Green Smoothies are Not All Green in Color

I have found it harder to find things for breakfast that feel satisfying, healthy and are delicious until now. I noticed some of my Instagram friends were doing a 30 day green smoothie challenge by Simple Green Smoothies. In the past I have been frustrated that so many smoothies contain bananas and  afraid of the fruits in them spiking my blood sugar. So I spoke with a couple of nutritionists, and decided to test it out safely by testing my blood sugar before and after various types of smoothies (not all in the same day obviously)

In order to try it out and be safe, I decided to have one green smoothy every day for a week. I looked up various recipes, and tweaked them so that I did not have any allergens or too much sugar in them by my estimation, then set to it. I took my blood sugar before and 2 hours after each smoothie. Sometimes I also took my blood sugar 1/2 an hour after to see if there was any immediate spike and drop effect going on, because I was surprised at having 94's at the 2 hour mark, but I never did catch my blood sugar any higher in the middle then it was at the end. This is a good thing! Over all, my blood sugar has dropped since I started green smoothies. And my body seems to be able to tolerate sugar better, so that occasionally I can have a sweet dessert that someone serves. In part that is because I make sure to eat protein before I go out where they may be serving sweet desserts, and in part that is because of the increased greens in my diet, I'm sure. I do not recommend you do this without consulting a registered dietician and nutritionist if you have any health problems, because every one's body is different. But I am very happy with my results, and it has inspired me to get more creative! Most Americans do not eat enough fruits and vegetables in a day, so one added green smoothie a day would help most people regardless. But you do have to count the calories and carbs and make sure you get protein like you would with anything else. Again, consult a registered dietician. (I found some who were willing to barter or trade, which worked out great)

My previous blender is toast. It did not last. It was a nice gift, but the darn thing broke. So a neighbor gave me her old blender when she got a blend tec (some day...over the rainbow) and anyway, I have pushed this little old blender to it's limits, but it is still cranking along! But my next blender will be a Blend Tec because not only do I want to continue eating my green smoothies every day, but I also want to make my own flour, nut butter, and the like.

Tip:
- You can bag and freeze your ingredients before hand. I do this when my fruits and veggies are on their last les and if I don't freeze them they'll go bad. That way they do not go bad, but I do have quick and easy smoothy ingredients on hand.
- Blend your greens in your liquid until it is juice like and there are no more chunks (about 30 seconds to a minute depending if you've pre frozen your greens
- If using the rind or skin of something like sweet potato, add it after the lettuce and before frozen fruit, till mixture shows no lumps.
- Sweet potato needs to be cooked and cooled before adding to smoothies

Here are some of my favorite green smoothies, and no, not all of them will be green:

Simple Green Smoothie (vibrant green, not shown)
1 Cup Baby Arugula
1 Cup Dark Leafy Romaine
1 cup water (or almond milk)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (in the smoothie)
1/2 apple
1/2 cup honeydew (frozen)
1 cup of ice

Green Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (shown at left of page)
1 cup dark leafy romaine
.5 cup steamed and cooled spinach
2 cup coconut milk (or flax milk, or whatever dairy substitute you desire)
1 cup of pumpkin puree (this is why it's great to cook up those jack o lanterns before they go bad and can them for later)
1 cup frozen honeydew (for sweetness)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon)
cinnamon on top

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothies:
This can be any nut or seed butter of course and any type of "jelly" fruits. So this is a great one to explore with and get creative!
1.5 cup red leaf kale (remove stems and clean well)
2 cup unsweetened almond milk (substitute as necessary for allergies)
2 Tablespoons nut butter
1 cup frozen berries (actually I only used 1/2 a cup of berries and it was fine but most people use more)
imagination for the next time so you can create your own PB & J Smoothie sensation
(makes 2 servings)
1 tablespoon chia seeds (if you're using blackberries you don't even notice chia seeds because they have a similar consistancy when blended)

Some fun protein sources to put on top: chopped nuts, hemp hearts, and the like. Get creative and let me know what you come up with!

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Latte

Tips:
This is delicious and can be made completely vegan or not if you prefer. I made mine with coconut milk and highly recommend it.
Baker's chocolate may be bitter when eaten alone, but when shaved over a sweet drink or sweet whip cream, it is super delicious and really balances the drink well


Ingredients:
Two bags peppermint tea
4 oz hot water
Large glass full of ice
8 oz lowfat coconut milk
1 teaspoon agave
1 teaspoon Dark chocolate, shaved on microplane
Whip cream if desired (can be made vegan with coconut milk and powdered sugar)

Directions:
Brew tea in 4 oz water
Add 1 teaspoon agave
Shave a bit of dark bakers chocolate over it
Pour hot sweetened tea over ice
Add 8 oz coconut milk
Add whip cream if desired (vegan if you're so inclined)
Shave a bit more of dark chocolate over whip cream


How to make Vegan Whip Cream: http://www.organicauthority.com/eco-chic-table/how-to-make-the-easiest-delicious-recipe-vegan-whipped-cream.html

Quick and Easy Chai Latte

The last few days I have been craving Chai Latte, but not wanting the fattening, sugar filled versions that various coffee stores and premixed Chai recipes showed. Nor did I want to take the time to make Chai concentrate at this time, although it sounded delicious. So the following is a quick and easy method I developed at home.

Tips:
According to my reading, even decaffeinated tea has about 3% of it's caffeine left. Please be aware of that if you are sensitive or even if you're just wanting a morning pick me up, but not the jitters

Black tea does come in decaf versions

Agave Nectar is about 2 times sweeter than sugar, so use sparingly, and make sure you get the 100% whole Agave kind, and not the versions which are mixed with other things in the process or it's glycemic index shoots up

Honey, if you are not allergic to it like I am, is a delicious sweetener for chai. I only wish it didn't give me hives.

Lemon peel would also be refreshing (I used orange zest due to lemon allergies)

Placing the ingredients in a cheese cloth would likely prevent the need to strain the tea

If you are a soy milk drinker or rice milk drinker those would work and this would still be vegan. Or if you're a dairy drinker this works with milk

Ingredients:

2 glasses filled with ice

8 oz hot water

8 oz Original Unsweetened Almond milk (with vitamin D)
2 bags decaf black tea (or iced tea bags)

1/2 teaspoon agave 

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardimum or allspice 

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon orange zest

Instructions:

Heat water 

Place 2 bags of decaf black tea,  1/2 teaspoon agave nectar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon orange zest in a coffee mug or tea cup 

Pour 8 oz hot water over and allow tea to steep

Place a paper towel over the glass of ice (I used a couple pieces of ice to hold the paper towel slightly down into the glass) 

SLOWLY pour 1/2 hot tea and spices from the above over the paper towel so that it will strain out excess spices and not leave your latte gritty.  Allow to soak through the paper towel until the glass is 1/2 full of tea then move paper towel to other glass of ice and repeat

Add 4 oz Almond Milk to each glass

Mix

You can add more honey or agave to taste if you feel it is not sweet enough, but I like mine spicy and not overly sweet

Makes 2 8 oz glasses of Chai Latte providing you with 1/2 the vitamin D of a glass of milk, none of the dairy, and all the healthy antioxidents of the tea, plus some of the blood sugar control of the spices, tho those are minimal at this dose I'm sure, I figure it can't hurt my attempts to move towards a medicine free blood sugar control! 

Please let me know how you like it, and what spices you switch around for it. You may want to try ginger root in yours, I am allergic to ginger, so did not include it in this recipe but found it in several chair recipes on the net. ENJOY!