My new Green Smoothie addiction
June 10th, 2009 | Published in Food, Recipes | 9 Comments
Hi, my name is Jenn and I am now addicted to green smoothies.
What on Earth is a Green Smoothie?
A “green” smoothie is a smoothie made with leafy greens. Things like spinach, kale, baby greens, lettuce, etc.
I’ve known about green smoothies for a while and have resisted trying them because, frankly, I didn’t really want to drink a salad.
So what inspired my change of heart? Well, honestly, I had been eating horribly since Memorial Day Weekend. And, normally, I’m really careful about what I eat because eating poorly kicks my depression into high gear.
However, over Memorial Day Weekend, we had 4 picnics to attend, and I let all my good habits fly right out the window. And from there – it just got worse. Before I knew it, three weeks had gone by, I was eating terribly and my depression was rearing it’s ugly head. Ick.
So I decided to give myself a little tough love a couple of days ago, get back on track and clean up my act. I was searching for some new recipes, and as Divine luck would have it, I ended up on The Green Smoothie Queen’s web site. Something in her writing, inspired me to give green smoothies another look… and further – to dive in and actually try it.
It’s not at all like drinking a salad.
After reading a good bit on green smoothies and consulting a couple of raw vegan books I had on hand (I’m not totally raw or totally vegan…), I decided to just let my intuition guide me. I’m quite proud of myself – I dug through the fridge and the freezer and came up with my own YUMMY concoctions.
Even my 7 year old loved them – and – she liked it better than the smoothies we made over the weekend that were sweeter and had a bit of chocolate in them – imagine that!
My Recipes
These are the two that I came up with that I’m enjoying so far:
Purple Green Pick Me Up
*This one is actually purple – but there’s green in there as well :)
1 cup of water
2 generous hand fulls of baby spinach
1/4 cup of cucumber
1 cup of strawberries
1 cup of frozen berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries)
1 frozen banana
Put water, spinach, cucumber in a blender and blend well. Add strawberries blend again. Add frozen fruit a little at a time until well blended. I like the frozen fruit because I like the consistency – but you can use fresh as well. Also, feel free to add more water a little at a time if you like a looser consistency.
Mid-Day Energy Snack
(pictured up there to the right)
1 cup of water
2 hand fulls of Romain Lettuce
1 frozen banana
hand full of fresh mint (right out of my herb garden – yum!)
1 cup of red seedless grapes
1 Peach
Put water, Romain, grapes, peach and mint in the blender and blend until smooth. Add frozen banana, blend again until smooth.
What I’m noticing inside…
As I said before, my depression is connected very acutely to what I eat. I’m noticing that since I’ve been drinking these green goodies for the last two days, I feel more energetic, inspired, and just all around good about myself.
When I’m depressed I beat myself up relentlessly – and very, very harshly. If let go long enough, it’s debilitating to the point where my life comes to a grinding halt. And, the really bad part is, I’m an emotional eater – so if I feel awful about myself, I eat more crap and feel even more awful about myself.
One of the things I was noticing was that I was being very hard on myself – being hard on yourself stalls your forward motion… well, beyond stalls it – it makes your forward motion take a complete hike.
When I’m eating well (which is part of a whole big picture of self-care), I feel vital, rigorous, clear, strong – like I can do anything. I feel empowered, free, spirited, and open to anything. Most of all – I remember that I love myself.
I’m thrilled that I took the plunge and hopped on the green smoothie train. Can’t say I’ll have them every single day – but I love having it as an option.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:38 am (#)
Green smoothies are totally worthy of addicition. :) Be proud! haha. I’m craving one right now as I type this from my hotel room in New York. I think I need to venture out and get one. :)
Cheers,
Kristen
June 10th, 2009 at 11:03 am (#)
Ah ha! Having a green smoothie OUT – now there’s something I need to try!
Just got back from Yoga class and I’m having Strawberries, Grapes and Spinach – kept it nice and simple today!
June 10th, 2009 at 1:37 pm (#)
Awesome, Jenn! I agree – green smoothies are totally worth being addicted to (even if just a little bit.)
Love the idea of trying grapes in a green smoothie. Sounds refreshing. Grapes are one of those fruits that are really important to get organic if possible because the skin/membrane is so thin, so the pesticides can go right into the fruit so easily. Strawberries too. Bananas, not as much.
I’ve made one with pear and mint…and it was a really neat change of pace too.
I also know what you mean about food affecting your mood. It’s like that for me too. And since I’ve been eating raw food and more green smoothies, my moods have been much more regulated and I don’t get foggy head/brain cloud stuff like I used to.
Go you!
June 12th, 2009 at 10:35 am (#)
Jenn,
Thanks for sharing your recipes for the green smoothies you were talking about.
I made a VERY berry smoothie this morning—strawberries, blueberries, and cherries with skim milk.
Very good!
I will have to try your recipes though…sounds really great!
Again thanks for sharing and I am glad you are feeling better.
I noticed for me, sugar is the culprit. The natural sugars in fruit doesn’t bother me however if I sit down and eat something high sugar content like cookies or cake…it affects my skin. So I have been monitoring the amount of sugar I eat.I don’t eat tons of sweets, however, as I am approaching my 40’s (wow, that is interesting to see in print), I think the chemical balance in my system has changed and is starting to react differently.
Thanks again for sharing.
Sincerely,
Teresa Morrow
June 24th, 2009 at 9:47 am (#)
you go Jenn!
and throw in a handful of pineapple sometime…really energizes the green drinks :)
yummmmmy
August 2nd, 2009 at 9:37 pm (#)
I agree on the green smoothies…however…the recipes above don’t have nearly enough greens! You might be surprised how palatable a nine-ounce bag of organic baby spinach, or a large bunch of fresh kale, can be when blended with fruits. Go for it! Huge quantities of greens give you much more nutritional value.
My smoothie today: a five-ounce container of baby lettuce, an entire bunch of dandelion greens from my local organic store, about five kale leaves, plus a kiwi, an apple, some strawberries, and some orange juice. Granted, it is expensive to use this much green matter, especially if you go for organic, but doing so supercharges your nutrition and tastes ok as long as you throw in some fruit.
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:05 am (#)
Hey Sherry! I agree – I’m amazed at how many greens I chuck in the blender now for my smoothies.
Back when I had written this post, green smoothies were new to me. Now, I toss in A LOT more ;)
Thanks for your suggestions – they’re fabulous!
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 pm (#)
I’m the exact same way. Green smoothies are amazing and make me feel great. I struggled with depression and binge eating disorder for 5 years and they were completely entwined. I’m working through it now and I’ve finally started eating better and exercising – after years of feeling like I was too much of a failure to take care of myself. When I do eat eat well and exercise it’s like flipping a switch – I feel like a completely different person.
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:14 pm (#)
Wow Meg, thank you for sharing your experience. I totally relate to that – absolutely.
For me, it’s like with food, it either honors me or beats me down. And, the bad part is, if I’m feeling really awful about myself – I know that food can hurt me more… it can get ugly.
I’m so glad you’re feeling better and nurturing yourself. If you’re up to sharing, I’d love to hear what you like in your green smoothies :)