oranges

Triple Berry Swiss Chard Smoothie

Seems that it’s getting harder and harder to find uniquely new green smoothies to post! But, it’s still possible and I’ve found another! This triple berry smoothie is a delight – flavorful and rich. You’ll want to give it a try.

A couple weeks ago, I started to cut down on coconut milk in my green smoothies. Sure, it provides great texture and flavor, but I wanted to remove a little fat – or, rather – move the fat consumption to later in the day. With the green smoothies, I wanted to get back to just greens and fruit.

But I still don’t recommend water as the base, thus for the last few days I’ve been playing around with “Help Nourish Your Brian” (lol) juice.  Not wanting to put the extra work into making juice for the base, I’ve taken the easy way out by using commercial juice. But what’s special about this juice is that it tastes like pomegranates. It actually has a pretty strong flavor.

And, well, that’s what I’m looking for! This particular juice accentuates the “Nature’s Three Berries” mixture (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries). When you use the strong dark juice, it adds to the berry flavor in this smoothie. This strong flavor definitely covers up the Swiss Chard flavor (beet flavor) that’s typically hard to hide.

I’ve made this one for the last couple days and it’s not getting old. I highly recommend it for you’ll find it easy to get extra greens this way!

Recipe:

  • 2 cups mixed berries (frozen)
  • 2 oranges (seedless)
  • 4 medjool dates
  • ½ berry flavored probiotic
  • 1 cup pomegranate juice
  • 1 large bowl Swiss Chard

Remove the seeds from the dates and peal the oranges and add all the fruit to the blender.

Give it a spin for 15 seconds or so. It will come out like ice-cream!

Be careful pressing in all the greens. It will take some muscle, but you don’t want to splash the mixture onto your clothes – this stuff is natural dye! Once the greens are packed in, blend until smooth. You’ll want to let this one run for a while in order to really break down the seeds. Because the seeds are frozen, you can run this one for a while. Feel the side of the blender. If you feel any heat, you’ve definitely run it long enough!

The recipe I list here makes 2 quarts. When they taste this good, I find a way to work the second quart into my day. Note that the oranges are ‘filler’ so if you don’t want as much, cut back on the volume of orange you add in!

There are so many great tasting green smoothies that I’ll bet I’ll be posting new recipes for years! I can’t wait for cherry season; it’s just around the corner. I’m sure it would do well as the berry mixture in this recipe!

Consume life, be life, give life – light is life!

Blueberry Orange Apple Spinach Smoothie

Well, I have to say that it’s been a while! Sometimes, there’s so much to do in life that finding the time to reflect upon what you’ve done in a blog post doesn’t always work out! If this spring is bringing energy your way that is anything like what I’m seeing, you might also be finding that it’s more work than play. But I’m ok with that. Life is full of cycles, this one just happens to be more work related!

But work doesn’t take me away from my ritualistic green smoothie! Virtually every day I take time to mix up and enjoy some concoction that enlightens my entire morning. It’s just too easy! And they make me feel good.  J

This particular smoothie lifted my spirit for a number of days in a row and I don’t know how anyone can say that that’s a bad thing. It felt good. Yet I know, some people like to vary what they consume every day. That’s good. But when I find something I like, I love it when I can stick with it for a few days to really stretch out the positive effects. This time, I was lucky enough to have all the ingredients in a ready state to go for this smoothie. When I pause to really thing about this, I believe that the stability and longevitiy of the fruit in this smoothie is what makes this one so easy – everything is ready to go!

I can’t quite pinpoint what it is exactly that I love about this one, but it’s chilly (from the frozen blueberries), saucy (from the apples) and full bodied (from the oranges). There is a smoothness from the spinach that is offset by the grittiness of the seeds (from the blueberries) that makes it more than a drink and more than satisfying on the tummy.

Recipe:

  • 1 Apple
  • 2 Oranges
  • 3-5 Medjool dates (remove the seeds)
  • 1-2 cups frozen blueberries (the more the better)
  • ½ cup Mango flavor Good Belly Probiotic
  • 1 cup Coconut Milk (with Vanilla)
  • ½ lb baby Spinach

The beautiful thing about these smoothies is that you just toss everything in the blender and let it fly (on high) for 60 seconds or so.

