Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Archive for the ‘Smoothies’ Category

Post about smoothies.

My Greens Gone Blue — Finally!

Posted by terrepruitt on August 16, 2014

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesOne of the reasons I got a super blender was to consume more vegetables. In addition to more vegetables I also wanted to consume veggies and fruits that I normally wouldn’t eat but that I have come to believe would be a health benefit to me. One food I have come to believe is a healthy benefit to a diet is blueberries. I don’t like blueberries. If you know me and my love for the color blue you might be a bit surprised that I don’t love one of the only blue foods there is. But I don’t. The flavor is not that great to me, but it is really the texture I don’t like. They are mushy and mealy. Not a texture I enjoy. But they are considered a “super food” so something I wouldn’t mind adding to my diet.  But since I won’t just eat them raw and I don’t like baked fruit in desserts, I was hoping to use my Blendtec to get some blueberry goodness into my diet.

According to the website, World’s Healthiest Foods:

“In terms of U.S. fruit consumption, blueberries rank only second to strawberries in popularity of berries. Blueberries are not only popular, but also repeatedly ranked in the U.S. diet as having one of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, spices and seasonings. Antioxidants are essential to optimizing health by helping to combat the free radicals that can damage cellular structures as well as DNA. We recommend enjoying raw blueberries — rather than relying upon blueberries incorporated into baked desserts — because, like other fruits, raw blueberries provide you with the best flavor and the greatest nutritional benefits.”

I think most fruits that are added to baked goods lose a lot of their nutritional value, if not from the cooking themselves, but it might be considered to be “canceled out” due to the added sugar and fat.  But, as I mentioned I am not a fan of cooked fruit in desserts.

With all of the nutritional benefits in mind I finally bought some blueberries with the sole intent of putting them in a smoothie. I thought I had better go with a mild, yummy green so I would be stacking the deck to help the blueberries. I used spinach.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesI actually made a very yummy smoothie.

I used:

_______________________________

Blueberry Green Smoothie

1 cup water
1/2 container of blueberries
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 (1/2) frozen banana
10 ice moons
1 scoop protein powder

_______________________________

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes

 

 

 

It was very good. My husband is pretty amazing when it comes to tasting the ingredients. He tasted the blueberries right off. I knew they were in there and I didn’t seem to taste them.  He pointed out that you can see them.  Little tiny flecks of blueberries were in the smoothie.  And yes, I know the were in there, I made it.  Silly man!

So now that I have tried blueberries in a smoothie and liked them I can try using other greens.  Now that I know they don’t ruin it.  Tee hee.

What about you?  Do you put blueberries in your green smoothies?  What “recipe” might you have to share?

 

 

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Broken Blendtec – Smoothie With Arugula

Posted by terrepruitt on September 21, 2013

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaThe other day I was using my Blendtec with the Wildside jar.  I had it on Ice Cream – Frozen Yogurt.  I usually press that button and let it blend a bit then stop it.  I don’t let it finish the entire cycle.  Then I pulse it for a little.  Then add more ingredients and let it blend.  Well, I pressed the button to make it stop then pressed pulse and it sounded odd.  I didn’t understand the sound, so I pulsed it a few more times.  As I think about it I realize what I was hearing.  I was hearing the motor whir, but not the items in the jar being blended.  When I opened the jar and started to scrape the sides, I was really confused as to why my spoon was not coming in contact with the blade.  Then I was REALLY confused when I saw a piece of metal near the side of the jar.  It took me a few seconds to realize that I was not feeling the blade at the bottom because the metal I was seeing was the blade.  The blade assembly broke.  I was so sad.  I was sad and I was concerned because I had not sent in the registration.  Ya know those cards just never seem to get in the mail.  I told my husband and he said it didn’t matter they could look it up.  I was not as confident.  I thought it was going to be a hassle.  Later on I realized that it really wasn’t the whole blender that was broken.  It was just the jar.  In my surprise and concern I was thinking “broken blender” not broken jar as was the actual case.  And I have another jar.  That is one reason why I got the blender it was a good deal because it came with two jars.  One regular and the Wildside.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaBecause I was putting it off thinking it would be a hassle I didn’t call Blendtec until a day later.  I got my headset on and got all prepared for a long wait and the hassle that it was going to be.  It was not.  The customer service person did ask that I return the jar because she thought the WAY it broke sounded unusual, but they shipped the new jar out to me the next day with a label for returning the broken one.  Cool and easy.  I was so relieved.

I haven’t actually been making green smoothies, but I do use the blender.  In our organic produce delivery this week we received lettuce.  We have lettuce . . . A LOT of lettuce so I thought to use the spinach I have in a smoothie.  Then I thought, “Oh, I should put some arugula in it.”  WOW!  What a treat.  It makes it fun.  I don’t know why but when I sip the smoothie I think, “How fun!”  So I give arugula smoothies two thumbs up.

