Coconut milk

Mint Chocolate Spinach Smoothie

With this season being about 45 days late, yesterday was the first day where I actually got to harvest something out of the garden – Mint! It’s at the perfect age and height. As you can see in the mug (below) I’ve picked just the top six inches (or so) getting the best four sets of leaves. When in the garden, I samples a few leaves and they were delicately succulent and beautifully flavorful. I love the first of the season spearmint.

For the last couple days I’ve been craving mint-chocolate as a smoothie flavor. Last time I dug into the mint to put this combo together, the mint was older and a whole lot more pungent. This mint is smooth and subtle so I knew it would add a delicate savory essence rather than an overpowering one. If you’ve got some mint growing where you can get it before the sun burns in a lot of flavor, you’ll love it combined with cacao!

Here’s what I did, I’m sure you’ll enjoy something similar.

Recipe:

  • 1 organic Fuji apple (That’s what I had, got a great deal the other day)
  • 1 banana
  • 2 large medjool dates
  • 1+ cup liquid (I used watered down coconut milk)
  • 10 spearmint tops (about the top 4 sets of leaves)
  • ½ lb Spinach
  • 1 heaping tablespoon full cacao powder

Seed the dates, core and remove seeds from the apple, pinch off the leaves from the spearmint add all but the seeds to the blender and whirl until smooth.

I’ve got a few leaves left over for tomorrow. I’ve also got the second half of the package of Spinach. I’m going to give it a second go with an orange rather than the apple to see how that mixes up. Orange, mint and chocolate should be a really good combination.

Get out, grow some herbs and enjoy the life they bring to your own. Mint’s one of the easiest to grow and mixes will with lots of things. And, the best part is it’s good (great) for you.

Good day.

Blueberry Kale Apple Smoothie

Blueberries and Red Kale make a fantastic green smoothie combination. I’ve been dogging the kale for months reaching for Swiss chard, parsley and spinach (even lettuce) rather than picking up with vegan special. Yet, on the advice of one of my favorite yoga instructors, I broke down and picked up some kale to give it one more go.

As it turns out, this Red Kale mixes really well with blueberries! I would have never guessed – but my yoga instructor did!

I’ve always reached for the lemon to tame kale, but it looks like there is a match in the berry-world.

Recipe

I can’t believe when I was putting this one together that I totally forgot the blueberries!

  • 1 full bunch Red Kale (stems removed)
  • 1 crisp apple (seeded and quartered (or better))
  • 3 madjohl dates
  • 1 cup dark seedless grapes
  • 1 to 2 cups frozen blueberries
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • Juice of ½ lemon (if it’s juicy, else 1 lemon)
  • 1 probiotic
  • 1 serving ORMUS powder

Like most other smoothies that I put together, liquids first followed by soft fruit than harder fruit. In this case, water, coconut milk, lemon juice, grapes, blueberries, quartered apples (or even smaller) and dates. Blend until big chunks are broken down. It should taste fantastic at this point. Kind of like blueberry sorbet.

Next, stuff in kale and give it a good spin. The frozen blueberries will keep this on cold for a long time so blending can go for almost two minutes. When you get to blend this long you really break things down to the point where it’s easy to drink.

Finally, add the ORMUS and probiotic and give it a good mixing. Not need to go long, just stir it around.

I think I’ve found a new way to love kale. I’m also warming up to blueberries.

If you’re having a hard time getting to like kale, try this combo. I believe you’ll find it quite satisfying!

Sweat Spinach Peach Smoothie

If you’re looking for something super palatable, this is your smoothie. Peaches, coconut milk and baby spinach make for a dynamite combination. All the flavors are simple and smooth, so there is nothing that stands out as odd. If you’re tired of all those super smoothies with the strong flavors that you have to mask, this is worth a try.

You’ll most likely also notice that I’ve added a couple ingredients that are outside the norm; ground flax seed and ORMUS. The ground flax seed gives the smoothie a ‘breakfast’ feel – a taste of grain, but not too much. If you let the smoothie sit, you might want to pass on the flax seed for it will thicken up like pudding! ORMUS, on the other hand, adds a bit of saltiness that really makes the flavors pop! Also doesn’t hurt to add angstrom size particles into the diet.

Recipe

  • 4 frozen peaches (I store 8 per quart size bag, so ½ bag)
  • 1 – 1 ½ cups grapes
  • 3 small dates
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • ½ lb baby Spinach
  • 1 Tablespoon flax seed ground
  • 1 serving ORMUS minerals
  • 1 probiotic

Add liquid first, followed by grapes, dates and frozen spinach. Blend to get the initial grind down. One thing that will help is if you split the frozen peaches into ice cube size pieces.

If they are much larger, you’ve really got to work the mixture in order to keep it from jamming up. Even in my case with my Vita-mix, I’d have to plunger it if the pieces are too big.

