I know that some of you have started drinking Green Smoothies after I posted about them last February. I learned about them from my friend Elaine, who has become my "healthy living" coach. I didn't know then that there is a whole "green smoothie revolution" happening out there. I've since read Victoria Boutenko's book Green for Life (link opens in Amazon), watched a couple of her videos, and have been inspired by Valerie Winters and her Green Smoothie Experiment. Since February, I've been drinking about 16 ounces a day — and I can tell you that I am consuming more fresh leafy green vegetables than I ever have in my entire life. I have never felt better. I've already noticed that I have more energy (late afternoon naps are pretty much a thing of the past); I am getting slowly slimmer without much effort; I'm drinking less coffee because I just don't want it; and I have less desire for meat and for sweets.
So — again inspired by the Green for Life book — I'm declaring June to be my own "Green Smoothie Experiment Month." I plan to drink at least a quart a day of green smoothies in addition to any other food I feel like eating. I'll pay attention to any changes in my body. It will be interesting to see what foods I crave and what I don't crave. I'm actually hoping to lower my blood pressure. There are some pretty amazing testimonials in the book from a group of Oregonians who did this same 30-day, quart-a-day experiment.
Check out Victoria's video for a quick introduction to the benefits of green smoothies.
Anyone out there want to declare June as Green Smoothie Experiment Month with me?
Well, of course I'm all for calling June "Green Smoothie Experiment Month". (Smile) I look forward to reading more about your green smoothie adventures.
VW
Posted by: Valerie | June 02, 2007 at 11:38 AM
Yes! you know how much I love the green smoothies! Now that I've gotten out of the habit, I'm back to coffee, which I must drop -- only makes me more tired in the long run. I think one of the reasons I stopped was that the baby would demand my smoothie from me once she heard the blender go off. True story!
Posted by: kris | June 02, 2007 at 08:46 PM
Well, I still haven't tried a green smoothie, though I've been drinking fruit and yogurt smoothies for breakfast since the weather got warmer. I've just returned from a weekend celebration with yummy, rich food, so now may be a good time to try the green smoothie. I'll just have to eat my yogurt another way. (Unless someone's tried adding yogurt to the green smoothie...?)
Joanna, are you still using the same basic recipe, or have you branched out?
Posted by: Inanna | June 03, 2007 at 04:54 PM
Valerie, so glad to "meet" you! Your blog about your own GSE is truly inspiring. Kris, just make a little extra for the baby! What a great start in life for her little body, to be chock full of all those greens every day. It will be interesting to compare notes with you at the end of the month. Inanna -- you might like to try a green smoothie before you commit to a month of a quart a day. :-) The only thing I've changed from the original recipe is that I'm not putting in the cucumber all the time, only once in awhile. I mix up the fruits and the greens though, trying different combinations. Have to warn you that red fruits (like strawberries) will turn the smoothie brown instead of green, so you just have to get past the way it looks. Valerie likes mango for a base and I like peaches. As far as yogurt goes -- the green smoothies came out of the Raw Food movement, and raw foodists don't eat dairy, so that's why you won't see yogurt in most green smoothie recipes. But if you want to try it, I don't see why not -- the idea is to do whatever it takes to make the taste of lots and lots of greens more palatable. I have found BTW that the more bitter greens I put in, like kale, the more agave I put in to counteract the bitterness. Valerie on the other hand has moved on to savory (non-sweet) green smoothies. Don't know if I'll ever get there or not. She has lots of recipes on her blog and there's more recipes in the Boutenko book I mentioned. Have fun!
Posted by: joanna | June 04, 2007 at 06:54 AM
Hi there,
You can also get Vicortia Boutenko's book on her website www.rawfamily.com.
I thought I would share my latest
mixture:-) This makes me a little more than a quart. I'm really liking this one right now, it's really good and not too heavy.
2 cups water
1 apple cored
1 pear cored
large handfull salad greens or about 5 lettuce leaves
4-5 black kale leaves (de-stemed)
a few spinich leaves (I don't always put these in)
Juice of one lemon (especially good with Myer lemons)
Enjoy!!
Elaine
Posted by: Elaine | June 06, 2007 at 10:50 AM
I'm doing it Joanna! So far so good, and found the book at Gateways yesterday. Thanks for the new recipe Elaine, that one sounds good. I may have to invest in a new blender though, this one is already complaining!!
Posted by: JulieZs | June 09, 2007 at 11:59 AM
Woo hoo!! Go Julie!!
Posted by: joanna | June 09, 2007 at 12:28 PM
Question for you, and I'm posting it here since I know others might have the same question -- do you need a super-duper special blender to make these? Someone on the amazon.com page commented that you did, and the blenders recommended are like $400! I make good frozen-fruit smoothies on my little smoothie machine, but I don't know how it would do with greens. What do you use?
Posted by: Lunaea | June 10, 2007 at 03:40 PM
P.S. I can vouch for the fact that Julie is doing it, because they are sold out of frozen peaches at our mutual market! :-)
Posted by: Lunaea | June 10, 2007 at 03:41 PM
Any blender will do. I even used a Magic Bullet on my trip to Calif. last month. The high speed blenders just do a bit of better job with the frozen fruit and denser greens. I did buy a VitaMix after 3 months of using a regular blender, but that's because my old one was really old and was about ready to give up the ghost. I've heard that the blenders will burn out after awhile but I don't know that from experience. You could try stripping out the stems and denser parts of the greens if you run into trouble.
Julie's had some great photos of her green smoothies on her High Fiber Content blog yesterday!
Posted by: Joanna | June 10, 2007 at 04:14 PM
It is a small World! I got an email today from my friend Kim who was telling me about your blog and the green smoothies.She also mentioned that you had an ad for the WATTS conference. Now Kim is not connected to my life via tarot we are just friends through other friends.I was intrigued to know who had an ad for the WATTS conference. She sent me your blog link. I had to laugh at how small the world is. And I am also very interested in getting on the green smoothie band wagon. See you in July!
Julie
Posted by: Julie Cuccia-Watts | June 14, 2007 at 02:21 PM
Hi Julie! I swiped the WATTS ad from Corrine -- it's on her blog, www.corrinekenner.com -- then of course asked her if I could use it!
I missed my green smoothies in NY at the Readers Studio so much that I packed a Magic Bullet blender when I traveled to California last month. I especially missed the energy they gave me. So I will be bringing the blender with me to WATTS and I'll be sure to give you a taste, if you haven't tried one before then! See ya soon . . .
Posted by: joanna | June 14, 2007 at 02:38 PM