GREEN SMOOTHIE CONTEST! The Honeybear!

This recipe is submitted from a serious Green Smoothiast (One who is enthusiastic about green smoothies?).  Angie started a daily green smoothie challenge in May posted by a great resource and website, The Unconventional Kitchen, and never looked back!

Want to try that too?  The folks at Simple Green Smoothies are doing a 30 day challenge for the month of July and help out by providing a shopping list for the week and recipes!

Here is her daily smoothie template.

I ALSO love how she uses verbs as measurements!

Hi Beth,

Here's my morning smoothie... some ingredients are omitted some days, others are added, but here's the basic formula! Going on day 62 of my smoothie challenge. 

2 handfuls of organic baby spinach
2 large leaves of organic kale or red kale
a shake of cinnamon
a squeeze of honey
2-3 glugs of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2-3 glugs of unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 banana
a handful of frozen berries
a dash of chia seeds

Pulse greens through milks in blender until smooth. THEN add the fruit and seeds. Adding the fruit in a second batch makes it much easier to blend everything. Enjoy!

Cinnamon was very shy and declined from being photographed,  also I used baby kale because the big leafy kale was looking a bit sad at the local grocery.

AND enjoy I did, I used a whole really small banana, and probably two handfuls of berries.  I like the way the honey opposes the tart taste of the berries and the touch of cinnamon adds a sweet subtle woody flavor.

Super refreshing to sip on the back patio!

Very Berry-galactic! 

The Honeybear is yet another green smoothie option for working in veg and fruit.  Way to go, Angie! 

 Last day for submissions is today!

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.

GREEN SMOOTHIE CONTEST! The Gersty!

Katie, a mom, scholar, and crafter, submitted a veggie packed smoothie, sweetened by an apple, and balanced by the bright acidity of lemon!

I am not YET a part of the Vitamix club, or the BlendTec club, both super high powered blenders.  But my Kitchenaid is no slouch!  Needless to say I did olley oop a couple ingredients, using a rather advance piece of equipment.  I shredded the carrot and apple and added them to the blender after the greens and water was blended.  I adding them with the celery, letting them kick it a bit, and then finally adding the banana.  I also added some ice to make it good and chilly wills.  As you can see, it has a gorgeous green color, which always makes me feel extra healthy.

This smoothie has GREAT TASTE.  It's a little sweet and the lemon adds a lovely tang.  Not to mention packed with a LOT of veg.  

Here is the recipe!

• 2 cup of fresh organic spinach, packed

• 1 whole apple (I don’t peel or core it! A lot of nutrients are in the skin and seeds. We buy organic so we don’t have to worry about pesticides.)
• 1 organic carrot, leave skin on
• 1 organic stalk of celery
• 1 ripe organic banana, peeled
• 2 tbs. of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water
Blend for one minute, working your way up to the highest setting and enjoy!

(I blended greens and water, followed by shredded carrots and apple, celery, banana and added a handful of ice!)

The texture on mine was a little unique tasting, just a touch chewy.  I think the megapower of the Vitamix blends the apple and veg out a bit smoother.  In light of this news,  I also am implementing a pretty advanced financial strategy for obtaining one.  I am wondering if I shouldn't have shredded the apples and carrots?  Or if really...the Kitchenaid is just not powerful enough?  Should I blend longer? I am gonna play with prep a bit and give this one another try in the Kitchenaid. 

Thank you, Katie! I appreciate the deliciousness, and will only put quarters in my Vitamix jar.

I always want to enhance lives here on the GO Training blog, and I know your life will be better if you see some awesome crafts!  Katie is not just a smoothie queen, she is also the proprietor of a darling Etsy shop called The Good Life.  She is a swiss army knife crafter, one package with a lot of abilities.  You'll find screen printed onsies, scrabble tile jewelry, knitted wonders, and other fine goods.  I always love stopping by Katie's shop.

TheGoodLifebyKatie