Popeye Protein Packed Spinach Smoothie

I think the title says it all.

Recipe

3 bananas, frozen

2 tbs almond butter

1 tbs hemp protein (maca powder works well too)

1 cup almond milk

1 cup water

1 tbs cacao powder

1 handful of baby spinach leaves

Blend

Perigee-Syzygy Smoothie

What’s a perigee-syzygy you may ask?

Other than an awesome scrabble word, it’s also called a Supermoon.

Perigee is when the moon is the closest to the earth in the moons elliptical orbit and syzygy is the alignment of the Sun-Moon-Earth. The best time to view it will be tonight after the sun sets.

With the help of a few of my coworkers, this is my take on what a Perigee-Syzygy Smoothie should taste like. Something calm, cool and milky-white.

Recipe

3 frozen bananas

1 can lite coconut milk

1/2 cup almond milk

1/4 cup macadamia nut

1 vanilla bean

1 chamomile tea bag (remove the herbs and place into blender)

dash of cardamom

dash of nutmeg

Blend ingredients in blender.

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Tastes just like an Orange Creamsicle….mmmmmmm:)

Recipe

blender required

6 medium oranges

2 tsp orange zest

3 bananas, frozen

2 dates (optional)

3 cups ice

3/4 cup almond milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 macadamia nuts

Instructions:

Grate the orange zest first. Then juice the oranges in a citrus juicer or peel the oranges, deseed, and throw it into the blender. Add the remaining ingredients and blend the heck out of it. Add more ice if needed.

The macadamia nuts help give this smoothie a creamy, buttery taste.

Chocolate Coconut Smoothie

mmmm……chocolate and coconut. Need I say more?

Blender required

Recipe

3 Bananas, frozen

2 cups Kale

2 Tbs Cacao powder

2 Tbs coconut oil

1 cup almond milk

2 cup water, add more if needed.

Blend until smooth.

Serves 2

Bottled Green Juices, Green Smoothies and Kombucha Tea

We’ve been in Arizona for 5 days now visiting my awesomely cool aunt and uncle. I thought it would be easy to (mostly) avoid the Standard American Diet (SAD diet) but it has definitely been a struggle. We brought some of our own snacks such as dried apricots and trail mix. We’ve also been eating bananas, carrots, apples, strawberries and pistachios. But I am really craving my green juice. Because we don’t have access to a juicer, we went to the local grocery store to see if they sell any kind of healthy bottled juices. And, when I say juice, I do not mean Mott’s apple juice. I want ‘green juice’. We bought a variety of different brands and flavors. The GT brand contains kombucha which I’ve never drank before. Kombucha is a fermented tea, which would explain the fizzy-carbonated aspect to these drinks. The brand also claims it is a ‘raw food’, however, I don’t easily believe everything I read (remember agave honey was suppose to be ‘raw’ too)!

Not all of the drinks below were green juices, some are green smoothies, and others we were just curious to try. Why not. I’m not convinced yet I like the kombucha, but I’m not ready to write it off either. Below, is my evaluation of these products.

Reading left to right

1) Naked- Green Machine  – very tasty, even my aunt liked it, each serving is 140 calories, contains a variety of fruits and greens.

2) GT’s Kombucha- Gingerade-tastes like fizzy, fresh gingerade. Delicious.

3) GT’s Synergy – Grape Chia– great flavor, however, texture reminds me of an oyster. A fizzy grape flavored oyster?

The chia seeds become gel-like when introduced to water, so this is a ‘thick’ drink, the seeds are still slightly crunchy. This was my aunt’s least favorite but kudos for her for even trying it.

4) GT’s Kombucha- Multi-Green Juice – a fizzy green drink, very bland flavor, easily my least favorite.

5) Odwalla-  Green Smoothie- 190 calories per serving, very tasty, but if I have a choice, then I would choose the Naked brand due to less calories.

6) Evolution- Green juice- Sweet greens and lemon- The celery, cucumber and parsley were easily distinguishable. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t horrible either. This will probably be my first choice for green juice when traveling unless I find something better.

I think most people would agree they tend to eat differently when traveling. It’s difficult to stay on track when there are so many options and temptations. I say just try your best and when (not if) you stray, don’t beat yourself up.  The next time we travel, we now know we have more options.

Beet n’ Berry Smoothie

Another one of my husbands creations. I haven’t been feeling my best for the past few days so my husband has been in the kitchen preparing our meals. This was another simple terrific creation. I’m personally not a big fan of raw beets. I think they taste like dirt or ‘earth’ to be kind. But, when mixed with berries, it’s definitely tolerable to my palate. And the color of this smoothie was absolutely gorgeous.

Blender required

Recipe

1 large beet

2 cups mixed berries

3-5 dates (needed for  a little sweetness)

2 cups water

Blend until smooth.

Raspberry Mint Smoothie

This smoothie was my husband’s creation.

Blender required.

2  1/2 cups frozen raspberries

1/2 cup milk

2 cups orange juice, freshly squeezed

1 banana, frozen

2 sprigs mint

1-2 cups spinach

honey optional

Blend until smooth

 

Kitchen Sink Smoothie

Here I go again.

Blender required

Recipe

1 frozen banana

1 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 can low-fat coconut milk

8 macadamia nuts

1 tbsp cacao nibs

1 tbsp chia seeds

1/4 tsp cardamom ground (anyone seeing a theme yet)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

5 Napa cabbage leaves

 

Bend (no, please don’t do that) Blend until smooth. Thank god for my Vitamix. I couldn’t imagine how the texture of some of these ingredients would taste in a regular blender.

Leftover Smoothie #1

I really do not have a name or theme for this smoothie but it sure as heck tasted delicious. We are going on vacation soon so I haven’t been grocery shopping. These were some of various things I just threw into the blender. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

blender required

Recipe

1 cup frozen cherries

1 frozen banana

6-7 dried apricots

1 1/2 cup almond milk or water

1/4 tsp cardamom spice (yep, I found another excuse to use cardamom)

4-5 leaves Napa cabbage (from our garden)

Blend until smooth.

I started adding unsweetened almond milk to most of my recipes to increase calcium and vitamin B12. Its only 35 calories per cup. Not too shabby.

 

Blueberry Cardamom Smoothie

Cardamom is an interesting spice I have only recently discovered. It is an Indian spice commonly used in chai tea. I’m still working on different flavor combinations, maybe with chocolate or cinnamon.

blender required

Recipe

2 cups frozen blueberries

1 banana frozen

1 1/2 cups almond milk or water

2 cups fresh spinach (or any leafy green)

1/4 tsp cardamom spice

Blender together until smooth, add water as needed.