If you're anything at all like me, the idea of drinking spinach or kale doesn't thrill you at first. When I think of drinking vegetables, V8 comes to mind. I've never really been a big fan of the stuff myself, but I know lots of people love it. I need something a little bit more friendly and less likely to give me indigestion and tummy troubles. If it tastes good, I'm more likely to stay committed.
Now the key is to implement some imagination to the process. More importantly, you have to leave out your childhood eating issues and your lack of love for all things green.
Forget about what you think or don't think will taste very good and trust me when I tell you that you can make a pleasantly flavored drink with almost anything.
This is a learn as you go kinda' thing. There is no exact science to it. No need to follow exact measurements. Do what you think will taste good. I only followed one recipe and then I let it spin off into my own creations from there.
The Inspiration:
I first started with a recipe from my girlfriend Tanya. She's a vegetarian and I consider her the health food expert in my life. She takes eating very seriously and seems to make an educated decision about everything that she puts into her body. Oh the discipline! How I admire that about her.
I set off to purchase a reasonable blender. Nothing too fancy, because at first...I know that I could start this and be done with it in a week, so no need to spend a fortune.
Then a couple of nice "take me with you" smoothie cups so I can easily drink them on the go.
I hit the produce section and grab all of the things that seem like a good idea and of course, all the ingredients from Tanya's recipe. I grab a few bags of frozen fruit as well, that way I know I'll always have stuff on hand even when the fresh stuff is gone.
Recipe #1: I like to call it the Green Giant.
This started out as Tanya's recipe. The original was everything you see below, without the juices, strawberries, peaches and pineapple.
After 2 days, I tweaked it a little and this is what it became.
A couple handfuls of kale. The more the better in my opinion, but if you're sketchy about it at first, you can start small.
1 whole banana
2 whole pitted dates
1 whole pear. (just take out the core and leave the skin on it)
2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed
1 cup of orange juice
2 ounces of 100% frozen grape juice concentrate
2 cups of frozen, sliced, strawberries, peaches, mango & pineapple
ICE is optional. I hate the taste of unfiltered ice, so I skip it.You may prefer your drink a little bit more icy, so do what you like.
Blend on high until smooth. You can add a little water if you prefer and you can skip the juices altogether and use water instead.
ENJOY!!!
Stay tuned for more!
