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| Before, hmmm... |
I will eat a green-ish smoothie every day.
With all the conflicting information on diet, what
makes sense? Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, larvicides, genetically
modified organisms, chemical fertilizers, microwaves, pasteurization,
homogenization, hormonally injected animals, color dyes, artificial additives,
and high fructose corn syrup?
Or raw,
organic, sun-ripened plant food? “
-
David Wolf
Background
They are all the rage, you must have heard by now…Green
smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and all kinds of variations on this theme. One website I came across recently
boldly stated, “Green smoothies are the new coffee.” That may be overstating it a bit, but there is definitely a trend
going on here. The rules for me this month were simple (since I get to make
them up myself, I like to keep them easy): I will have one blended drink that contains both vegetables
and fruits every day. Why this
challenge? Some months ago, I did
a three-day juice only “cleanse” with a friend, and that was tough – by the
last day I felt bloated and otherwise gastronomically uncomfortable, and we
both really missed chewable food. But
I lost a few lbs, and really did feel “cleansed.” This month would be different – just adding one of these drinks
into an otherwise reasonably healthy diet, to see if this makes any huge health
difference or adds any other benefits
that so many are raving about these days.
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| During, whoa... |
The Hardware and the
Contents
Green smoothies specifically seem to be defined as ones that
include some kind of leafy green.
Most of mine did, but a few did not. My go-to ingredients turned out to be:
·
Veggies - kale, spinach, green leaf lettuce, cucumber,
celery, red bell pepper and carrots
·
Fruits – Pineapple, apple (usually gala or granny
smith), raspberry, lemon, tangerine, tomato
·
Herbs, etc – Mint, cilantro, ginger and the
occasional onion
All of these were used frequently, in various ratios, and I’m
certain no two were exactly alike. My hardware was simple too – no fancy juicer
or super-duper ninja blender needed.
And no specific recipes, but I did get some great ideas and tips from this excellent book. Just a high quality (yes over $100) blender did the trick: no matter how much
frozen stuff I had in there, it worked great once through on the
“Smoothie” setting. Clean up was fast and easy too. My other standard piece of
equipment was a steel straw with a spoon end – great for stirring up these
concoctions, which separate quickly between sips.
How it Went
This was fun.
It turned into a creative outlet each morning, coming up with different
combinations, and then discovering the subtle flavor differences. One of my favorite parts was the fresh
scent that burst out of the blender as I poured it into a glass. And the taste
was usually just as good.
One major exception:
Once I tried adding a bunch of fresh (from my mini-garden) aloe. I took
a large stalk and peeled it, tossing the slimy innards into the blender with
all the other usuals. YUCK! The oddly different smell didn’t warn
me enough, and the taste was overwhelmingly bitter – I am seriously almost
gagging remembering it right now.
To try and save the batch, I added a bunch of pineapple juice and
whipped it all up again. It was
tough, but I managed to down about 8 oz. of the new version and threw the rest
out, lesson learned: just say no
to aloe!
Another misfire occurred while traveling. As you know, trade
shows are generally not the healthiest eating settings. Although a handy market
near my hotel offered Odwallas (the only greenish type juice available), they
tasted too darn sweet to me! They
were overpowered with high-sugar fruit, compared with what I had been blending
at home. So I had just two of
those, and the other three days I just tried to make sure I had some fruits and
vegetables. By the end of the trip
I craved my own smoothies again.
Overall, I honestly didn’t notice any radical health changes
or benefits, but I did feel good mentally each time I downed them, knowing
generally how many natural vitamins, minerals and healthy fiber I was
ingesting, and I will keep consuming these regularly.
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| After, YUM! |
A Few Tips
If you want to try incorporating smoothies into your daily
(or occasionally) eating habits, here are my brief recommendations.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. Cut up vegetables and fruits ahead of
time and keep them handy, including the greens and herbs. A good chopping
session once a week should do it if you want to try daily smoothies.
Use your freezer! I like cold smoothies, and a good way to keep just about all
the items you are going to use fresh is to cut into smallish pieces and freeze
them. Even leafy greens, herbs,
whatever, really.
Try “savory” smoothies - a few of my favorites were the bloody-mary-without-the-vodka
style, like: tomato, celery, kale, cucumber, arugula, shallot, lemon juice, and
a dash of cayenne pepper. Not as
pretty green to look at (mine were kinda pale brownish), but delicious in their
own way!
I’d love to hearing about your adventures juicing and/or
smoothing, any experiences? Meanwhile,
on to December – THE FINAL MONTH of this project (gulp), hope you’ll stay
tuned!
