Shaping Up in 2013

Saturday - Smoothies from the Main Thread

Somehow the main thread (8/16/13)got started on smoothies at the end of the day and I thought I'd bring some over.

yippie said:
I use Kale in my smoothie every morning. I buy several bunches, wash, and remove from the thick middle stalk. Then I put it in a big container and freeze it. In the morning, I take a hunk of the kale (which is brittle from being frozen) and blend it with a banana, some frozen blueberries, mango nectar, almond milk, green powder, protein powder, chocolate super food powder, psylium powder, and a bit of water. It blends right up in my $30 blender! Drink immediately if you put psylium in as it thickens quickly. Super easy breakfast. I keep the bananas in the freezer too, so nothing spoils quickly and I can stock up once every two weeks or so!  I have a friend who saw a nutritionist who gave him the recipe. It's good for me because I'm not eating KALE. PERIOD. Yet, with this mix, it doesn't taste "green" although it is very green especially with the green powder. Tastes neutral to good, fast, super easy clean-up (just rinse blender), I get all the powders from Amazon. I used to have toast for breakfast so this is a huge improvement. Plus, Psyllium is God's gift to my digestion. Seriously, I would give up all my other favorite foods if I had too, but you are not getting my Psyllium.

momtomany said;
My recipe is very simple. 
I fiercely cook a bag of spinach and a bunch of kale (leaves torn from the fibrous stalk) about 3 minutes in about a tablespoon of water on the stovetop. After my little greens have cooked down I put them in the blender with either of two combos:
- For sweet, add banana and an apple or two, blueberries, and any fruits/berries you have on hand (not melon) and maybe add a bit of honey to taste.
- For salty/veggie (my favorite!) add cooked beets (which, by the way, can be part of the sweet recipe above) and garlic - and anything that might be in the fridge - a torpedo onion, cucumber, celery (not too much), cooked sweet potato and/or zucchini. Avocado, anyone??
The treat in these 'smoothies' is that we're getting so many good nutrients; and they are tasty! I process everything in a very basic blender, using 'puree'. My mixtures thicken in the refrigerator, so after a day I add V8 juice or white cranberry juice.
A bunch of kale and a bag of spinach - the 'base' for all of this - makes enough for two big containers, which I take to work and sip on for hours. Two days; that's the life of this freshness for me. It works! But hey - I'm still not seeing svelte. Rats!

heathcliff said:
There are many recipes for making green smoothies, and you can throw in whatever you like. I normally use lo-cal apple juice, some banana,
a cup of spinach or kale, protein powder, flaxseed, some frozen pineapple, some ice cubes, and a dash of stevia for sweetening if I used kale.
I sometimes use a frozen cherry/strawberry mix instead of pineapple, but then the smoothie is pink, not green.
Since I began drinking these smoothies, my blood pressure has gone down to the point that my doctor may take me off my meds. Also my skin has more of a glow.

Monday -- Greek Yogurt

I've had mixed experience with Greek Yogurt and it's palatibility for me. I've given some to the chickens when I couldn't stomach it, they love yogurt but today's isn't bad. They might not get any, but it is a big tub. I'm taking Jamie's advice, Jamie Curtis the actress that is, and trying out Activia Greek Yogurt. I still prefer the regular but since the greek version is supposed to be even better for you. It has more protein and calcium, less carbs and salt. I wish it wasn't so resource intensive, I just found out it's more expensive because it takes more milk to create it (ie it's concentrated regular yogurt) and the demand is skyrocketing.

Since I prefer the texture of the original I might just do regular yogurt and eat more of it.  Eh, good to mix it up sometimes.


www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/yogurt-smackdown-greek-vs-regular.html#b

Here is my check in. I have done great on exercise this week. Yay for me. 

5x full length walks
2x aerobics
3x tractioning (for the nerve pain)

My farm box from the new place did have a lot more fruit and not much in the way of leafy greens though that may just be the season as we have had two months of hot and dry. In the way of fruit, I've enjoyed peaches and cantelope. I made gumbo on Sunday with fresh okra and fresh tomatoes. It was the first time I haven't just used frozen/canned and it was the best gumbo I ever made. I made BBQ sausage and beans in the crockpot with some of the fresh black-eyed peas, though I think I will cook them a little longer next time. Tonight I'm finishing up the last of my fresh red potatoes, so maybe we'll get more next time. 

I did go check out the neighborhood juice place and got an awesome healthy smoothie. However, it did not work for me for a lunch. I was starving to death by 2:30 in the afternoon. Also on the smoothie front, I  have been trying to do homemade smoothies for breakfast at least once a week, but my grocery quit carrying the protein powder that gave them any staying power. So I'll have to regroup on that. 

Oh yeah, check in. Good day for me, down 1.2 from last Wednesday.