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08-06-2015 07:23 PM
A few years ago, I shared this recipe here because I knew there were some other Vitamix enthusiasts here. It's perfect for the summer months!! lol, in fact, a green smoothie is perfect any time of the year. Enjoy!!! -- bebe
________________________________
MY VITAMIX GREEN SMOOTHIE
________________________________
____
Below is the basic green smoothie recipe that I make every morning. This makes 30-40oz. of green smoothie. As soon as I make it I pour it into three glass 16oz. empty Snapple bottles, refrigerate the extra bottles, and then drink green smoothie throughout the day. The recipe is a twist on Dr. Oz's green smoothie. I use more veggies and less fruit. I also add a bit of oil because some of the nutrients are lipid/fat soluble. Your intestine can't absorb these particular nutrients unless they are bound to a fat (examples: the lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health that are found in green leafy veggies).
Except for the pineapple, all the produce is organic. This is important because, since you are emulsifying everything, your body would be absorbing all of the pesticides in the produce.
____
MY BASIC GREEN SMOOTHIE
* 1 tablespoon flaxseed (grind first) - great lignan source. Or 1 tablespoon phosphatidylcholine granules - great choline source. Or a tablespoon of another healthy oil that you like, such as coconut, avocado, or mild EVOO.
* 6 kale leaves (green antioxidants / lutein / zeaxanthin), or substitutions:
-- green swiss chard (using some red rainbow chard will give you your red antioxidants but it changes the green flavor slightly. it's an acquired taste)
-- spinach which is sweeter (less bitter)
* 1-2 napa cabbage leaves (cruciferous vegetable - amazing health benefits from recent research / only use the napa cabbage because it doesn't have the cabbage taste that other types of cabbage have)
* 3 long celery stalks
* 1/4 to 1/3 cucumber (excellent silicon source for good skin)
* 1 to 1.5 medium carrots (orange antioxidants, Vitamin A)
* 1-2 small red apples (red antioxidants, quercetin)
* 1 inch diameter cut of pineapple, cut off outside prickly skin (yellow antioxidants, bromelain)
* 1/3 medium lemon with peel (yellow antioxidants / detoxifier / limonene)
* ginger to taste - great anti-inflammatory (for me, 1 to 1.5 inches of ginger but I like a powerful ginger kick, start gradually. You can always slice in more ginger a bit at a time)
* 1/2 cup of water
* 6-12 ice cubes to water the smoothie down a bit, depending on taste
____
Directions
1) Put the 1 tablespoon of flaxseeds into a dry Vitamix container and grind them up. I was amazed but the Vitamix actually does grind them up into a flour. If you add them after you have put the other ingredients in the Vitamix may not grind them all up.
2) Add 1/2 cup water. Then add the cucumber and celery. Then add in everything except for the leafy greens (kale and napa cabbage). Turn the Vitamix on and emulsify the produce until it's slightly chunky smooth (probably 30-45 seconds).
3) Add the kale and napa cabbage and blend for another 30 seconds. -- For some reason the leafy greens emulsify better if they're added after you have roughly blended the other produce.
4) Add the amount of ice you need to create the liquid consistency that you prefer and blend for another 20-30 seconds. The smoothie should be completely emulsified by now. If it's not then just blend until it's the consistency that you like.
5) Now's the time to taste your green smoothie and modify it your liking. If it's too bitter you can add more apple or pineapple for added sweetness, or more celery or cucumber to reduce the bitterness. If it's too bland then you may want to slowly add a bit more ginger.
Enjoy!!
-- bebe
____
Vitamix vs. Ninja Storm
Before I bought my Vitamix Pro 750, I bought QVC's Ninja Storm Food & Drink Maker (K39392) TSV for $29.95. I was pretty sure that the Ninja wouldn't be effective, but before I took the Vitamix plunge it was worth the $40 mistake to be sure.
The Ninja actually did a good job of emulsifying everying except what I really needed emulsified... leafy green veggies. Green smoothies are an important part of my daily diet. No matter how long I left the leafy greens in the Ninja it just cut them up into very small bits. I couldn't even drink the green smoothie because I had a gagging reflex when I kept trying to drink it.
I was also really terrified by the very sharp blades that the Ninja has. A slip of the fingers would mean a trip to the emergency room and that was a chance I was not going to take.
The top of the line Vitamix Pro 750 is amazing. It's much better than the previous generation of Vitamix. It emulsifies the leafy greens even more quickly and it's significantly quieter. I searched around for the best price and eventually I was able to buy one (with the extra container to grind dry foods) for $629 including S&H (and tax free). I viewed this as a purchase for the long term and I think it's a great investment. Preparation and clean up is done in no time!
