Beet Smoothie!

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We have lots of lots of beets from our CSA so I've been making beet smoothies the past week.  Beets are a blood purifier, improve digestion and have a significant amount of fiber.....and that's just 3 of the many beet benefits!

I make them similar to my green smoothies (and I even add greens) and grind away.  Here's what I did this morning:

purified water
frozen organic blueberries
organic lemon (cut off outer peel)
handful of organic beets (locally grown from our CSA, yay!)
a few large handfuls of organic greens (your choice!)

Grind in the BlendTec and serve!  Yum.

*thank you stock internet photo.  We drank ours before I could snap one!

OH. MY. WORD.

This picture is frightening.  Especially given the fact that he was almost in tears after I served him a glass of freshly squeezed carrot juice at breakfast instead of his normal green smoothie.  He insisted on having some of "Mommy's."

A Green Smoothie a Day.....

I recently had someone ask if we were still doing green smoothies..."because you never post them on your blog!"

The answer is: Yes. Every single day.  No. Matter. What.
Even when we are traveling, we pack the BlendTec up along with the toothpaste (flouride-free of course! ;)) and hit the road!

This morning, we used our CSA greens which were picked fresh yesterday morning.  Does it get any better?!

Here's what we threw in this morning:

purified water
1 organic lemon, with the peel cut off
handful of organic raspberries
large handful of kale
tons of tons of mixed greens (I mean, TONS!)

We grind it down several times and continue adding more greens until it looks perfect.  I drink the jar you see above (a quart) in the morning and then 8 oz before lunch and dinner.  The kids drink about 12 oz a day and Ron is all over the map, drinking anywhere from 12 oz. to 60+ per day, depending on how crazy he's feeling.  Or better yet, how gooooooood he wants to feel!

Garden Gone Wild!

Our garden is going crazy this year....which is a welcome change from last year when we started to think we had lost our organic touch (that's what a cool summer and lots of rain will do to you!)

At any rate, we have so many veggies between the garden and our CSA that I have been making up new smoothies almost daily.

Today's smoothie was a combination of broccoli, celery, snap peas, green beans, squash, zucchini and cucumbers.  Combine your veggies with purified water and freshly squeezed organic lemon juice and the fruit of your choice (I threw in a handful of organic strawberries.)  My kiddos loved this one.

You will be amazed how many veggies you can blend up!  I blend, re-fill, and blend again.  After pouring this one for GLLAM, I make another blender full for Ron and myself.

Zucchini Beet Smoothie

Our garden is going zucchini-crazy while our CSA's garden has more beets than you could use in a lifetime.  This gave me the idea to start grinding both into our morning smoothies.

Today, I was completely out of greens and too lazy to hit the Farmer's market decided to do a smoothie with only those 2 ingredients.  Well, those combined with a lemon and a chunk of fresh, organic mango (throw it in the freezer the night before and your kiddos will really love you!)

Delish!

Rainbow Chard Green Smoothie

This smoothie was especially delicious as all the chard came from our garden.  I can't tell you how fulfilling it is to plant, grow and harvest your own food.  And let me tell you, the garden is going craaaaaaazy this year.  Yay to organic veggies!

I added a lemon and a handful of fresh, organic strawberries to this and hit Blend.  Yum!

Beet Smoothies!

We've been getting a plethora of beets in our CSA bag each week so I've started adding a couple into our green smoothie each morning.  Today's smoothie was collard greens, beets (I already smoothied the tops yesterday! :)) and a lemon.  I also added a handful of frozen mango.  Yum!

Today's Green Smoothie

1/2 large lemon (cut off outer skin)

1/2 orange (cut off outer skin)

handful berries

large bunch of pok choy

large bunch of sunflower microgreens

small handful of dandelion greens (they tend to be bitter!)

as many leaves of collard greens as you can smash into blender 

I grind down once and then open the lid and smash in some additional greens.  After you grind, sprinkle some chia seed or nutritional yeast on top.  Or both.

Most of these greens came from our CSA, you substitute for greens you have on hand.  Enjoy!

Super Easy Green Smoothie

When we are in a huuuuuuuuge hurry, we dump these ingredients in the BlendTec with 3 cups of filtered water and hit Go! (cut the outer layer of skin off your lemon)

We grind once and then add more greens, pushing them deep down so we can get a full pound in.  Also, add an ice cube or 2 to reduce the foam that an apple tends to contribute.

I only purchase the bins for "emergency" mornings because they are very pricey.  I can get a pound of organic loose greens (that I wash myself) for about $3 and the bin is $6.99!  The one pictured above is from Costco for $4.50.....much better!

