Thinking Green

If I were to describe the month of January, I'd say it's the color green.  Green is the color of renewal, new beginnings, fresh starts.  I find myself decorating and even wearing green more once January begins; even though spring is still far off, it seems like it begins, at least internally, at the beginning of the new year.  

So of course I noticed the cover of a magazine lately, featuring Dr. Oz and his green juice and smoothies recipes.  I bought it, remembered that I have a never-used juicer (A green one, no lie!), and tried the juice.  To my surprise--and relief--it wasn't bad.  In fact, the third day, it was mostly good.  My husband and oldest son have tried it and said they'd even drink it again.  So we've been making them these mornings, varying the ingredients depending what I have in the fridge.  There's something satisfying about starting the day knowing you've done something so very good for you!

Here's the basic recipe, if you're like me and crave a little green:

Juice the following:

1/2 cucumber

bunch parsley

several handfuls fresh spinach leaves

3 stalks celery

2 apples, any variety

1 teaspoon freshly-peeled ginger root

I also add a couple handfuls baby carrots, although this makes it much less green in color!

(pre-carrots)



When finished juicing, stir and then squeeze half a lemon and half a lime over.

Drink with a straw.  If you have chickens or a garden, you can give all the leftover pulp and peelings to them (it).  Or throw it in a soup?  Either way, everybody's happy!

It tastes like a foamy ginger ale with very overt hints of vegetables, which may not tempt you, but  compared to the heaviness of typical American breakfast fare, it's fresh and light and doesn't drag your gut down.  So it's a good tradeoff!

Perfect for kick-starting those "get healthier" New Year's resolutions!

And there's always the fall-back plan for those less brave:

Make a regular smoothie (milk, strawberries, bananas, orange juice, etc.) and throw in a handful or two of fresh spinach leaves and some flaxseed.  They're never taste it!

Happy Drinking :)

Comments

[Judy]

We've been on a health kick starting the new year off, too. We already have a juicer and my husband got a health master so we've been doing smoothies and eating asparagus soup and carrot soup. Can't say I like the avocado raspberry smoothie, though. Found it online and blaagh!

[Sunshine]

We make a green smoothie - plain yogurt, spinach leaves, a banana, and a handful of almonds (can leave that out) - we have also added other fruit as it is in season and YUMMY. It is SO good - really all you taste is the banana - I will have to try the green juice. Thanks for the idea! Sunshine

[toni]

We don't do green smoothies, but only because we eat soooo many greens as whole foods on a very regular basis. We do juice apple, carrot, beat and parsley together though.

[Bev]

I can definitely do the smoothies. impressive way to get veggies in kids though!

[Sarah]

Kelly, there's a recipe for smoothies in the same article. They'll be chunkier, so you might want to remove peels first. Look at Brooke's comment; she has a good recipe for a smoothie.

[Kelly]

A friend and I were just talking about green smoothies last night so I can't wait to share this recipe with her- sounds much better than some others I have seen!
I only have a blender, though and am wondering if you can do it that way, too, or if it has to be "juiced"?

[Brooke]

We've been juicing/smoothie'ing too!

We juice the spinach, carrots, an apple, a pear and grapes if we have any then throw all that in the blender with some orange juice and what we have on hand like frozen strawberries, frozen mango, frozen peaches, frozen pineapple and banana.

It is amazing how great it starts my day! I've never been a big "breakfast food" much less a fruit eater BUT I'm loving my morning drink!

Keep experimenting! We've found some really great combinations and also some real stinkers! ;)