Dandelion Greens

I’ve tried creating dandelion greens smoothies before and have thrown away entire batches. Today, I found and made one (after harvesting aka “weeding” some lush dandelions growing in my front yard). I gave a small glass of it to my husband, Paul, who said: “It tastes summery.” It’s the lemon that does it, I’m sure. But as I type, I’m sipping down this smoothie and it is yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch dandelion greens (I used 6-8 large leaves)
• 1 med lemon (peeled)
• 2 apples
• 1 banana
• 2 cups of water
• cinnamon to taste
• a little stevia to taste
• pinch of kelp (optional)

And blend!

Fresh figs are appearing and I bought my first batch this past week. I’ll confess that I’ve never had a fresh fig until now. Figs are a great nutritionally!

• high mineral content, filled with potassium, calcium, iron and trace manganese
• high fiber
• good source of flavonoid and polyphenols (plant-based antioxidants)

I bought enough figs that I knew I would need to find a smoothie recipe to help me use them up. After some poking around online and experimenting on my own, I discovered a smoothie that was, to the taste buds, Christmas in August. So here it is, the recipe for “Green Eggnog!” Enjoy!

Healthy Green Eggnog Recipe

• 4 fresh figs
• 1 1/2 bananas
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups water
• large handful of greens (I used spring mix greens)
• vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

If you try it, let me know what you think!!

Embrace Love and Life. Embrace Your Health!

Today was, for us Pacific Northwestern folks, uncomfortably hot.   By mid-afternoon, I was wilting.  Because of my recent oral surgery, I still can’t chew vegetables.  To get my desired quota, I’ve been making an extra green smoothie each day.  Today’s smoothie creation was MOST welcome! I’ve dubbed this smoothie “Super Fresh Raspberry Refresher!”   Made with all locally grown (and most of it picked just this morning!) produce…

Ingredients:

• heaping cup of fresh raspberries,
• a medium cucumber
• 6 large leaves of red buttercrunch lettuce
• cinnamon and a little stevia to taste
• 2 cups of water

Pile in blender and presto!  Green smoothies are not only easy and delicious – and so very, very good for you!!  This one for example…  has

• 11 grams of fiber
• 4 grams of protein
• 42% RDA of Vitamin A
• 104% RDA of Vitamin C
• 10% RDA of Calcium
• 14% RDA of Iron
• as well as a great source of magnesium, potassium and additional trace vitamins and minerals!

You can’t go wrong.

Try it!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

For more about green smoothies and more tasty smoothie recipes, click here!

Embrace Love and Life. Embrace Your Health!

I got a great question from Catherine about whether you can add cilantro to green smoothies. Brilliant question and, more than that… GREAT IDEA! Absolutely yes on the cilantro! Cilantro isn’t just yummy, but very good for us too! Cilantro is great for us. The list of health benefits is impressive!

• rich in phytonutrients, flavonoids and active phenolic acid compounds
• facilitates heavy metal detoxification
• stimulates and improves digestion
• eliminates bad bacteria, like salmonella
• improves mood
• fights inflammation and free radicals
• high in vitamin A and lutein

That’s a lot of health punch for such a tasty herb! As for recipes… Victoria includes this recipe in her book:

2 1/2 cups of spinach
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 lime (juiced)
1 tsp stevia (1 green leaf)
3 roma tomatoes
2 cups water

Makes 1 quart.

I found these doing an online search:

1 tbsp agave syrup
1 grapefruit
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 banana

Another one that’s similar (that I think I’m going to try tomorrow):

Pink grapefruit or if unavailable, an orange (peeled)
Cucumber (peeled)
Cilantro (1/2 a bunch)
Half a lime (juiced)
2 slices of pineapple
1 tbsp agave syrup
Vanilla extract (to taste)
Big pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of salt (to taste)

Let me know if you try any and what you think.

Thanks Catherine for stopping in and the question! You’ve inspired me to make a cilantro smoothie tomorrow morning!

Embrace Love, Embrace Life, Embrace Your Health!

Posted for Evan.  Evan mentioned he’s been interested in trying raw food and has been debating about either adding in raw foods or going “gung-ho.”  Like I told Evan, for many people, going gung-ho can actually be too hard on the body. I’d suggest starting by adding in green smoothies each day. I’ve discovered this myself and have read again and again… Raw food is a journey. Definitely start by adding in raw foods. As you transition more and more to raw food will definitely change your health and how you feel. That’s been my experience (in a big way!). Thanks Evan for your comment! Keep me posted on what you do and how it works for you.

For a more in depth conversation on green smoothies and their health benefits, I highly recommend reading Victoria’s book Green for Life.