We go through about 10+ pounds of greens per week so saving a few dollars here and there shaves $100 from the monthly grocery bill.  Which is a tremendous help since Momma always needs new shoes.....

Collard Greens Smoothie

Today's green smoothie is brought to you by Lauren and features collard greens.

This is the recipe for our family.  You may want to use a bit less.

3 c. filtered water

1 organic lemon, cut off outer layer of skin but leave pulp

1 organic mango, everything but the seed

1 organic apple, seeds & stem

4 large organic mustard green leaves

Grind this down and then open blender and add as many other organic greens as you can smash in.  Today we added dandelion greens, kale & red chard.  Our goal is to get about 1 lb. of greens in total. 

(I sprinkle chia or hemp seed in after I grind it)

Look at that beautiful green color!

Green Smoothie 1000

We just hit 1000 blends on our BlendTec (we have someone living w/ us that uses it also) and we celebrated by making one of our favorite, easy ones.
   2 large bunches of organic spinach (I grind one down and then add the 2nd since they won't both fit!)
   1 organic red pear
   1 organic kiwi 
   (both in their entirety....seeds, stems and skin!)
   a quick squeeze from a lemon
Blend and enjoy!

Rotate Your Greens!

We are busy rotating greens in our smoothie world.  Plants have traces of alkaloids and too much of any one green (over many weeks) can actually produce symptoms of poison in your body.  Plants, and our bodies, were created this way so that greens would last and not become extinct.  What an Intelligent Design!
  
Incidentally, fruits do no contain these alkaloids so eat away, your apple a day!

This smoothie contains red leaf lettuce, beet & carrot tops, and some cilantro.  I threw in an orange and lemon  so my kids would actually drink it  for good measure.

Green Smoothie To Go

Brittney snapped this picture of Lincoln chugging his green smoothie in the car one morning.


Of course I packed the Blendtec.  In fact, Madeline was stopped going through security and TSA had to verify that the blade is not removable.  Indeed it is not. (thanks Green Smoothie Girl for the heads up on that)

The Almost-Completely-Green Smoothie

We gave our hand at a true green smoothie this week.  Here's our recipe:

2 cups filtered water
As many organic greens as we could smash into our 3Q container:
   dandelion greens, parsley, cilantro, wheat grass, carrot tops, rainbow chard, red head lettuce, spinach...
1 whole lemon, peeled (add a bit of peel also)
spoonful of raw honey

Important side note:
I threw in a strawberry when GLLAM was looking so I could technically call it a "fruit" smoothie.  See!  Look kids!  Fruit!  It worked like a charm and they downed it in 6 seconds.

Monday Special

Let's call today's green smoothie, the Raspberry Mango special.
(we could also call it the Wheat Grass Chard but it sounds much more appealing the other way.)

2 cups filtered water
pint fresh raspberries
1 mango
1/2 lemon, peeled
flax seed
hemp seed
as many greens as you can shove in - in this one I used: spinach, rainbow chard & wheat grass

Mix & Enjoy!

PS - If you are a green smoothie beginner, use a bit more fruit and greens that are mild like spinach, romaine & the like.  Wheat grass, kale & dandelion greens are much more bitter so use them sparingly until you get used to the taste.  Oh, and lemon/lime juice do wonders for bitter greens. ;)

A Bit of Everything Smoothie

Today's smoothie was voted one of GLLAM's favorites (and Ron!) and since I basically added everything but the kitchen sink I figured I better document it so I can add it to the repertoire.

2 c. filtered water
handful of:
 kale, wheatgrass & carrot tops
10 oz. spinach
2 stalks celery
1/2 peach
banana
blackberries/blueberries
hemp seed
flax seed
1/2 lemon, juiced
spoonful raw honey

Blend and enjoy.

Will It Blend?

I am loving our new Blendtec.  It will literally blend anything.  No, really.  Watch them blend an iPhone if you are curious.

What did we blend up for today's green smoothie?

1 1/2 cups water
frozen strawberries (from last week's Friday Deal, thanks Whole Foods!)
1/2 apple
1/2 orange with a bit of the peel (only use peel if its organic)
1 banana
10 oz. of fresh spinach
handful of kale
handful of rainbow chard
spoonful of raw honey

Blend and enjoy!

.....and trust me, your kids will drink it! (is that Gabe in the background asking for more?!)

 This is a picture from earlier in the week, and the smoothie obviously had blackberries in it! ;)