When it’s broken down a bit, add the spinach.

I’ve been tempted to stop at this point in order to enjoy the peach sorbet! It’s just as amazing without the greens as it is with them!  Notice that after stuffing in ½ pound spinach it’s ready to blend and plunge. Close everything back up and mix on high under creamy.

Meanwhile, get out the coffee grinder and place the flax seed in it for grinding. Grind until it starts to stand, but not before it starts to heat up and melt. You want to keep the olds cool.

Finally, turn the blender off and add the ground flax seed, probiotic and ORUMS. You want to turn the blender on to mix in the dry ingredients, but not too long for you don’t want to break down the probiotic critters.

In the end, you’ve got breakfast and sometimes lunch. It just depends on how hungry you think you are in one sitting. With this smoothie, I really don’t mind having it for both breakfast and lunch. Thus making a little extra foots the bill for me.

I’m so glad I put up peaches last summer! I’ve been craving early summer fruit, but nothings out yet. I think this one will tide me over.

Fresh Orange Strawberry Parsley Smoothie

As many of you know, I love parsley! It’s a power packed green with a fresh aftertaste. Unfortunately, it can be overpowering when added to a smoothie. Yet, every once in a while there’s a combination that comes together that builds upon the strength of parsley and turns it into a magical delight!

Ok, well, maybe not magical, but totally doable.

In this case, the Orange and Strawberries that work together to give this smoothie an intoxicatingly fresh fruity flavor. I can’t remember mixing orange, strawberries and parsley before but I’m glad I found this combination.

If you’re looking to find a way to include more parsley in your diet, it’s time to pick up a frozen bag of strawberries and some fresh navel oranges.

 Recipe

  • 10 frozen ripe Straberries
  • 1 ripe juicy orange
  • ½ mire lemon – juice
  • 3 (or 4) little Halawy dates (or your favorite dates)
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 bunch washed and shaken parsley

Optional:

  • 2 Tbs Fresh ground flax seed
  • 1 probiotic

The mixing process is pretty straight forward. Pour the coconut milk into the blender first, add the strawberries, dates, lemon juice, pealed orange (no seeds) and blend.

At this point, it should look and feel like Strawberry sorbet! If you’re making desert, you might want to stop right here. If you’re making breakfast, the next step is to add the parsley. Because it’s so cool and thick you can blend it for a bit longer than 60 seconds. The longer you blend it, the smoother it gets.

If you’re looking to add some warmth to it, consider adding some fresh ground flax seed. As you can see in the ingredients picture above, I’ve already ground up a little over a tablespoon worth of golden flax. Oranges tend to cool me down and the flax seed works really well to turn that around. 

In the end, you’ve got a decent breakfast

Now that I’ve had this smoothie a couple times, I’ve noticed that the flax seed tends to give it a grainy feel and taste. But that is subtle next to the powerful parsley, orange, strawberry combination.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Greens are magical – experience the magic.

Amazing Peach Sorbet

This recipe is so simple and delicious that anyone should be able to whip it up in just a few minutes. I guarantee that it will take you ten times longer to eat this than what it takes to put it together for the flavor is to delicate that you’ll want to savor every spoonful.

Be prepared, for this will make a meal!

Recipe:

  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 4-5 large medjool dates (pitted)
  • ½ to ¾ tsp vanilla powder
  • ¾ bag of frozen peaches

First thing to notice here is that I prepared last summer! When boxes of peaches came on for ‘cheap’ I bought a bunch and saved them in the freezer. Each quart size bag as the equivalent of eight medium peaches so this recipe calls for about six. Note that the skins and pits have been removed so what comes out of the bag is pure peach ‘meat’.

Add the coconut milk into your 3-horse power blender (I strongly advise that you only use something that really has the muscle to get through this), drop in the dates, about a teaspoon vanilla powder and then about 6 frozen peaches. I use a knife break apart the frozen block of peaches. I make sure each piece I break off is no bigger than about ½ a peach (size wise – large ice cube size).

With all this in the blender you’ll want to start out on about 4 or 5 and use the tamper to press the frozen peach down into the blades. This is pretty hard to do. You’ll almost feel like standing on it in order to force the peaches down. As soon as the mixture starts to grip in, start counting in your head and turn the blender above 7. Quickly work the peaches down with the tamper and make sure to not let it develop an air bubble down at the blades. This hectic grinding process shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds. If so, you’ll end up with a milk shake rather than ice cream.

The little specs that you see in this mixture is the dates. Yum!

This six peach mixture makes two beautifully decadent servings. You’ll want to savor every bite. The little bits of dates come across as little cold sweet carmelly tidbits.

I highly recommend this desert (meal) and I believe you will too.

Let me know what you think if you try it!