Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘green smoothies’

Different Ways To Recycle

Posted by terrepruitt on October 23, 2017

I like it when I have an idea for a blog post and I don’t have to think about what to write. I wish that were always the case. I like to post on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but I just don’t always have that many posts in me. I have been struggling lately with posting on Mondays when I have been at my dad’s all weekend. Going through stuff and getting rid of items is proving more difficult than one would think. So many people and entities say to recycle and donate, but that is harder said than done. While trying to think of something to post about I got to wondering what I posted about on this day (or close to it) in the years past. So . . . speaking of recycling. (See how I did that?)

In 2009 I posted about the free songs iTunes used to give away. Do they still do that? Back then they used to give out cards at Starbucks and they had a code to a free song. I was introduced to a lot of artists and songs that way that I still listen to. I also posted about Collage Video which is a website you can get exercise DVDs from. I had liked the way they described the videos with a break down of minutes of each cycles.

In 2010, October 23rd fell on a Saturday and I was posting on Saturdays back then. I posted about Nutrition Facts of Bell Peppers. I LOVE bell peppers.

In 2011, the 23rd fell on a Sunday, on October 22nd, a Saturday, I posted about being Ready To Receive. In my post I talked about when we first experience or hear about something sometimes we put up our barriers and we don’t want to accept it, so we really have to be ready and “open” to receive in order to actually receive and learn. I also mentioned Natural Time and how we are ready and open in our own natural time. While I wasn’t talking exactly about what was going on at the time, it was somewhat related to it. October 2011 is the year my mother-in-law was in a fatal automobile accident. She died October 23, 2011, six years ago today.

October 2012 I was making smoothies. In September of that year I had gotten my super blender for my birthday and I was making and drinking smoothies. I found that during that period I did believe the science behind the need to rotate the vegetables according to the family, but I never quite got it right. I wrote about it in my The Greens Go Round And Round post, but for me it was easier said than done.

October 23, 2013 fell on a Wednesday and I wasn’t posting on Wednesday back then, I was posting on Tuesdays and Thursday. On Tuesday the 22nd I posted about a yoga pose. I posted Icky Name, Great Pose which is about the locust pose (Salabhasana) where you lift your legs and chest up off the ground creating a back bend. On Wednesday I posted about how Messing Up Is Fun. It is about Nia and what a student felt about it.

I was actually thinking about my post from October 23, 2014 just the other day! But I didn’t know that. I was thinking about the “tea” that I had heard about that one blogger drinks when she is sick. She calls it Sick People Tea. I wrote a little bit about it and the oregano that is part of the recipe.

October 23, 2015 was a Friday. I wasn’t posting on Fridays back then. But we had our cats and on the 22nd I posted about them. The post includes some of the best pictures I have ever taken of them. They are pretty darn beautiful. On the 24th I posted about the difference between what are labeled Leisure Classes with the City of San Jose and what are Group Ex classes. Although the City of San Jose no longer has the “Group Ex” program we have SJCITY Fit, which is similar. You might want to check it out as their annual membership is a GREAT deal!

In 2016 I was posting on my current schedule of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The 23rd of October fell on a Sunday so the closest post to the 23rd is the 24th and I posted about Sunburns And Ants.

I do hope you will have a moment to click over and check out one or two of the posts from Octobers past.   Which one  has you wanting to click over and read it?  Perhaps you can click over and like it and leave a comment.

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

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 »

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 »

The Greens Go Round And Round

Posted by terrepruitt on October 23, 2012

I love the grocery store that is near the facility in San Jose where I teach Nia on Tuesdays.  Right after Nia class I can easily stop by because it is literally on the way home.  It seems so new because it is fresh and clean!  They have a very large produce department.  Today I purchased some dandelions greens.  Yeah, I bought a weed.  You might know that I have mentioned that different plants fall into different botanical families and how we might think of it as a vegetable but it is really a fruit according to the world of botany.  I have shared how I cannot keep track of that.  Well, I am going to have to start at least when it comes to greens.  Apparently when you eat a lot of greens over an extended period of time you risk eat high level of toxin.  It is important to rotate the family of greens.

The science behind it is that plants, what we call greens have a survival mechanism where they contain small levels of toxins.  These toxins are contained in the plant in order to keep the entire crop from being depleted.  The toxins build up in the body and cause reactions.  So that keeps them from being eating in large quantities.  The toxins are specific to a family of greens.  Here are some families and the vegetables/greens that belong to them:

Plant Family:  Brassicaceae/Cruciferae (cruciferous vegetables) – kale, collards, arugula, cabbage, bok choy, radish greens, mustard greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, turnip root greens, rutabaga, daikon

Plant Family:  Amaranthaceae/ Chenopodiacea Family (beet family) – beet greens, beet root, spinach, chard, beets

Plant Family:  Asteraceae – Romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, leaf lettuce, escarole

Plant Family:  Apiaceae (carrot family) – carrots, parsley, cilantro, anise, celery, chervil, cumin, dill, fennel, parsnip,

Plant Family:  Poaceae – wheatgrass

I’ve been mixing a bitter green, such as kale, with a mild green, such as baby bok choy or spinach.  Now according to the families it’s ok to mix the kale with the baby bok choy, but if I want to rotate my greens by doing it between the different families then I shouldn’t mix kale and spinach.  For me I think rotating between different families and keeping them separate will be easier than try to track two families then switch to another, but we will see.  I love spinach and baby bok choy so I think it would be better for me to keep them separate so that I can have one or the other more often.

