Another Green Smoothie

That wonderful time of year is coming. The time of year when I can wake up, go to my garden, grab some ingredients to throw in my blender.  Fresh is best. And it doesn't get much fresher! Yum. Not much is ready in the garden, it has been a S L O W spring.  But...I have enough spinach to start the harvest for my smoothies! Of course I am not organic certified, but I don't use pesticides in my garden.

1/2 banana

handful of FRESH spinach

handful of frozen pineapple

handful of frozen mango

1 T wheat germ

1T ground flax seed

1 T raw honey

1/2 c silken tofu

1 c almond milk

 

Blend and enjoy the creamy greenie!

Raspberry Mango

The 40 day challenge was over on April 30. I didn't lose a single pound. Oh well, I stayed motivated and I did lose an inch around my rib cage. Still going to stay motivated and try and hit the gym at least 3 times a week. AND start a new challenge. Exercise everyday! Must do something exercise related everyday. Pretty self explanatory! So day 1 was yesterday and I hit the gym for my cardio day and abs. Today I will get back to the gym (soon as hubs gets home) and it is leg workout day. 

SOTD: Raspberry Mango

1/2 banana

1/2 c raspberries

1/2 c mango

1/2 avocado

1 T wheat germ

1T ground flax seed

2 T hemp seed

1 T goji berries

1t barley grass powder

Should give me the energy for the gym. One thing I love about adding an avocado to a smoothie, is how creamy it makes a smoothie! Plus, I have my little smoothie girl sucking it down beside me, makes for a great start to a day!

Leftover Smoothie

With a family of 5, I rarely have enough leftovers to make a complete meal. Last night we had haystacks for supper, that meant a bit of cucumber, a bit of avocado and a bit of everything else left over. The cucumber and avocado made it into the smoothie this morning. I also had a bit of mango left over in the freezer. 
My other recent find for my smoothie is a salad mixture that has baby spinach, baby chard and baby kale in it. It is also organic, a plus! 

 

1/2 banana

maybe 1/4 cup mango

1/2 cup raspberries

1/2 c kefir

1/2 c Greek honey yogurt

large handful of the salad blend

1/4 c chopped cucumber

1/4 of an avocado

almond milk to blend

My husband would probably say this one tastes too green. Plus he doesn't like avocado, if he knew it was in there, he would dislike the smoothie.  I like that the avocado adds a creaminess to the smoothie that you don't get without it.  For some reason I didn't add any grains today. Not sure why. Anyway, to my taste buds, this is a good one. It should give me the boost for my workout today!

Blueberry Citrus and Tropical Carrot Ginger Smoothies

A brief update on my double smoothie diet. So far so good! I have had 2 smoothies everyday, except last Saturday, for a week now! Doing fairly well with not getting hungry too! I have to admit I snack some, but I am really trying to keep them healthy ie. Kale Chips.  I haven't made it to the gym yet, but I will excuse that with the fact that it is still Christmas vacation from school, therefore I have 3 kids at home PLUS hubs is still working OT.  Hopefully gym time will start soon!

Today's smoothies: Blueberry Citrus and Tropical Carrot Ginger

Blueberry Citrus

1 Banana

1 Fresh grapefruit juice

1 Fresh Orange juice

1/4 -1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1 T honey

1 T wheat germ

2 T hemp seed

1 T ground flax seed

1/2 T barley grass powder

3 T uncooked oatmeal

water to make 4 cups

The grapefruit lends a little bit of a bitter taste to this smoothie, the honey corrects that some. Add more honey for a sweeter smoothie.

For lunch:

Tropical Carrot Ginger

1 large raw carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks

1/4 C frozen pineapple

1/2 C frozen mango

1 ginger ice cube

1 T honey

2 stalks of fresh kale (take the leaves off the stalk and discard the stalk)

1 c water

This made a bit over 2 cups of smoothie.

In addition, I have been curious about the calorie count to some of my smoothies.  I found a site that lets you add food and track your calorie count for the day. Of course, I  don't know the accuracy of this site, but it gives an estimate. I am finding that most of my smoothies are about 500 calories. Not sure if that is good or bad. However, I think the ingredients in my smoothies are all HEALTHY calories. Things like honey and the greek yogurt tend to up the calorie count too, but I still don't feel bad about them. I use raw honey in my smoothies, there is a lot of health benefits that come with that. Same goes for the greek yogurt. PLUS I am useing these smoothies as a meal replacement.   In comparison: an everything bagel with 2 T cream cheese, coffee with cream and sugar is about 450 calories. There, I justified what I do, right?