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As the Russian proverb says: New- is something old, that has been long forgotten. This summer I re-discovered green smoothies. What do I mean by green smoothie? Here is one of my favorite recipes: 4 ripe pears, 1 bunch of parsley and 1 big cup of water. Blended well. This smoothie looks very green, but it tastes like fruit. I like green smoothies so much that I bought an extra blender and placed it in my office, so that I could make green smoothies throughout the day. More than half of all the food I’ve had in last several months have been green smoothies. I have so much more energy and clarity that I have removed green juices from my diet. (Juicing has been something that I’ve been doing regularly for years.) Green smoothies have numerous benefits for human health.

1. Green smoothies are very nutritious. I believe that the ratio in them is optimal for human consumption: about 60% – ripe organic fruit mixed with about 40% – organic green vegetables.

2. Green smoothies are easy to digest. When blended well, all the valuable nutrients in these fruits and veggies become homogenized, or divided into such small particles that it becomes easy for the body to assimilate these nutrients, the green smoothies literally start to get absorbed in your mouth.

3. Green smoothies, as a posed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber.

4. Green smoothies belong to the most palatable dishes for all humans of all ages. With a ratio of fruits to veggies as 60:40 the fruit taste dominates the flavor, yet at the same time the green vegetables balance out the sweetness of the fruit, adding nice zest to it. Green smoothies are simply the best tasting dishes for the majority of adults and children. I always make extra smoothie and offer it to my friends and customers. Some of them eat a standard American diet. They all finished their big cup of green smoothies with complements. They were quite surprised that something so green could taste so nice and sweet.

5. By consuming two or three cups of green smoothies daily you will consume enough of greens for the day to nourish your body, and they will be well assimilated. Many people do not consume enough of greens, even those who stay on a raw food diet. The molecule of chlorophyll has only one atom that makes it different from a molecule of human blood. According to teachings of Dr. Ann Wigmore, to consume chlorophyll is like receiving a healthy blood transfusion.

6. Green smoothies are easy to make, and quick to clean up after. Many people told me that they do not consume green juices on a regular basis because it is time consuming to prepare green juices and clean the equipment after juicing, or to drive to the juice bar.

7. Green smoothies are perfect food for children of all ages, including babies of six or more months old when introducing new food to them after mother’s milk. Of course you have to be careful and slowly increase the amount of smoothies to avoid food allergies.

8. When you consume your greens in the form of green smoothies, you can greatly reduce the consumption of oils and salt in your diet.

9. Regular consumption of Green smoothies forms a good habit of eating greens. Several people told me that after a couple of weeks of drinking green smoothies, they started to crave and enjoy eating more greens. Eating enough of green vegetable is often a problem with many people, especially in children.

10. Green smoothies can easily be freshly made at any juice bar, restaurant or health food store for the great convenience of health-oriented customers. Please bring a copy of this article to your local juice bar.

I encourage the readers of this article to start playing with green smoothies, and to discover the many joys and benefits of this wonderful delicious and nutritious addition to the menu. Here are more ideas for your green creations. Some of my favorite greens to add to green smoothies: parsley, spinach, celery, kale and romaine. My favorite fruits for green smoothies are: pears, peaches, nectarines, bananas, mangoes and apples. Strawberries and raspberries taste superb in green smoothies, when combined with ripe bananas.

Delicious Combinations To Get You Started

Mango-parsley
2 large mangos
1 bunch parsley
Water

Peach-spinach
6 peaches
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
Water

Mango-weeds
2 mangos
1 handful of lambs quarters, stinging nettles, purslane, etc
Water

Strawberry-banana-romaine
1-cup strawberries
2 bananas
1/2 bunch romaine
Water

Apple-kale-lemon
4 apples
1/2 lemon juice
4-5 leaves of kale
Water

Kiwi-banana-celery
4 very ripe kiwis
1 ripe banana
3 stalks of celery
Water

Pear-kale-mint
4 ripe pears
4-5 leaves of kale
1/2 bunch of mint
Water

Finger banana-spinach
10 finger-bananas
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
Water

Bosc pear-raspberry-kale
3 bosc pears
1 handful of raspberries
4-5 leaves of kale
Water
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Victoria Boutenko teaches classes on raw food at South Oregon University and, as a result of her teachings, many raw food communities have been formed throughout the world. Victoria and her family have lived on a 100% raw food diet for nine years and all four have cured their incurable diseases. The transformation of Victoria’s family to raw food is described in her book, Raw Family. Victoria is also the author of 12 Steps to Raw Foods. Her two children have written a book containing delicious raw food recipes called Eating without Heating. Visit Victoria’s site at http://www.rawfamily.com