I have yet to try lettuce in a smoothie.  As I mentioned, I just bought my dandelion greens and I have not used them because I have a large amount of spinach I want to try to make a dent in first.  I did read they are bitter so, maybe this will be an opportunity for me to try lettuce in a smoothie.  I feel that mixing a bitter green with a mild green cuts the bitter so that is what I have been doing.  The information I have seen said that spinach is mild and that is what people start with so I was using that as my “mixer”.  But now I will try to use something from the same family in order to keep with my plan of rotating between families.

I don’t know that I am really so concerned about these toxins building up to unsafe levels because I think I do a good job of switching, but this type of information gives me an extra push to really work to get the variety of greens in my smoothies.  I mean aside from wanting to have more greens I do think of my smoothies as a way to get nutrients from greens that I would not normally eat.  As an example, I eat spinach all the time so it is good to for me to “have” to branch out with some of these other greens.  A good variety of fruits and vegetables is how we get the most nutrients out of our food.

Also, having this information is good because if you do start feeling ill/off you could look to this information to see if you are consuming too much of one thing and it may be the cause.

Do you rotate your greens?  How do you do it?

Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

My Reasons For Getting A Blendtec

Posted by terrepruitt on October 20, 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, ZumbaPeople ask me about my blender.  Just this week we were talking about super blenders after our Nia class.  A lot of people are interested in making green smoothies.  I was never interested in them because they sound so gross and the ones I had seen looked gross.  I also really like to EAT my fruits and veggies and felt I was eating enough, but I realized I could use more in my diet.  Eating more is sometimes difficult and that is why people have been making and drinking smoothies for so long.  It is a great way to get some additional vegetables in your diet.  I chose the Blendtec for a few reasons.  I started looking at it because it was on sale at Costco.  From there I started looking at prices on the internet.  I found that I could get a Blendtec for less than a Vitamix.  That was a big selling point to me, but not the only one.  I did more research.  The decision will just come down to what you prefer.  In addition to the Blendtec being less expensive I feel the one I got at Costco was a great deal.  At Costco they sell the blender and two containers/jars for less than the price I’ve seen elsewhere for the blend with just one container/jar .

To save you time, nutshell list:

–two jars; WildSide and FourSide
–easy to clean “buttons”
–it fits under most cabinets (Company claim)
–no tamping
–preset buttons/controls
–variable speed buttons/controls
–pulse button/control
–3 HP

If you are looking at buying one of these super blenders you might notice that not only are the blenders different but the containers they sell are different.  They have tall ones, short ones, round ones, square ones . . . all types.  With the Blendtec you can buy the blender with what they call the FourSide Jar or the blender with the WildSide Jar.  Now I didn’t know the difference and I didn’t know if I would want both jars, but when I saw that the jar alone was $100 and that Costco was selling the blender with BOTH containers for less than what I was seeing it cost for the blender with one container, I thought that was a good deal.  (I am now seeing the same deal on Amazon so if you don’t belong to Costco you can get the same deal on Amazon.)

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, ZumbaNow the bummer to me was that this one was only sold in black.  All of my appliances are white and I would have loved to have a white one, but I wasn’t planning on leaving it on my counter anyway so I didn’t want to spend the extra money for white.

The features on the Blendtec that sold me were the “buttons”.  I am an old school girl so I like to be able to control things and I think knobs are better than those electronic squishy “buttons”.  With the knob on the Vitamix I was assuming I could get better control over the speed of the blender.  But then I realized, I don’t need more control.  What I need is not to have a knob that I have to clean under, on, and around.  The Blendtec has been amazing in how easy it is to clean.  I always seem to drip green smoothie all down the front so every time I do I am thankful I don’t have knobs and “real” buttons to clean all around.

The Blendtec is shorter than the Vitamix and will fit under most cabinets.  Even though I was not planning on leaving mine out on the counter, being a shorter blender means it would fit IN the cabinet better.  Being a shorter blender also means it is easier to use because you can add things easier, as in you don’t have to get the step stool to reach the top of the container!  🙂

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, ZumbaThe real thing that sold me is the information I read which said you don’t need a tamper with the WildSide Jar.  Now, I am not certain, but I think the Blendtec containers don’t need tamping because the lids are vented so I think the air gets in there and that does the job of tamping.  I liked the idea of just turning the blender on and letting it do its thing.

That is another thing, in addition to not tamping, the Blendtec has push-and-go buttons.  You just push the button for what you want and it does it itself.  I decided I didn’t need the control of doing it myself and if I do, the Blendtec has variable speed buttons and a pulse.  So I can turn on the blender to whatever speed I want or pulse it.  So I still have the control if I want.

Also the Blendtec has more horsepower than the Vitamix, that might be another reason a tamper is not required.

Please keep in mind I am comparing base models.  There are a lot of different models that are high-end and professional, but I was just looking at the two comparable models and these are the things that “sold” me on the Blendtec.

I would love to learn more about the Vitamix  if you have one and you would like to share?  Any of you out there wanting to get a super blender?  Do any of these things sound like features you’d like?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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

 

 

 

 

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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.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Fourth Green Smoothie
1 1/2 C Watermelon
1/2 apple
1 small bunch 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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?

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