Green Smoothies

I thought it would be gradual, this moving toward raw food, but we just dove in a few days before January 1 and everything is so delicious we've just kept swimming. So to speak. A whole new world of food.

Here are some of the smoothies we've had since New Year's day. (still logging) Green smoothies are so complete there's not much more that we need to eat. (At least 80-90% of our food is smoothies right now.) Maybe it's because this is the time of year we have the best greens (the greens are thicker and harsher in the summer here) and there are plenty of berries all year.

We began with a Donna Gates B.E.D recipe:

1 granny smith apple, washed, cored but with skin
4-5 stalks celery, ends & tips removed, use leaves
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
½ of a large Haas avocado
½ bunch cilantro or parsley (depending on your preference) stems removed
3-4 cups filtered water

Chop vegetables into 1 inch pieces for easy blending. (not necessary with vitamix or other power blender) Fill blender with 3-4 cups filtered water (more or less water depending on how thick you desire your shake). Add all ingredients into blender. Puree till smooth or desired consistency.

* You can also add the juice from one half of a lemon or lime and even ¼ tsp sea salt and/or cayenne pepper.

Sometimes apples in a smoothie cause an odd texture. This can be removed by adding ice cubes, but we don't bother. It's just apples!

The rest of the recipes in this list loosely follow Raw Family's "Green Smoothie Revolution" by Victoria Boutenko.

1). mango, micro greens, small amounts of basil and lamb's quarters, ginger, water

2). 2 red peppers, avocado, jalepeno pepper, celery, ground fennel seeds, water
squeeze of lemon and dash of habanero pepper sauce at table.

3). 1 banana, 1 pear, big bunch of kale, about 2 cups of water

4.) again, today, but with a small variation: 1 pear, 1apple, 1banana, Swiss chard, kale, water

5.) 1 1/2 pears, parsley, basil, fennel fronds, ginger, swiss chard, water

6). one bunch spinach, 1 apple, 1pear, 1banana, water

7). B.D.'s spicy salad mix (farmer's market) (B.D is the farmer's name)
box of blackberries, a few smal kale leaves, some sunflower sprouts, water, tiny bit of agave nectar, to taste
This one is intense! (pictured at the beginning of this post before blending)

8). blueberry, apple, banana, beet greens, micro greens, water

9). strawberries, avocado, banana, micro greens, lacinato kale (dinasaur kale), water

10). mango, micro greens, 2 small bananas, romaine lettuce (I've lost six pounds already, in all the right places and I'm feeling terrific).

11). Apple, pear. banana, lamb's quarters, bok choy, romaine lettuce

12). large handful of parsley, apple, 3 dates, lemon juice, ginger, water

13). watercress, small horseradish leaf, half jalapeno, 4 smallish tomatoes, sprouted greens, 2 stalks celery, lemon juice, half avocado, water

14). collard greens, mango, banana, water

15). blueberries, lacinato kale, water cress, banana, celery, lemon juice, water

This was a strange one. Deep, rich chocolate colour. Every flavour seemed equal, so while there was lots of taste, no one taste stood out, which made it seem a little bland. The lemon juice helped.

16). Young beet greens, two small pears, banana, cucumber

17). 1 cucumber, 1 avocado, 2 red bell peppers, 1 jalapeno pepper, small green onion, a few basil leaves, beet greens, spicy greens

18).blueberries, banana, lacinato kale, water

19). Mango, banana, zucchini squash seed centers (we used the outside to peel paper-thin "noodles" to make a "pasta"/pesto dish), beet greens, Russian kale flowers, water

20).Blackberries, apple, bok choi, one huge broccoli leaf

21). Raspberries, banana, lacinato kale

22). Blueberries, banana, cucumber, lacitato kale

23). red peppers, cucumber, lacinato kale, 1/2 apple, 1/2 banana, pinch Thai pepper (this one really needed an avocado but it wasn't ripe enough.

24). mango, pear, lacinato kale, water

25). avocado, pear, spinach, water

26). lettuce, pea sprouts, pear, avocado, water

27). blueberry, spinach, banana, water

28). strawberries, banana, lacinato kale, water

29). strawberries, banana, spinach (twice in a row) We have lots of strawberries.

30). avocado, tomatoes, celery, cucumber, parsley, basil, microgreens, jalepeno pepper, garlic, water. garnished with sunflower sprouts, green onion, microgreens

31). strawberries, tiny bit of ginger, collard greens, arugula, water. Mexican lime juice squeezed in at the table.

32). papaya, blueberries, bok choy, swiss chard, water

33). blueberries, banana, lacinato kale, water

34). strawberries, banana, big bunch of water cress, a little parsley, romaine lettuce

35).I made a really nasty smoothie yesterday. I was half awake and decided to put some aloe vera leaf into the smoothie. I pared off the spikes on the edge, then got distracted by something before I peeled the skin off. When I came back to the job I just chopped the piece in three and tossed it into the smoothie. The skin is extremely bitter! Lesson learned.

36). 2 pears, 1 avocado, lacinato kale, water, a touch of agave nectar, a little lime juice. (delicious!)

37). mango, banana, spinach, water

38).Blueberries, banana, cucumber, a few strawberries, lacinato kale.

39). Pear, blueberries, Swiss chard, water

40). Mango, Swiss chard, water

41). apple, blueberry, lamb's quarters, swiss chard, water

42). Mango, part avocado, a little banana, Swiss chard, water

43). James' green smoothie: spinach, cilantro, 2 apples, slice ginger, 1/2 banana, 2 Tbsp coconut cream, water (delicious!) 

44). our home grown bananas (tiny strawberry tasting Brazillian bananas), lamb's quarters, microgreens, kale, blueberries, water

An occasional flax cracker, or some raw granola (below), a salad or piece of fruit completes the picture. Life has become so easy and delicious!
Drink smoothies by themselves.
Drink lots of water between.
We enjoy one meal a day that is not a smoothie. That's often a salad, but it can be whatever we want. The cashew cheese was a real hit for a festive occasion! A shared artichoke, and a couple of times (because we are raw food beginners and we felt like it) a poached egg with dragon crackers.

PS: Now, at the end of the month, we have made the transition to eating in a whole new way. We are healthier, lighter and have a new understanding of food. James' sinus symptoms have disappeared, leading us to believe that healing is taking place.We'll be continuing to drink green smoothies.
One step at a time............

45). mango, home sprouted mixed sprouts, juice of 2 small Mexican limes, mango, water

46). spinach, red pepper, celery, jalapeno pepper, mixed sprouts, cilantro, water

47). lamb's quarters, micro greens, mixed sprouts, avocado, pears, Mexican lime juice, peeled aloe vera, water.

I spent a day at a green smoothie retreat hosted by the Raw Family: Victoria, Sergei and Valya Boutenko. The seven day retreat was housed a beautiful old mansion in Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica. It was interesting and informative to be part of this group for a day.

Raw Family
Body Ecology
Green Smoothie Girl

48). This is one of James' creations: blueberries, pear, kale, tatsoy, lettuce, chard, water. Delicious!

49). organic ripe mango, seed removed,  dandelion, small piece ginger, banana, about 4 cups filtered water

50). In the past week we have added borage leaves, chickweed, home grown sprouts and cherimoya to our smoothies. The real art to this is in balancing the tart and the sweet and the greens. As one drinks more of these, one wants less of the sweet fruit and more of the fabulous green flavour.