What sounds weird, tastes good and feels great?
February 25th, 2010Smoothies are a pretty hot ticket item these days. I see ‘em being sold for $8 at cafes and touted as healthy so everyone can feel good about themselves.
Let’s be honest though. Most smoothies being sold at restaurants or take-out places are full of sugar. They’re the “healthy” person’s ice cream cone.
Wait – I can already hear what you’re thinking! “There’s a place near me that makes fresh smoothies from real fruit!” I think that’s great if you have that nearby. But still, $7 or $8 for a smoothie? Yikes. Plus, I hear a lot of people talk about drinking fruit smoothies for breakfast. If that’s the case, chances are you will be starving by 10am. Most of us need some fiber and not so much sugar first thing in the morning. (Unlike juicing, smoothies include the whole vegetable with all of its fiber.)
As with absolutely everything, when you make it yourself you save big bucks and have 100% control over the ingredients. And so, I present to you….green smoothies!
Trust me, I had my doubts. The first time I heard about green smoothies was when I was sent this book to review: Green Smoothie Revolution: The Radical Leap Toward Natural Health. And to be honest, that was awhile ago when the weather was just starting to get cold.
I figured I’d wait until there was at least a suggestion of spring in the air. After all, raw, cold food is usually the most appealing in warmer weather.
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I think the book has lots of great information and ideas for smoothies, but also soups and puddings. Yum! It’s all raw-food based so there are some odd ingredients you may not have heard of. That’s for the adventurous! There are also plenty of recipes with “normal” ingredients.
Anyway, I love the idea of getting my favorite dark, leafy green vegetables into such an easy snack or light breakfast. But I was worried about the taste. I mean, I don’t own a fancy VitaMix blender or anything. And how on earth does raw kale taste with fruit?
Well, I gotta tell you. I doesn’t taste like candy but almost every combination I’ve tried of greens and fruit has turned out well. They keep me full longer than fruit alone and are perfect before an early morning workout.
In the video above I’m making one of my favorites:
- 2 kale leaves, with stems
- 1 pear, chopped (Banana is even better!)
- about 1 cup of water
Blend and drink!
I find myself suggesting green smoothies to my clients all the time. Want a quick, dairy-free, sugar-free snack or breakfast? These are perfect.
Here’s a photo from one of my busiest clients – if he can do it, YOU can do it!
I usually stick to just one green and one fruit, but he’s going above and beyond with his spinach, pineapple, blueberries, and mango. Looks like he liked it!
So, what do you think? Time to try blending your veggies or what? I totally recommend giving it a shot!
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