30 days and let me know the good, the bad and the ugly of it. (The only ugly I can imagine is either a food pairing you don't enjoy or an amped-up bowel!) What do you say? Any takers???

So far my first one is DE-licious! One thing I've found repeated over and over online is to mix it up and not have the same ingredients day after day. Sara included several different recipes on her challenge...this morning I'm enjoying a banana-spinach smoothie and can't believe how easy it is! One filling tasty (and very pretty) beverage is supplying me with 13 grams of fiber! I've already gotten four servings of fruit/veggies this morning...that puts me ahead of the game.

Banana-spinach
2 bananas
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
Ice water to desired consistency

I just dropped the bananas in my blender, topped them with the spinach and poured a little water in to get the blending going...and presto! Done. I was worried about the taste...so I stuck a spoon in to try just a tiny little bit. Banana. That's all I got. Apparently if you stick to the 60/40 fruit/veggie ratio the fruit flavor will always overpower the greens. What flavor should I try tomorrow?

9 comments:

Kristen's Raw said...

I love green smoothies, too. I have them for breakfast, snack, lunch, dessert - you name it. Any time is a good time!

Banana and spinach is a perfect combo. Sometimes I add cinnamon and nutmeg. :)

Cheers,
Kristen

Rachel said...

Oooh....adding spices. Nice touch. I'll have to try that tomorrow. Thanks!

Rachel said...

Day 2: Mango/Parsley
Day 3: Peach/Banana/Spinach

I was just going to do Peach/Spinach, but using frozen peaches doesn't add much sweetness so I threw a banana in...perfect!

Rachel said...

Day 4: Strawberry/Banana/Spinach (wanted to make one Lon might like...and he did!)
Day 5: Apple/Romaine/Mint

Having fun with these...don't know how many more I'll make with apple...like sucking applesauce through a straw. Tastes good, but the texture is funky.

Jenny said...

Seriously? I'll try one, but only cause you said it was good. Probably the spinach banana one.

Rachel said...

Day 6: Raspberry/Blueberry/Banana/Spinach
Day 7: Banana/Romaine

Jenny, I would definitely start with the banana/spinach. I was surprised, but spinach is much milder than romaine. Hope you like it! I recommend freezing the bananas (peeled) before putting them in the smoothie...makes it more shake-like. :)

Rachel said...

Day 8: Banana/spinach (had it for dessert!)
Day 9: Mango/romaine (Much better way to have the romaine AND the mango!)

Rachel said...

Day 10: Blueberry/Spinach (nothing green about this completely purple concoction!)
Day 11: Oops!!!! I made it 10 days before a day doing fun stuff made me miss my smoothie...it's not the day's fault, I know. It's mine. At least I'm being honest about it!
Day 12: Watermelon/Romaine (yeah, another fruit that helps romaine not be so salad-like!)
Day 13: Watermelon/Banana/Romaine/Spinach/Mint
My own crazy recipe. Wanted to sweeten the watermelon/romaine, had some mint-which I love!-, and thought I'd thrown in some spinach to bulk up my 'green.' Nasty looking color...super yummy beverage!

Rachel said...

Day 14 & 15: Oops again...but I got tons of veggies and fruits anyway. Nobody's perfect.
Day 16: Banana/strawberry/butter leaf lettuce/mint (will definitely do this one again!)
Maybe if it wasn't so darn cold outside I wouldn't have such a hard time getting in a creamy, icy smoothie every day. At least I've started a great habit for summer!