The volume and weight from the liquid will easily pull down the light fluffy spinach so it won’t take much to get all this to liquidate.

Oranges are for volume – and they are a little cooling so make sure it’s a warmer day if you add more. In the end, you’ve got breakfast and lunch – or smoothie to share – which is what I do!

This fruit combination does really well with Swiss Chard, so if you’ve hit your limit with Spinach, you can add in chard and enjoy the combination for another few days!

Stay light-spirited – for the moment is what you make of it!

Kale Blueberry Orange Pear Smoothie

You’ll love it, or hate it. I’ll bet that you won’t find a middle ground with this one. It’s bold, heavy and filling – which can make this a meal rather than just a snack. But then, if you can’t tolerate it, the impact will simply be emotional and you’ll quickly look for something else that’s a lot more forgiving.

I love it. This is one of my favorite ways to eat kale. The lemon adds the sour, the blueberries add a bold flavor, the oranges add volume, the pear adds texture and the coconut milk adds a mild toner to bring it all together. A Meyer’s lemon is even better than a regular lemon, for it’s not as acidy and it’s a bit sweet.

But, this combination might not be for you. The mixture can separate and setup quickly making it a lumpy surprise – if you’re not on top of it. Some people just don’t like kale. And, well, this smoothie has a big bunch that might push you over the top!

Let’s get on with it. I’m finding myself buying more kale lately just so I can make this smoothie. The joy it brings to me adds to my excitement for sharing.

Recipe:

  • 1 Pear
  • 2 Oranges
  • The juice of ½ Meyer’s lemon
  • 1-2 cups frozen blueberries
  • 1 bunch kale
  • ½ cup flavored liquid probiotic
  • 1 cup coconut milk

Notice that it doesn’t have dates! Kale tastes better if it’s not mixed in a really sweet smoothie. Add all the fruit and give it a spin. Make sure you peal the oranges and remove seeds. With the pear, core it to remove the seeds.

After adding the greens, work them in slowly and then blend on high for about a minute. The frozen blueberries make it easy to run the mixture extra long, for it won’t heat up that quickly. When you’re done, you’ll have 7 cups of a brown sludge like liquid.

It tastes a lot better than it looks. Blueberries never really break down all the way so you’ll have specs of blue. You’ll also find bits of green (from the kale) and white (from the pear) that will keep you full for hours.

I can’t wait for the kale to start growing again in the garden. What I planted last spring is now about a foot tall waiting for the weather to warm just a little. Once it does, I’ll see the early spring leaves that should really make this smoothie pop!

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day.

Orange Grape Spinach Smoothie

Today’s a great day to post another beautiful green smoothie recipe. This one is light, yet not all that cooling. I find that typically, when I consume oranges, I find that they have a cooling effect on my body. Yet, this recipe finds a balance somehow and you don’t instantly cool down. It’s easy and all I’m willing to bet that the ingredients are all available today!

The one thing that’s different about this smoothie is that the red grapes have seeds in them. I normally don’t like seeds – of any type – in my smoothies, but this time it’s different. Somehow, I believe the feeling of this smoothie would not be the same without the seeds. Maybe that’s where the warmth came from to tame the cooling oranges! In any case, the seeds actually add to the smoothie rather than take away from it. So, if you’re feeling adventurous, keep the seeds. Give it a try.

Recipe:

  • 3 seedless oranges pealed and split
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 3 pitted dates
  • 1 ½ cup red grapes with seeds
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • ¼ cup probiotic (I used coconut water)
  • ½ pound young baby Spinach

You’ve got to look hard in the picture to see the grapes for they’re kind of hidden in the blender. In this second picture they show up better.

Spin for a few seconds to liquefy. Stuff in the spinach.

And then spin on high for nearly 60 seconds. You want to make sure you grind the seeds down to nothing – or next to nothing. If you find the smoothie warming up, don’t be afraid to add a couple ice cubes and grind a little longer.

In the end, you’ll get about 7 cups!

The jar is my late breakfast, the cup is for Lori and what’s left in the blender is my clean up treat!

Share the treat with yourself – peal a few oranges!

Good day.