Back to Blended

I can have bananas in the house again, the fruit flies are gone. The weather changed (6 inches of snow yesterday!) and the flies are dead.  I have started to blend again.  I missed my daily smoothie. In replacement I found myself back at my old breakfast, tea and some type of bread / pastry/ doughnut etc.  I am behind on a couple smoothies so I have 3 to post today.
The first smoothie I made was basic:

Green Blueberry Smoothie

1 banana

handful of mixed greens

1 T wheat germ

1 T ground flax seed

2 T hemp seed

1 cup frozen blueberries 

almond milk to make 4 cups

The second smoothie is:

 Carrot Mango Ginger Smoothie

1 banana

handful of greens

4 cubes of frozen pureed carrot (I made this for baby food and threw it in on a whim, now I will need to make more!)

1 cup frozen mango

1/2 cup Honey Green yogurt

3 shakes of powdered ginger

3 shakes cinnamon

1 cup water

Almond milk to make 4 cups

This was a really yummy smoothie. I will definitely be making this again! Probably add some of my grains next time.

Today's Smoothie is:

Green Apple Crisp Smoothie

1 banana

handful of greens

3/4 cup applesauce

2 T honey

1 T wheat germ

1 T ground flax seed

2 T hemp seed

2 T raw quick oatmeal 

random shake of powdered ginger, cinnamon, all spice, cloves (heavier on the ginger and cinnamon)

1 cup water

almond milk to make 4 cups

If you noticed I am adding water, I am trying to cut back on calories (and cost) of the almond milk. I keep adding some almond milk to get the calcium.

Cucumber Mint Mango

 I have a good resource of materials of some of the best quality food right in my back yard. My garden is producing, and I want to find a way to use some of the garden produce in smoothies.  I am sure I will have some that fail, but today's smoothie was a success. Right now I have many Long English Cucumbers hanging on the vine. I wanted to make a smoothie using these, partially to find another way to use them! Very refreshing smoothie! Modifications for next time would be to add more mango.

Cucumber Mint Mango

1 banana

1/2 long English cucumber, peeled

2 sprigs of mint, just the leaves

1/2 cup frozen mango chunks

1/2 cup honey Greek yogurt

 1 T ground flax seed

1T wheat germ

2T raw quick oatmeal

Soy milk- enough to make 4 cups of smoothie

Mixing it up!

I started this blog calling it "All the Life". It was originally going to be a way to remember all the events that go on in my life. My journal essentially.  Ok, so that didn't really happen past March! It is now August! So I am mixing it up. I renamed the blog. It has a new purpose. Hopefully I can keep it up this time!Now the purpose of my blog will be to record events from my life, and to document the smoothies I make.
In January 2012 I decided to change my breakfast habit. I dislike a "normal" breakfast. Oatmeal, yuck! Cold cereal, ewww. Eggs and pancakes, I would rather have for supper.  If I was to eat breakfast it would be tea and toast or a pastry. Not the healthiest.  So I decided that my breakfasts would change to be a smoothie. I have kept it up and have a smoothie most mornings.   Some of the creations are interesting. I have been putting a post on my Facebook account, but not the recipe. Here I will try and post the recipe.
The new name of my blog, Blended, should nicely bring everything together. "Blending" life events and my smoothie blog together.
As I sit and type this morning, I have a smoothie by my side.
Smoothie of the Day: SOTD

Mango Melon Pina Colada

1 banana

1/2 cup frozen pineapple

3/4 cup coconut milk (from a can)

1/4 cup frozen mango

1/4 cup fresh honeydew melon cut in chunks

1 T ground flax seed

1T wheat germ

2 T uncooked quick oats

Soy milk

Blend and add enough soy milk to be the consistency you want.

I made too much today. I would need to cut down on the amounts next time.  I try and make about 4 cups each day, 2 servings of 2 cups each, my husband gets the other one. 

Enjoy!