____
08-06-2015 07:49 PM
@bebe777 wrote:A few years ago, I shared this recipe here because I knew there were some other Vitamix enthusiasts here. It's perfect for the summer months!! lol, in fact, a green smoothie is perfect any time of the year. Enjoy!!! -- bebe
________________________________
MY VITAMIX GREEN SMOOTHIE
________________________________
____
Below is the basic green smoothie recipe that I make every morning. This makes 30-40oz. of green smoothie. As soon as I make it I pour it into three glass 16oz. empty Snapple bottles, refrigerate the extra bottles, and then drink green smoothie throughout the day. The recipe is a twist on Dr. Oz's green smoothie. I use more veggies and less fruit. I also add a bit of oil because some of the nutrients are lipid/fat soluble. Your intestine can't absorb these particular nutrients unless they are bound to a fat (examples: the lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health that are found in green leafy veggies).
Except for the pineapple, all the produce is organic. This is important because, since you are emulsifying everything, your body would be absorbing all of the pesticides in the produce.
____
MY BASIC GREEN SMOOTHIE
* 1 tablespoon flaxseed (grind first) - great lignan source. Or 1 tablespoon phosphatidylcholine granules - great choline source. Or a tablespoon of another healthy oil that you like, such as coconut, avocado, or mild EVOO.
* 6 kale leaves (green antioxidants / lutein / zeaxanthin), or substitutions:
-- green swiss chard (using some red rainbow chard will give you your red antioxidants but it changes the green flavor slightly. it's an acquired taste)
-- spinach which is sweeter (less bitter)
* 1-2 napa cabbage leaves (cruciferous vegetable - amazing health benefits from recent research / only use the napa cabbage because it doesn't have the cabbage taste that other types of cabbage have)
* 3 long celery stalks
* 1/4 to 1/3 cucumber (excellent silicon source for good skin)
* 1 to 1.5 medium carrots (orange antioxidants, Vitamin A)
* 1-2 small red apples (red antioxidants, quercetin)
* 1 inch diameter cut of pineapple, cut off outside prickly skin (yellow antioxidants, bromelain)
* 1/3 medium lemon with peel (yellow antioxidants / detoxifier / limonene)
* ginger to taste - great anti-inflammatory (for me, 1 to 1.5 inches of ginger but I like a powerful ginger kick, start gradually. You can always slice in more ginger a bit at a time)
* 1/2 cup of water
* 6-12 ice cubes to water the smoothie down a bit, depending on taste
____
Directions
1) Put the 1 tablespoon of flaxseeds into a dry Vitamix container and grind them up. I was amazed but the Vitamix actually does grind them up into a flour. If you add them after you have put the other ingredients in the Vitamix may not grind them all up.
2) Add 1/2 cup water. Then add the cucumber and celery. Then add in everything except for the leafy greens (kale and napa cabbage). Turn the Vitamix on and emulsify the produce until it's slightly chunky smooth (probably 30-45 seconds).
3) Add the kale and napa cabbage and blend for another 30 seconds. -- For some reason the leafy greens emulsify better if they're added after you have roughly blended the other produce.
4) Add the amount of ice you need to create the liquid consistency that you prefer and blend for another 20-30 seconds. The smoothie should be completely emulsified by now. If it's not then just blend until it's the consistency that you like.
5) Now's the time to taste your green smoothie and modify it your liking. If it's too bitter you can add more apple or pineapple for added sweetness, or more celery or cucumber to reduce the bitterness. If it's too bland then you may want to slowly add a bit more ginger.
Enjoy!!
-- bebe
____
Vitamix vs. Ninja Storm
Before I bought my Vitamix Pro 750, I bought QVC's Ninja Storm Food & Drink Maker (K39392) TSV for $29.95. I was pretty sure that the Ninja wouldn't be effective, but before I took the Vitamix plunge it was worth the $40 mistake to be sure.
The Ninja actually did a good job of emulsifying everying except what I really needed emulsified... leafy green veggies. Green smoothies are an important part of my daily diet. No matter how long I left the leafy greens in the Ninja it just cut them up into very small bits. I couldn't even drink the green smoothie because I had a gagging reflex when I kept trying to drink it.
I was also really terrified by the very sharp blades that the Ninja has. A slip of the fingers would mean a trip to the emergency room and that was a chance I was not going to take.
The top of the line Vitamix Pro 750 is amazing. It's much better than the previous generation of Vitamix. It emulsifies the leafy greens even more quickly and it's significantly quieter. I searched around for the best price and eventually I was able to buy one (with the extra container to grind dry foods) for $629 including S&H (and tax free). I viewed this as a purchase for the long term and I think it's a great investment. Preparation and clean up is done in no time!
