Blueberries for Sal

(that girl on the tile picture can be Sal)

2 c. cold water
1 frozen banana
1 cold orange
1/4 c. frozen blueberries
1 T. ground flaxseed
8 large leaves lettuce
(this picture is 4 leaves of green leaf lettuce - can't fit all 8 in at once!)
blend blend blend
DRINK UP, BABY

Who has time for all this?!

tips for making speedy-smoothies

1. Prepare as much as you can in advance
When you are going to make a smoothie, it's nice to have most everything ready to just toss into the blender. Here are 3 things you can do to have your ingredients ready for blending:
1. peel the bananas and keep them in a bag in the freezer
2. wash your greens when you first bring them home
3. always rinse out your blender immediately after use - from my experience, a blender that needs to be cleaned is likely to make me just forget the whole thing!

2. Stock up
I try and avoid going to the grocery store multiple times during the week, partly to save petrol, and partly to save time, so I buy as much as I can during one trip.
This is my Sunday smoothie grocery list (I make 2 smoothies a day):
10 bananas (Haggen has cut bananas which are generally already ripe -ready for the freezer- and they’re way cheaper)
10 large oranges
3 bunches of greens
*I do have to go to the store more frequently than I’d like to get more fresh greens because I’ve been using a LOT in each smoothie, so they disappear pretty quickly! And they don’t keep very well for days on end. However, I find it much quicker to run into the store for a couple bunches of greens than for oranges and bananas.

3. Keep things cold
If you like your smoothie to be cold when you consume it, freezing the bananas (peels off always!) and keeping the oranges in the fridge is the best way to go. With cold/frozen fruits and very cold water, the smoothie is ready to drink as soon as you make it (I used to put mine in the fridge or freezer for a time until it was cold enough).

4. Make more than you need
Green smoothies can keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, so if you’re like me and are super busy starting Monday morning, make a few servings on Sunday night to use for the next couple of days. These containers are perfect for storing smoothie and they’re made from 100% recycled material.

5. Rinse your smoothie container with vinegar to remove the smell
This is not so much a time-saving technique as just a lovely thing that Anna discovered. The container can get pretty stinky (especially if you're a lazy, crazy-busy student and you don't wash it out right away!), and, when opening the container, it is nice not to be assaulted by 'old-green' smell.

Green Smoothies: A Beginner's Take

So, I've been drinking green smoothies (very) sporadically for a couple of months now. But I got the great idea to start marking on the calendar in my kitchen every day I have a green smoothie. And today, I've had a green smoothie for seven days in a row. My goal is to get to thirty in a row, so I make it a true part of my daily 'routine'. Here are some of my random thoughts about the green smoothie process:

1. For my personal taste, I find the combination of the creaminess of the banana and the citrus of the orange really appetizing. Unripe bananas don't give that same creaminess and mouth-feel, and not enough citrus to 'brighten' the greens is likewise not very appealing. I haven't used anything BUT banana and orange for the fruit part, since I'm a poor college student, but if I do branch out on the fruit, I'll look for that creamy/tart/sweet combination. (Also, if you buy the pre-bagged, small, cheap-o oranges, buy a quart of orange juice, too. The smaller oranges aren't as flavorful or juicy, but if you replace 1/2 c. of the water with orange juice, you'll never notice.)

2. Kale is awesome, but you need to add more liquid to your overall concoction to get a full quart. If I just use green leaf or romaine, adding slightly less than two cups' water is sufficient, but the kale requires 2+ cups.

3. Kale is also pretty. It makes your blender work kind of hard, though.

4. I haven't gotten the hang of spinach yet. The one and only time I tried it, I used bulk spinach (not the pre-bagged, already washed and prettified stuff) and my smoothie tasted alarmingly of dirt. I added, like, 1/4 c. lemon juice to try and salvage it; no dice. Chelsea assures me that very thorough washing of the spinach will remove the dirt taste, so I may go wild and give it another shot one of these days.

5. For the past 5 or 6 days, I think, I've been making and drinking my smoothie at night. I liked drinking it in the morning, since it did seem to give me a (very small) 'kick', but I paid for that kick with a too-full, yucky tummy. Much as Eugene is a laid-back place, I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me vomiting into their gardens on my walk to the bus. I wake up about 45 minutes before I have to leave, so I think trying to get all that smoothie into my body while it's just waking up is too much. I tried only drinking half, but that's still too much. So, I make my smoothie around 7 PM, let it sit in the freezer for about 45 minutes, and then drink the whole thing. No too-full, yucky tummy, and still plenty of time to digest those greens before bed. Plus, knowing I have my smoothie still to drink has effectively eliminated my night-time sweet cravings.

6. "Things" are a little -er- irregular, but I think that's part of the adjustment period. Also, I felt really crappy yesterday, almost like I had a fever (but I didn't). I'm wondering if that wasn't also a side effect of the adjustment. Or, maybe it's midterms. Who knows.

So. I am not a hardcore healthy eater, nor do I think I ever will be, but I can honestly say that fitting a daily green smoothie into my life has been surprisingly easy, and tasty!

Green Smoothies

I did this for a while last year, but have slacked off since the summer.

I ordered this book, Green for Life, which I've read before, and decided today that I need a copy of it. I'll post some specific information from it once it arrives, but for now I will advocate green smoothies on my own.

Here is a basic recipe:

1 banana
1 orange
2 cups of greens (green/red leaf lettuce, spinach, kale, etc.)
opt. 1-2 T. ground flaxseed
2 cups water

Blend it all together and add water to get the consistency preferred (I like it to be fairly watery so it's easier to drink). You can, of course, use any fruit or greens, substitute juice for water... pretty much adjust it any way you like!

A major benefit to drinking green smoothies everyday that I noticed right away was the absence of what I call the 'snooze feeling', that is, the feeling that keeps you in bed when your alarm goes off in the morning. After 3 weeks to a month of drinking a green smoothie everyday (probably coupled with increased exercise) I had absolutely no trouble getting out of bed, even at five in the morning.