_________________________________

Arugula and Spinach Smoothie

8 ounces of water
1 small apple
1/4 (a little more than) a small avocado
1 cup baby spinach
1 cup arugula
3/4 of a frozen banana
7 ice moons

Blend according to your blenders instructions.

_____________________________________

I list the ingredients in the order that my blender instructs items to be put in the jar.

It was really good.  I really like arugula as you might know.

Ahhhh.  So . . . . I am very happy with the wonderful customer service I received from Blendtec and I am very happy with the arugula in the green smoothie.

So have you tried it?  Have you put arugula in a green smoothie?

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies | Tagged: , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

More Smoothie Lessons

Posted by terrepruitt on January 3, 2013

I have been getting a lot of use out of my blender.  I use it almost every day.  There are additional lessons I have learned in the time I have been using it.  The blender shows how many times I have used it, according to the blender I have used it 168 times. I have tested it and the cleaning of the jar that I do after I use it does not get added to the count.  There might be a few extra counts because I’ve blended somethings twice, so the second blend might be added to that, but I haven’t done that often.  Some of the lessons I have learned are really additions to some of the things I have already shared.

In my first post about what I had learned I stated that kale in a smoothie is really bitter.  I thought about this every time I made a smoothie with kale.  It was so bitter.  I didn’t add more than two fruits because I didn’t want that much fruit in a smoothie, but I did put at least two, plus avocado and cucumber, but it still didn’t cut down on the bitter.  I kept thinking about how bitter it was.  I couldn’t understand why it was SO much less bitter when cooked, because when I cook it I don’t cook it THAT much.  I usually just kind of wilt it.  Well, after thinking and thinking all I could come up with was salt.  When I cook kale I cook it with salt and I believe that salt helps with any bitter flavor.  So I tried it in a kale smoothie and voila!  That did it.  By salt, I mean not even a whole shake, just like a little tip of the salt shaker.  I bet that I could count the grains that go into the smoothie.  I am not trying to add flavor but just take a little bitter out.  It works great.  I was so excited to figure this out because I like the idea of being able to “eat” a lot of kale.  I really couldn’t EAT as much kale as I can drink and kale is a great green to add to my diet.

Since I mentioned frozen banana and ice in my first post about lessons I do have some follow up information.  While a cold smoothie is better than a room temperature one sometimes adding FROZEN banana AND ice makes it way too cold.  Drinking freezing cold smoothies in the winter is not that great.  Using a banana that has not been frozen and ice is fine, but using both is sometimes too cold.

Beet greens make a smoothie red.  I used the leafy green part AND the entire stem and the smoothie came out red.  It was rather pretty.  I think it was actually perfect for the Christmas season.  That is when I learned this fact.

While I have not tried freezing a smoothie and then letting it defrost a bit and drinking it, I have let one sit a bit before drinking it, and I have let one sit in the fridge overnight and they do not taste as fresh.  I am sure that is a no brainer, but since I am sharing I thought I would mention it.  The smoothies that have sat out for a bit or in the fridge overnight were still good and totally drinkable, it was just not as fresh tasting!

So there you have it.  A few more things I have learned.  You?  Have you anything to add?

Posted in Smoothies | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Super Lessons Of A Super Blender

Posted by terrepruitt on October 11, 2012

A few things I have learned having a super blender and making smoothies. I really wish I would have had the presence of mind during some of these lessons to have taken pictures because I know that being able to see for yourself would have really helped bring the lesson home for you.

I learned kale is really bitter.

I’ve had kale cooked as part of my meal.  I have had kale in a salad, but for some reason kale in a smoothie is really bitter.  It could be that I used A LOT.

I learned a banana should be peeled before freezing.

One night I decided I wanted to try the frozen banana that everyone was talking about was so wonderful in a smoothie.  So I put a banana in the freezer.  The next day it was frozen solid.  It can’t be peeled.  I left it to defrost on my counter and it couldn’t be peeled after that either.  It kind of just poured from the peel into a container.  I refroze it and used it the next day.

I learned not to use more water and/or soap than the instructions instruct you to use when cleaning the blender.

I decided that I wanted the blender to get the lid clean too, so I put a lot of water in it and a lot of soup.  I am not sure that the lid was even secured because it blew off the blender and the water went straight up in the air then landed all over my counter.  And it was magic water because it seemed as if it doubled in volume.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaI learned cucumbers do really mellow out the bitter flavors.

I have not used as much kale as that one time, but I have used it and every time I do I think the smoothie is going to be too bitter, but when there is a cucumber involved it is not.  I really like cucumbers in my smoothies.

I learned protein powder also helps mellow out the flavors.

