Coconut milk

Parsley Pear Banana Smoothie

I love parsley! When I was a teenager, I would buy it by the bunch and eat it like eating a bouquet of flowers. People that observed this behavior called it ‘grazing’. Looking back, I now think of it as a little weird, but that doesn’t change the fact that I love parsley!

I’ve been looking for nearly two years now for a combination of ingredients that would significantly mask the taste of parsley so that my wife, who really doesn’t care for anything be the taste, would not complain about a parsley smoothie. Normally, all she has to be is in the same room as a parsley smoothie and her spirit gets all worked up. She absolutely detests parsley smoothies!

Well, as it turns out, for the last three days she’s had parsley smoothies without knowing it. And, better yet, each day I asked her what she thought of the days’ smoothie and she’s said “Ok” and “good”, but still complains that it’s too thick (parsley tends to congeal when it gets broken down, thus it’s jello like if you don’t thin it out.)

So, I’m going to have to say that this parsley smoothie passes the Lori test – which is a pretty high bar to get over!

Parsley, Pear, Banana + smoothie

Recipe:

  • 2 Bananas
  • 2 Pears
  • ½ Mires Lemon
  • 2 Medjool Dates
  • 1 cup Coconut milk with Vanilla flavorings
  • ½ cup Dole Pina Colada juice
  • 1 Tbs ground golden flax
  • 1 probiotic

And, of course:

  • 1 full bunch well washed parsley

If you haven’t noticed, one of the key principles of the green smoothies that I make is that there needs to be an incredible base of liquid to really bring out the flavors in the smoothie. In this case, it really is a must have to include the Dole Pina Colada mix! Without this, it just wouldn’t be the same. 

Funny thing about this juice was that a friend came over on the weekend and had a couple pina coladas but left leaving half a container of mix. Not wanting it to go to waste, I figured I’d add it to a smoothie or two. Well, I’m glad that I did for this smoothie would not be the same without it.

Back to the preparation process. Throw everything together and blend.  J 

Well, actually not everything. Add Juice first, throw in bananas, slice pears adding everything but stem and seeds. Pit the dates and add. Squeeze the lemon making an effort to not allow the seeds in (adds bitter taste). And start the blender for a few seconds to break up the bigger pieces. Now grind the flax seed in your old coffee grinder until fine (and standing) add to smoothie. Add probitic and then cram in the parsley.

Blend again and give it 60+ seconds on high. When you feel the side of the blender and you can sense just a little heat, stop!

It’s at this point that you taste it. Is it sweet enough? Peary enough? Creamy enough? The taste that should stand out is the Pina Colada mix and pear granules (those little specs of pear that don’t grind up).

I’ve got one more bunch of parsley, two pears and a couple bananas so I’m sure this will be on the menu for tomorrow. After that, back to mangos! Got a collection of those for under a buck yesterday and one’s almost ripe.

See you next time!

Strawberry Mango Swiss Chard smoothie

Now that winter is upon us (me that is), I don’t feel bad about using frozen fruits in my smoothies! Normally, I advocate using fresh fruits rather than frozen for the molecular structure of the fruit has not been altered by low temperatures. But when it gets cold outside, I like to bring back the feeling of warm season fruit in a way that warms me up. Nothing fits that bill better than Ice Cream!

Ice Cream it is! At least for the first few seconds of the life of this drink. Well, ok, I give, it might not really be iced cream (diary), but it sure does taste like it. And, if it doesn’t, I keep working it until it does. Ultimately, I LOVE to experience great tasting smoothies, thus I’m always working to bring out the best flavors.

So, here we go, a creamy strawberry surprise.

Recipe:

  • 1 ½ cup Coconut milk with Vanilla flavor (ok, ok, it’s not raw, but it isn’t dairy!)
  • 10-12 frozen strawberries
  • 1 banana
  • 1 ripe (if you can find them) mango
  • 2 Medjool dates (don’t eat the seeds)
  • About 1 large Tbs Flax seed
  • 1 probiotic

And, of course, you can’t forget the greens:

  • 1 bunch Swiss chard

When I did my shopping the other day I weighed the Swiss Chard before bagging it. Each bunch came in just under a pound. Yep, that’s right. I use the full bunch and get the biggest ones that I can find. The green smoothies are all about re-mineralizing your body and sweeping out the toxins. So, even though you see all the fruit, it’s balanced by all the greens.

When putting this one together, I combine the coconut milk with all the fruit and blend. The Strawberries take just a few seconds to break down and you end up with something that looks like this:

If you were to look straight down on this, you’d notice that it’s more like a milk shake than ice cream. I probably should have added another few strawberries. That would have thickened it up. Never-the-less, it tasted like a strawberry milk shake – which was close enough for me.

