Green Smoothies

There are a lot of nut jobs out there.
A lot of those nut jobs congregate at health food stores. Don't get me wrong, I worked  in a health food store for 3 years. The nutty-ness grows on ya, and in ya. I've heard my fair share of conspiracy theories and "what's healthy." (Try chem trails or aid-spreading tires made in China on for size. ) I'm not saying it isn't true, but......

So when all these 'health nuts' would talk about their morning green smoothies, I decided to pass. I'm all for eating healthy-- eating being the key word. I didn't want to blend up my spinach and broccoli, I had enough of that goop from when I worked at the old folks home.

Then a few weeks ago, at the Hatch family cousin camp, my mother brewed up green smoothies for all! And you know what? It ain't half bad. So, I've been making them pretty regularly around my house. There are some out there that claim green smoothies will do wonders for your body. I'm just claiming it's a good way to sneak in some veggies--which will do wonders for your body. Moral of the story--whether blended or not, eat your veggies!

Here is my version of a green smoothie.

Get some veggies: spinach or kale, frozen or fresh. (I used all kale cuz mine was lookin a little limp. Some other good ones may be: carrots, sprouts, zucchini, cucumber, cabbage.)

Fill your blender with as many veggies as you think you may be able to handle. I did like a 60/40 ratio of veggies to fruit. The ideal is 80/20. If you are nervous about your first green smoothie try like 20/80. 

 

Add about a cup of water and blend away. *Blending the greens by themselves first will help smooth out the consistency. A really expensive, nice blender will also do the same trick. 

Find some fruit: bananas, pineapple, strawberries, etc. (I use frozen so I don't have to add any ice. I also use the sweetest fruit I can get like pineapple and mango. If you use something like an apple it won't be as sweet.)

 Get rid of those old bananas! (Dirk didn't like it with bananas.) 

A little bit of lemon juice may help! 

Add a supplement if you dare: I've used flax oil and wheat germ, but I've also heard of people using protein powder, chia seeds, etc. 

 This is my first attempted "action" cooking shot. It was kind of scary. I didn't know how much flax oil I was really putting in. 

Voila! A beautiful green smoothie! I usually make 2 large glassfuls. One for me and one for Dirk. But that usually turns into two for me. 

 Are you a green smoothier? What do you like? Any tips, hints, or suggestions?