Protein powder DOES make the smoothie chalky and I have not had the desire to drink a completely chalky smoothie so I have not added a whole scoop.  But even a half makes it chalky.  I always taste the smoothie before I add the powder and yup, it makes it chalky, but I think maybe chalky is a flavor because the bitterness of some vegetables are mellowed with the powder.

I have confirmed (because I heard it before I started making them) that smoothies taste better cold.

I was drinking them without ice, then I remembered I had read that they are better cold and so I added ice.  Yes they are.  Although the other day it was chilly here and the thought of ice in the smoothie made me dread wanting to drink one.  So I didn’t have a smoothie in the morning after my Nia class.  But then as the day wore on it warmed up a bit so I had one later.

So, do you have anything you have learned making smoothies that you can share with me so I don’t have to learn the hard way?  Do you have any things to share about a super blender?

Posted in Misc, Smoothies | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Fruits and Greens and Rainbow Things Smooth As Can Be

Posted by terrepruitt on October 6, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaOk, I really am not going to turn this blog into a Green Smoothie blog, but . . . I have been making them almost every day and I really would like to share so we will see where it goes.  And, as I have told you in the past, food posts are VERY popular.  So my third ever green smoothie was Pear, Cucumber, Baby Bok Choy, and Rainbow Chard.  It was pretty good.  I don’t usually eat pears.  There is a salad that I make in which I include pears, but beyond that, I don’t eat them.  Cucumber I have almost every night in my salad.  If you have read my blog for a bit you know I am in LOVE with baby bok choy.  And this is my introduction to chard.  I think that cucumber is a great equalizer.  It really helps mellow out flavors.  The pear worked well to sweeten the smoothie.  I am thinking that chard is not that bitter because this was not a bitter smoothie.  It was nice.  It was smooth.  This one goes on my list of likes.  Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaBut right now I am just experimenting and putting whatever I have in the smoothies.  I am not doing it to lose weight, or detox, or cleanse, or any other reason but to get more fruits and vegetables in my diet.  So for now anything goes.  And let me say, that everything does not really go!

Third Green Smoothie
1 C water
1 pear
2 inches of large cucumber
1 SMALL bunch of baby bok choy
2 leaves rainbow chard

 

 

 

 

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

 

 

 

With my fourth smoothie I was using watermelon and I thought I had read that if you use a really watery fruit such as watermelon you can skip the water.  Since I was using such a large amount of watermelon I didn’t use any water.  Worked out fine.  It was not a pretty green so I used a dark blue glass, which made it even less pretty.  But it was tasty.  I really like watermelon in the smoothie.

 

 

 

 

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Fourth Green Smoothie
1 1/2 C Watermelon
1/2 apple
1 small bunch baby bok choy
2 leaves rainbow chard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My fifth smoothie I wanted to make very green so I used a HUGE amount of kale.  Four kale leaves equates to a lot of kale.  This was the most bitter of the smoothies that I had at this point.  That was a lot of kale.  You may notice in the recipe I ended up with a lot of fruit.  That is because I ended up adding the banana after I tasted it because it was really bitter.  Since my point of doing this is to get more fruits and veggies and not anything else (as I’ve stated above), I don’t feel I have to suffer through my smoothies.  This is not a torture, it is

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

supposed to be an enjoyable way to get some veggies and provide my body with additional nutrition, not make me suffer.  So I added the banana.  I will just use less kale next time.  Because I really do want to be drinking more of a veggie smoothie than a fruit smoothie.

 

 

Fifth Green Smoothie
1.5 C Watermelon
1 apple
3 pieces baby bok choy
4 kale leaves
1 banana

It is really funny because cooking kale in foods and putting it in salad does not taste as bitter to me.  But for some reason, whirred up in a smoothie . . . whew.  Could be I don’t usually have THAT much kale.  That was a lot of kale.

I actually have made more smoothies than I am putting in this post.  So . . . I have learned a lot of things so far.  That will probably be my next post.  “Things I have learned on my smoothie journey so far . . . ”  🙂

Maybe there is a recipe here you might enjoy.  Let me know if you try one.  Or share what you are putting in your blender.

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Going Green

Posted by terrepruitt on September 27, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaYup, I am trying to do the Green Smoothie thing.  Awhile back, I posted about not having time to eat breakfast before my Nia Classes.  It is not that I don’t get up in time, it is that I don’t like to eat right when I get up.  Then I think some time needs to pass after eating before I teach an exercise class.  You might remember my post about how I was eating a banana on the way to class and I was ending up with heartburn.  So I either have to get up an hour earlier or eat right when I get up.  And/or maybe a green smoothie will help.  Although I need to work on getting more protein in them then.  Also, I am not sure about having that much liquid before class.  I have found that the smoothies make about two glasses.  Maybe I can drink one before class and save the other for after class.  Oh, and, yes, I do do a lot of my thinking out loud on my blog . . . . 🙂  My last post was about my birthday present.  So far I have used it five times.  I’ve made three different green smoothies.

