Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Smoothie Recipe & Tips Collection



First off some pointers
for beginners consider using LESS greens and MORE fruit in the beginning. Use mild flavors at first, like spinach, kale, collards, and chard. If you want to play it safe, use spinach and then sneak in the other good stuff later (chard, collards, and kale). Add a bit more water if you feel the smoothie is too thick.
In order to experience the best and most effective smoothie experience you will need a High Performance Blender. If you don’t know already, we will of course suggest the OMNI BLENDER. Most out there don’t know about this secret weapon. As of now the top brands are BlendTec and VitaMix. The OMNI BLENDER is only $250. So, this decision should be a no brainer. Let me know if you want to learn more about the OMNI BLENDER or click on the blender link/picture below.

A general recipe model & info from the GreenSmoothieGirl & Us 
1. Liquid: Put 2 C filtered water in the high-powered blender [or for beginners 1 C water and 1 C juice (i.e. fresh apple or orange juice)].
2. Optional Sweetners: ~¾ - 1 tsp. stevia (herbal sweetener) or ⅓ C raw, organic agave syrup (low glycemic index) [for beginners] ~¼ whole lemon, including peel (anti-skin cancer, high in flavanoids)2-3 Tbsp. fresh, refrigerated flaxseed oil (Omega-3-rich oil) [or just a couple tbsp of ground flax seed].
3. Gradually add the following Greens until briefly puréed and the mixture comes up to the 5-cup line (or less, if you are “converting”), and then purée the mixture for 90 seconds until very smooth. ~Raw, washed greens: spinach(2ish handfuls or chard (2 leafs), or kale( 2 leafs), or collards 2 leafs). These are your staple greens
~[For advanced] bok choy, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, arugula (use more sparingly, as they are spicy or bitter) lettuces and beet greens (also good—use freely) avocado or cabbage or 1-2 stalks celery [we don’t like celery] (try, to see if you enjoy their inclusion) edible weeds from unsprayed fields (For the adventurous! Purslane has a mild flavor and vines are along the ground everywhere. Use stronger flavors of lambsquarter leaves [not the woody stems], morning glory, and thistle sparingly.)
4. Gradually add the following fruit until the container is very full, then blend for 90 seconds or until smooth: ~1bananas (for a creamy texture and sweetness) ~1 C frozen berries [we buy frozen fruit from Costco, such as: Strawberries, Mixed Berries, Tropical Mix). Others to use are pears, peaches, apples, oranges, apricots, cantaloupe (with seeds—very high in antioxidants!), mango, pineapple, anything! The more fruit, the tastier your smoothie will be.
You can save your smoothie in the fridge for up to two days [and frozen for 3 days] just shake well before drinking.
Makes approx. 4 cups of 100% raw smoothie

GREEN SMOOTHIE RECIPE [beginners]
2 C water
1 Tbsp. honey (raw) or agave (raw, organic)
10-oz. spinach (a couple handfulls)
1 banana (preferably frozen in chunks)
2 C frozen mixed berries
1 peach, pear, apple, or orange
Blend all until very smooth. Makes about 4 Cups

NO-FRUIT GREEN SMOOTHIE [Created by the Laura/GSG]
~1 avocado
~1 large cucumber
 ~2 C spinach
~2 large leaves collard greens
~2 leaves black kale (or another kind)
~2 or 3 fresh lemon juice (to taste)
~1 ⅓ C water optional: a few slices of Gala apples Purée well and enjoy.

THE ORANGE SMOOTHIE [Created by The Hassards]
Alicia and I like to (once a week or so), switch it up and make an “Orange Smoothie”. It goes something like this:
~2 Oranges (optional- include a ¼ or less of an orange peel, peels have around 8X the amount of Vitamin C then the orange its self)
~1 C Fresh orange juice (optional)
~1 C Water
~3 Large Carrots
~1 Banana
~A small amount of plain/non-fat yogurt or preferrably Kefir
Pulse then blend for 90-120 Seconds. It needs a little extra blending because of the carrots. Makes approx. 4 cups

THE HOT PINK SMOOTHIE [Created by GSG with minor adjustments]
~ 1 C coconut milk
~ 1 C water
~ Half a beet, peeled
~ Beet greens (a couple leafs)
~ 2 Large carrots
~1/3 C raw cashews
~1 Small kale leaf
~1 Handful spinach
~1 Banana
~1 Handful of frozen strawberries
~1/3 C chopped dates
~2 tsp vanilla
~Other options include: Ground oatmeal, ground flax, chia, yogurt or keifer, shredded unsweetened coconut. Place in blender, pulse until ground up and then blend for 60 seconds Makes approx. 4 cups. This contains 400 calories.

SUGGESTIONS (for beginners):

 



Buy a High Performance blender such as the OMNI BLENDER (click on blender).








Buy the ($10) book titled, “The Green Smoothie Diet”, by Robyn Openshaw. 






3 comments:

  1. We seriously crave that hot pink smoothie. I also love my berry lemonade green smoothie. It's So fun to try to be healthy.

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    1. Not only is it fun "trying" to be healthy it IS fun BEING healthy ;) *Wink Wink - JK. You've helped us get to where we are in our health, so we thank you bunches!

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