____
This sounds great Bebe and very close to the ones I make. I love ginger in my smoothies and it is great for the GI system which I do have some problems with. I also love to put jalapenos in my smoothies or another type of pepper. Not a lot, just a quarter or half of one but I love what it adds to the smoothie.
One thing I do with my smoothies is that I freeze everything that I can. I freeze all the fruits and a lot of the veggies. I like that better because you don't have to add as much ice which waters it down a bit. I make so many variations but I also love spinach. I use a ton of greens like kale, mustard greens, swiss chard, red chard, rainbow chard, dandelion greens, turnip greens, kohlrabi greens, dino kale, etc... I am really into all types of greens in smoothies but I love them sauteed with a little butter and olive oil too. I probably eat greens at least once a day but usually twice a day. I put them in soups too and have for years. My mother used them so much growing up as well and that is probably why I love them so much because I grew up with them. We get some really excellent ones from our local CSA. As a matter of fact this week we got two huges boxes of them and there were 9 different varieties of them. Right this minute i am making 2 soups, one is white bean soup with kale and chorizo and pepper pot soup with kale. I am not very hungry so I will have a little bowl of the pepper pot soup tonight but I freeze the rest in one person servings so I can grab one whenever I want. Very tasty and very healthy.
08-06-2015 08:04 PM
Thanks for sharing this BeBe, I have my Vitamix and have to start taking care of myself more,
08-07-2015 11:31 PM
Thanks bebe! I am going to give this a try but sub chia seeds for the flax and leave out the cabbage. I love trying new smoothie recipes and I LOVE my vitamix! It is probably one of my favorite pricey purchases ever. I got mine from Costco and then bought my parents one a year later and they love it too.
08-08-2015 11:10 AM
Thanks for posting this bebe! I especially appreciate the comparison of the blenders. I've got a Vitamix on my personal wish list. I"m going to need to buy a new mattress soon, so it may get put off a little longer. My parents got one about a year ago and it has totally transformed their life. I make green drinks using Garden of LIfe green products, but not every day because it is pricy.
Random - do you ever add a beet? Beets, spinach, carrot, and ginger - heavy ginger for me - is one of my favorite juice combos.
08-08-2015 11:42 AM
@Irshgrl31201 wrote:
This sounds great Bebe and very close to the ones I make. I love ginger in my smoothies and it is great for the GI system which I do have some problems with. I also love to put jalapenos in my smoothies or another type of pepper. Not a lot, just a quarter or half of one but I love what it adds to the smoothie.
One thing I do with my smoothies is that I freeze everything that I can. I freeze all the fruits and a lot of the veggies. I like that better because you don't have to add as much ice which waters it down a bit. I make so many variations but I also love spinach. I use a ton of greens like kale, mustard greens, swiss chard, red chard, rainbow chard, dandelion greens, turnip greens, kohlrabi greens, dino kale, etc... I am really into all types of greens in smoothies but I love them sauteed with a little butter and olive oil too. I probably eat greens at least once a day but usually twice a day. I put them in soups too and have for years. My mother used them so much growing up as well and that is probably why I love them so much because I grew up with them. We get some really excellent ones from our local CSA. As a matter of fact this week we got two huges boxes of them and there were 9 different varieties of them. Right this minute i am making 2 soups, one is white bean soup with kale and chorizo and pepper pot soup with kale. I am not very hungry so I will have a little bowl of the pepper pot soup tonight but I freeze the rest in one person servings so I can grab one whenever I want. Very tasty and very healthy.
@Irshgrl31201 , I'm also very heavy handed with ginger. I love the fact that it's also great for the GI system.
I try not to freeze the fruits/veggies because I know that Vitamin C is a very fragile vitamin and it just gets wiped out during the freezing process. I worry that this might happen to a few other vitamins as well. And since I don't know which vitamins might be vulnerable, I just tend to avoid freezing them. That said, out of season, I will use frozen organic strawberries and blueberries in my fruit smoothies.
Like you, I really enjoy a veggie smoothie that has more of the consistency of a soup. You really do have to add a little bit of water to encourage the blending process. When Jan does his 8 veggie Vitamix recipe, if you notice, you'll see that there's a healthy helping of grapes in the recipe. Grapes are just bursting with water and that's what allows him to make the smoothie in 30 seconds (but it adds a lot of sugar to the smoothie).
After a bit of experimenting, I realized that all of the fruits/veggies except for the leafy greens will blend together fairly easily (especially with the Vitamix Pro 750... QVC who aren't you carrying this one???) with just 1/2 cup of water for 40oz of green smoothie. Once I've gotten a rough blending of them (maybe 30 seconds), then I add in my green leafy veggies and they blend together much more easily in this soup.
You mentioned:
I use a ton of greens like kale, mustard greens, swiss chard, red chard, rainbow chard, dandelion greens, turnip greens, kohlrabi greens, dino kale, etc
That's really impressive. I go back and forth between kale and swiss chard because they belong to different vegetable families. I had read that it's a good idea to mix up the basic recipe so that you don't overdo one veggie too much and, this way, you keep "exercising" your digestive system.
I'll also throw in carrot greens, beet greens, and dandelion greens. I should really add mustard greens to the mix but they have a spicy taste that I don't like as much.
I use dark green "frizzy" standard kale for the most part. It's easy to find and it has the best refrigerator life span. K just turned down some dino (lacto...) kale at the friday farmer's market because I just find it a bit too bitter. -- Spinach is the sweetest green and it's a good one to start out with, but bitter is better for your digestive system. I just can't get to the dino kale level.
At the farmer's market, a few of the people will give me greens that customers have asked to have chopped off from their veggie purchases. These are essentially throw away greens. Sometimes I get them gratis and sometimes they try to sell them (though there isn't much of a market for them).
Generally the greens on the tops of veggies are edible and good for you. ALWAYS CHECK FIRST BECAUSE SOME GREENS -- like rhubarb -- ARE POISONOUS.
lol, all the soups you are making are mouth watering!!!
-- bebe
08-08-2015 11:53 AM
beaches, using a Vitamix is such good, healthy to take care of yourself. I would encourage you to start by just taking itty bitty steps... say one green smoothie every week to 10 days. Just wash the fruit/veggies and don't worry about doing it exactly. Just starting is what's important. If you like the results then, without any encouragement, you'll just start doing it more often. -- And there's no need to start out with a heavy handed green smoothie... cause it may just be too green for you. Start out with more fruit and less veggies (for my green smoothie recipe). Alternatively, just add a few spinach leaves to your fruit smoothie... or even just one and see how it tastes.
HappyDaze, I was thinking of you when I posted this recipe.
yizbuff, you wrote:
Random - do you ever add a beet? Beets, spinach, carrot, and ginger - heavy ginger for me - is one of my favorite juice combos.
I've got a carrot (Vitamin A) and ginger in my smoothie. I use kale rather than spinach because from an ORAC antioxidant perspective, Kale is King. It almost always rates highest on nutritional charts.
I wish I could get myself to eat beets because they do anexcellent job of cleansing your liver. The best I can do is an equal parts beet/carrot/orange (or pineapple) smoothie. It's heavy on the sugar factor, but it does get the beets in there.
-- bebe
08-08-2015 12:39 PM
bebe,
your smoothie recipe seems like a great way to train one's taste buds to crave less sugar, by gradually adding less apple and pineapple juice.
Do you ever add raw garlic to your recipe, for its numerous health benefits?
I don't have fond memories ,of raw garlic, ever since my HS physics teacher would eat cloves of raw garlic during class.
08-08-2015 01:34 PM
I love my vita mix! This chart helps me remember to rotate my greens and also helps when I'm stuck in a smoothie rut.
08-08-2015 04:17 PM
@bebe777 wrote:
beaches, using a Vitamix is such good, healthy to take care of yourself. I would encourage you to start by just taking itty bitty steps... say one green smoothie every week to 10 days. Just wash the fruit/veggies and don't worry about doing it exactly. Just starting is what's important. If you like the results then, without any encouragement, you'll just start doing it more often. -- And there's no need to start out with a heavy handed green smoothie... cause it may just be too green for you. Start out with more fruit and less veggies (for my green smoothie recipe). Alternatively, just add a few spinach leaves to your fruit smoothie... or even just one and see how it tastes.
HappyDaze, I was thinking of you when I posted this recipe.
yizbuff, you wrote:
Random - do you ever add a beet? Beets, spinach, carrot, and ginger - heavy ginger for me - is one of my favorite juice combos.
I've got a carrot (Vitamin A) and ginger in my smoothie. I use kale rather than spinach because from an ORAC antioxidant perspective, Kale is King. It almost always rates highest on nutritional charts.
I wish I could get myself to eat beets because they do anexcellent job of cleansing your liver. The best I can do is an equal parts beet/carrot/orange (or pineapple) smoothie. It's heavy on the sugar factor, but it does get the beets in there.
-- bebe
Beet/carrot/orange or pineapple sounds like a FANTASTIC combo!! It is definitely sugar heavy though. I don't consume much juice in general, so when I have it I don't worry about it too much. Kale is definitely nutriionally superior to spinach. Juicing is the only way I can experience kale without cooking it into nothing because I have no ability to digest it. You are making me want that sweet sweet Vitamix!
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