The next step is to grind the flax seed. I love this function for me coffee grinder. Since I gave up making latte’s, that little grinder had sat unused. Now, it’s my flax seed grinder and it works great.

To the ‘milk shake’ I add the rest of the ingredients: ground flax, probiotic and Swiss chard. When I add the Swiss chard, I remove the main rib from the leaf. It’s got some great properties to it, but I don’t want anything in this drink that will distract from a smooth texture.

Now blend. If you’re using a vita-mix, you’ll most likely have to use the plunger to get the greens broken down, but once you’ve got it spinning, flip it on high and give is a whirl.

But don’t stop there! Because we’re using frozen strawberries, we can let the blender run longer and the heat is dissipated into the frozen fruit. And, because we get to let it run longer, we get a creamer feel in the end product.

You won’t get a strawberry seed as you enjoy this one.

Note that this makes about 6 cups!

Light is Life!

Raw Homemade Coconut Milk

I can’t believe it took me this long to think of making home make coconut milk! Almond milk is so common and nearly everyone learns to make that right off the bat, but coconut milk isn’t usually on the list. I mean, I’ve been making sesame milk for a long time, but the thought of coconut milk just never seemed to grip hold.

That all changed the other day when shopping at Wholefoods. I’ve been buying small bags of shredded coconut for different deserts and it dawned on me that they also sell flakes in the bulk section. Turns out, dried coconut flakes are pretty cheap. It was at that same moment, that the thought of making the flakes into coconut milk hit me.

Thus, into the blender it went! I followed the standard rule 1 part nut to 3 parts water and let it whirl. What came out was warm coconut milk.

Here’s what I did.

As I said, 1 cup flakes to 3 cups water. I used just a little more here so that I’d get a full quart full.

After blending for nearly two minutes, just when I could feel a little heat on the side of the blender, I poured it into a nut milk bag.

I’ve got a nice measuring bowl that fits the nut milk bag perfectly. I work the bag over the bowl so that just one corner of the bag sits on the bottom of the bowl. Thus, when I pour in the unfiltered milk, the top half of the bag stays nice and dry. After lifting the bag, so that I can gently press out the liquid, the bowl go from a frame for the nut milk bag to the receptor of the milk.

After cleaning out the bag, I poured the milk into a quart jar so it can go straight into the fridge. With luck, the oils will congeal on the top of the quart. That oil, along with the milk, makes for a great addition to a green smoothie!

Remember, as you saw in my A Warming Experiment article, oil is a good thing! Oil provides a ‘fuel’ that helps keep the body warmer longer. In the case of adding this to a green smoothie, it offsets the cooling properties with a little bit of warming.

Give it a try. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it also!

Pineapple with Grape and Lettuce

Here is another grape combo that I loved for a couple days. Grapes are so easy! Only blend up the good ones through. Notice I used a healthy slice of pineapple.

Recipe:

  • 1 thick slice of ripe pineapple peeled and cored
  • 1 branch seedless grapes (about 1 ½ cups washed and stemmed)
  • Copule dates (I wanted this one really sweet)
  • 1+ cup coconut milk
  • 1 bowl lettuce
  • 1 probiotic – Optional

Stack in blender:

And give it a 60-second whirl.

Notice the grape skins don’t break down all the way. It gives the smoothie a peppery look, but make no mistake about it, this one is a sweet dream!

One thing that I’ve noticed when drinking green smoothies is that you want to drink the entire quart in 15 to 20 minutes and you want to make sure you mix lots of saliva with it. The more you chew it, the more your saliva glands respond by releasing digestive enzymes. The more effort you put into mixing the enzymes with the green smoothie in your mouth, the better it digests. Same holds true with eating fruit plan. Don’t just bite off a mouthful and swallow.

Papaya Banana Lettuce

Take a close look at this smoothie. It’s probably not one that you’re going to want to make. I love papaya when it’s ripe, but the green things that they ship up to my neck of the woods really is hit and miss. It’s just to be the perfect time of year and you’ve got to pick up the perfect fruit to have a really good experience.

But the way I really messed this one up was by adding a creamy papaya with creamy bananas with creamy coconut milk to a mild lettuce. If there were something sour or sharp, I’m sure I would have had a better experience.

  • ½ large papaya (remove the seeds)
  • 2 bananas
  • 1 cup coconut milk with vanilla flavorings
  • 6 to 7 little itty bitty dates
  • 1 bowl lettuce

The larger papaya increased the volume of this smoothie just past one quart. Which, to me, is perfect for my wife and I. It’s just that I didn’t get possible feedback on this combination.