I know what you’re thinking, believe me, I do. If someone told me ten years ago that I’d someday be enjoying smoothies made from kale, I’d have told them they were a couple bulbs short of a box, and they needed professional help.
But here it is, in all its considerable non-glory:
Hollie’s Favorite Kale Smoothie
3 C cold water
1/2 bunch of clean, washed, fresh kale
1 ripe banana
3 small-medium apples, peeled (take out the seeds*, but leave the cores if you want)
a dash of lemon juice
Put the water into the Vita-Mix. Add the apples, and then pile on as much kale as you possibly can. I get about half a whole bunch in. Put the Vita-Mix on “high”, and use the tamper to push down the kale into the blades. It shouldn’t take much doing. Whip it up for several seconds until you see that all the greens are blended. This takes about half a minute or so for me.
Voila! Tasty green beverage, that is so weird your friends and family will probably wonder what came over you, so be ready for the jokes: “Who are you and what did you do with my wife?” Greg, at first, was shocked I’d drink such a thing, but now even he likes them. Our three-year-old will drink them too, she calls them a “Green Smoothie”, which is what a lot of people call them. Our six-year-old, well, he thinks that peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches should be a staple served at every meal.
After I started drinking these early this year, I started to feel amazing. I had more energy, my digestion improved (which is a polite way of saying “more pleasantly efficient”, if you catch my drift), and through drinking them regularly I developed more of a taste for green vegetables. I now eat salads a lot more often, and with much greature pleasure. Green smoothies become a habit after awhile, and when I fell out of the habit after I started taking a couple classes at school, I really noticed the difference.
*That whole apple seed cyanide issue. Basically, if you’re going to juice or blend apples, you generally want to remove the seeds. Apple seeds (or “pips”) contain chemicals that will degrade into cyanide when metabolized. Our bodies can handle cyanide in small amounts, which is why a few swallowed pips won’t hurt you. Also, the pips tend to stay intact in most bodies, so you’ll generally just poop them out. However, if you’re eating a green smoothie every day like I try to, that means I’m getting a lot of seeds, and the blending (or juicing, if you do that too, like I do) means they’re being crused open, and while it’s still unlikely I’d get sick, it’s much better to be safe than sorry. So ditch your apple seeds. If one or two get in here or there, no worries. But in general try not to eat them, and especially try not to blend or juice them.
The joys of juice for breakfast
I’ve been having this (or a slight variation) most mornings since I got my juicer, and I’ve noticed a few things changing. My taste for vegetables has increased dramatically. You know how in restaurants your meal often has a side of veggies, sauteed with some herbs? Well, I never used to that, and now I frequently do. I’m embarrassed to admit it, and it sounds so ridiculous, but I grew up eating so much sugar that the idea of a side of sauteed zucchini was like handing me a plate of dirt. Drinking fresh green vegetable juice almost every day has really changed that.
I’ve also noticed that if I drink juice first thing, I tend to crave less sugary foods later. An hour after my juice, I’ll be heading back into the kitchen with thoughts of fruit or some brown rice or a salad on my mind. If I eat some Apple Jacks and rice milk for breakfast, an hour later I’m back in the kitchen foraging for a cookie, or some more sugary cereal, or toast with honey.
They key here is not to label JUICE GOOD and SUGAR BAD. The key, at least for my body, is that one thing tends to lead to another. Some days, I just want the Apple Jacks, and that’s okay, and I eat them, and I know that I’ll crave sugar later because of that. But I like knowing that the juice, along with being incredibly good for my body, will give me a head start on making good choices that day. Instead of laying down strict rules for myself, I choose in the moment where I want to aim. This is why I reject diets and eating programs. I think knowing yourself is more important then following rules. As silly as it might sound, juicing fresh vegetables has taught me a lot about myself.