My second green smoothie consisted of:

1 Cup water
1 apple chopped
1/2 of a large cucumber (cut up)
2 leaves of rainbow chard (cut up)
4 ice moons

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaI started out with only one half of the apple.  But after blending it, I decided that I wanted more flavor so I added another half.  It seems that cucumbers are REALLY good at masking flavor, while they do have a distinct flavor it is very mild so it can somewhat cancel out some harsher flavors . . . . maybe . . . I will have to see.  That seems to be what I have found so far . . . on my SECOND green smoothie.

I read on one website (I can’t remember which one I have looked at so many) the idea that green smoothies taste better cold.  I think that is a valid opinion.  I tend to agree.

I am laughing as I look at my pictures though because the amounts and ingredients listed yield two glasses and have you ever seen people make smoothies?  And have you ever seen the pictures?  The blender container is full to the top.  Now I would say that two leaves of rainbow chard and a half of a cucumber is one serving of vegetables if not more, but AT LEAST one.  And a whole apple is one serving of fruit.  I think that is pretty good.  I am not sure I can DRINK more.  Plus I do still love to EAT my fruits and veggies.  I am just curious as to who actually drinks a full blender container full.  But we will see, maybe I will be that person. But for now I will drink my additional serving (or so) of veggies and my additional serving of fruit in my 24 ounces of green smoothie.

Would adding more veggies and less water yield as much?  Is that how on shows, cookbooks, and websites the blender container is so full?  Less water more vegetables?  What do you think?  Do you drink green smoothies?

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Birthday Puts Me In The Green

Posted by terrepruitt on September 25, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaThis year my husband was really on the ball.  In July he started asking me what I wanted for my birthday.  Since going out of town isn’t something we have in our budget, I thought about it for a bit, then decided that is what I wanted to do for my birthday.  I wanted to go to a bed a breakfast place on the coast that we both love.  So I got my heart set on a weekend at THAT particular bed and breakfast. When I looked it up on the internet I was happy to see it is still there, however, it is no longer a bed and breakfast establishment.  The house is for rent as a vacation rental, but it is no longer a place to rent a room for the weekend.  I was sad.  I was so bummed that one of our places is gone.  Plus I was bummed because I had to come up with something else for my birthday.  He asked me every month.  I thought I had found something, but then circumstances changed and so that didn’t work out.  Then I remembered there was a time when I entertained the thought of one of those super blenders.  But really, to me that is an outrageous purchase unless you are really going to use it.  Having it sit in my cupboard would be a waste.  In my opinion there are a lot of things that are outrageous if they just sit and not get used, but when I use things often I feel I get my money’s worth.  I would like to include more vegetables in my diet.  I like to serve a green salad every night and a vegetable, so I was thinking another way to add fruits and vegetables would be to make green smoothies.  I don’t drink fruit smoothies so I really wanted to TRY a green one before I had my hubby make the investment.  I hear that green smoothies are an acquired taste and I don’t just want to blend fruit.  I want more veggies than fruit.  But then I started looking at some recipes online of other things I could make in a “super blender”.  I think I have posted about how my hummus is not smooth.  I made a joke about being the inventor of “whole bean” hummus — which is basically just chickpeas.  So I thought I could use the power of a super blender to make hummus.  So I decided to ask for a blender for my birthday.

When I received my blender I didn’t have any greens, but I was going to get some delivered the very next day.  In my box I received a new-to-me veggie.  The box contained Rainbow Chard and so I thought I could put that in my first smoothie.  I think of it as a fruit smoothie with some green since it really didn’t have that much green.  I am breaking myself in slowly — as has been suggested.

Another suggestion that I have seen on various website is that if it is an “ugly” green smoothie put it in a mug and if it is a “pretty” green smoothie use a pretty glass.  I think that is just the type of silly suggestion I can follow.  It makes an odd kind of sense.

Well so far I have used my blender four times.  I am sure you are going to hear about each time in future posts.  Well, perhaps not all four times . . . but maybe, we will see.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaSo my first fruit/”green” smoothie was:

1 Cup water
1/2 of apple chopped
1 banana (sliced)
1 leaf of rainbow chard (cut up)

My blender has a smoothie button so I just used that and it worked great.  There were NO chunks at all.  What I really love and was somewhat surprised to see is, it comes out frothy!

I think my first “green” smoothie was pretty good.  Although, I think that one leaf of green and 1.5 “fruits” is a larger fruit ratio than I want to stick with.  I am going to work my way up to more greens and less fruit.  My idea is to like and drink the more-veggie-than-fruit smoothies, but also enjoy the more-fruit-than-veggie smoothies when I feel the desire.

I am thinking I might have a smoothie before Nia, but I am not sure.  I usually try not to drink so much liquid before class.  🙂

Have you heard of these blenders that blend SMOOTH smoothies?

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »