GREEN SMOOTHIE CONTEST! The DYNOBITE!

Woohoo!  Second green smoothie submission! The prize for the June contest is a eco-freindly moothie mug fom ECOJARZ, four stainless steel straws, and a straw cleaner.  See the gear below!  Submit a contest recipe by July 4th, and be in the running too.

Smoothie Jug PLUS top

Stainless steel sippies, and a long bristly straw cleaner is part of prize pack as well.

Now that we have talked prize, let's talk green smoothie!

Christelle loves dinosaurs, coining the term Snuggleraptor.  A Snuggleraptor is a human, which would be embracing a rather cuddly but carnivorous at heart and potentially aggressive dinosaur/human.  It makes sense to me.  So I thought the best smoothie name for a Christelle smoothie just might have to be.... the DYNOBITE!

  I love the inclusion of green tea in this recipe.  Research has not been done on massive scales, but it is undeniable that green tea contains contains helpful polyphenols,  powerful antioxidants.  In the studies out there, it has been shown the to lower cholesterol, help with weight loss, and potentionally play a role in staving off cancer, heart disease, and dementia.

I am learning a LOT as I swim the seas of smoothies.  There were two ingredients I had to look up and make decisions on.  I discovered this past January that I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and also Celiac disease, and dietary sensitivity to dairy.  Mwahhh, mwah.  It was really hard to break up with cheese!  Love you forever, FETA! With that, I had to omit the wheat germ and gluten free oats.  Here's why I did.

Oats are a hotly debated item for the Celiac-sters.  The jist is that oats on there own may not be terribly bad for the Celiac tum, but they are typically grown next to wheat and barley, ground and processed on the same equipment, causing cross contamination. And for some celiacs, that would mean intolerance.  Recommendations for newly diagnosed Celiacs is to stay away from oats or whose Celiac disease is not controlled (ongoing symptoms or blood work is positive), even those raised in a completely safe, no cross contamination setting, with dedicated processing equipment.  Since I have not had repeat testing for Celiac disease, I omitted the oats. I look forward to maybe pulling these guys back in in the future.

Now, for all the no-issue-with-gluten folks, enjoy this recipe as listed!

Look at these gorgeous ingredients!

Starting upper left and moving clockwise, pea shoots (an interesting but ultimately not effective substitution), banana, berries, almonds and dates.  On the plate, green tea and dinosaur kale!

Here is the recipe!

The DYNOBITE!

• 12 ounces of hot water
• 4 large pieces of kale
• 1 banana, peeled and frozen
• 1 cup berries, frozen
• ¼ cup gluten free rolled oats 
• small handful of almonds (about 2 Tablespoons)
• 1 cup ice
• 1 Tbsp of wheatgrass powder
• 2 dates, pitted (optional)..I use a medjool date?
• Brew green tea in 12 ounces of hot water. Brew ahead of time and let sit in the fridge to cool. Add ingredients to magical blender until smooth. If you don't have a high-powered blender, I'd put in the green tea and kale first so it's thoroughly blended. Then add the rest.

Look at it...Green and Regal.

My first major learning experience was the use of the pea shoots, I was looking to substitute for the wheat germ.  Wheat germ is a powder made from the embryonic part of the wheat sprout.  Pea shoots are sprouts, why not? Woah daddio, let me tell you it laid down one heck of a bitter chlorophyll vibe.  It was a bit of a stretch, but worth the try!  Second whoops was using tamari almonds.  These guys are flavored with gluten free soy sauce.  On their own...delish! In the Dyno, they left a bit of an after taste.  Learned lessons include: watch out for sprout after taste, and use raw almonds!  I am proud of myself for trying new things, you never know when something will be amazing.

I picked some strawberries from the yard and mixed them with some fresh raspberries from the local store for my berry concoction.  I did freeze them and the banana for a few hours.

When blended as written, on my third try and with the right components (sans oats and wheat germ) it was super dark green, a little tart and tasty.  Way to rock it Christelle, you Snuggleraptor you!  This was a beautiful smoothie for my belly.