This week I began my first foray into uncharted territory – green smoothies. Angela, of the blog Oh She Glows, first started the “green
monster movement” and it has caught on so much that she had to create a
separate site to keep up with
readers’ recipe submissions. What is a
green smoothie? It is a smoothie that
has something green in it, most often spinach or kale. Why go
green? It is a fabulous way to add extra
fruits and veggies into your day.
I am a fruit lover. I am not a vegetable hater, but I naturally
reach for fruit before the veggies. I am
not what you would call adventurous in the food department; between the IBS,
GERD and my natural inclination to be extremely picky and overly imaginative
often prevent me from eating certain things or from trying new ones. For example, I can often be heard saying
things like I don’t eat bananas because
they make my ears itch, or, you may find me in the produce aisle listening
to an apple to determine if it is worthy.
I am not a fan of public kitchens, most especially microwaves, or
potlucks. That communal stuff really
freaks me out. I am a huge believer in
food segregation, in other words, no food group shall touch another food group
while on my plate. What is my
point? The idea of putting something
green in my smoothie really throws me for a loop and feels inherently wrong.
I have no idea what pushed me over the edge, but I am currently
spiralling down into the world of green monsters. My green of choice was spinach. Not fresh spinach, and as far as I can tell
non-organic spinach. Most people would
buy fresh spinach, not yours truly; I have a current fixation with spinach. I like things to be perfectly ripe;
otherwise, if I find a flaw, I will have to abstain for months until the
infraction is forgotten. The way around
this is frozen spinach. I bought a block
of chopped, frozen spinach for $1.79. I
thawed it out and put that puppy in the food processor, and then portioned it
out into three containers for future use.
The verdict? Not too bad! I could not taste the spinach (I think it was
about 1/3 to 1/2 cup puréed). My one warning – carry a compact and floss
around when you drink this. It should
not be your beverage of choice for a perfectly white smile.
What about the IBS spin on this one?
It has made me into a raging hot air balloon and has made me frequent
the restroom – frequent being the key word here. In the past, my nutritionist and I have not
agreed on smoothies. She recommended
that I drink a smoothie measuring one cup or smaller, and she also recommended
that I consume my smoothie later in the day.
My flare-up time always lasts until about 13h00, so, if I consume it in
the afternoon I will be less likely to go to the loo. Given my fear of using public kitchen
facilities, I like to drink my smoothie in the morning so it is still somewhat
cold when I drink it. Will I continue on
with the green monster movement? I will
definitely continue to play with the smoothie recipes and will try it for at
least the next few weeks. I would like
to give my body time to acclimatize to the smoothies. It is a large intake of fibre all at once for
someone who suffers from IBS-D, however, if I can trick my body into
cooperating it will be worthwhile.
Please share your green monster recipes/experiences. I would love to know how others are
approaching this!
Tuesday’s Recipe
- Fresh strawberries
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe
- Yogurt
- Teaspoon of honey
- Container of spinach
- Splash of apple juice
Wednesday’s Recipe
- Fresh strawberries
- Container of spinach
- Frozen blueberries
- Frozen cherries
- Yogurt
- 1.5 teaspoons of chia
I'm a huge green smoothie fan and drink one every day :) I usually pack in tons of spinach and/or kale and then balance out the taste with an acidic fruit like pineapple. Tastes good!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea with the acidic fruit! thanks for the tip!
DeleteI have at least 2 smoothies a day. I keep it very simple: Water + Green + Fruit. For example, a bunch of kale and beet greens, water, apple, pear and banana. I replaced my toast addiction with green smoothies in the morning. I find I have more energy and my the whites of my eyes are brighter. (I know that sounds weird). I recommend http://www.rawfamily.com/recipes to get started about ins and outs of green smoothies. I also downloaded the App for my iPhone. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteQuestion for you, with the beets/kale, do you puree or juice or anything first, or just throw it in? I have only been brave enough to attempt pureed spinach at this point. Also, I had no idea there was an app for this, will have to check it out!
DeleteNope. Just a fresh bunch of greens. I have a Vitamix blender that does all the work for me. It's a wonderful, wonderful machine. When I first started I added a little agave nectar to sweeten the taste but the trick really is to keep it simple. A good starter is spinach + banana + pear + celery. Add more fruit if it is not tasty. Good luck! (If you like cilantro, it tastes amazing in a smoothie!)
ReplyDeleteThank you, and will definitely try the cilantro, I have it growing on my patio!
DeleteI can't believe you are trying morning smoothies! I am not good at any food in the morning, my IBS is most definitely worse in the AM. A fibre filled smoothie first thing nearly kills me. I bus to work in the morning and in order to make the bus ride I don't eat until I get to the office. I would love to have a healthy iron filled Kale or Spinach smoothie but it just doesn't seem to be in the books for my unless I drug up on immodium first....
ReplyDeleteI understand your morning challenges, it is also the worst time for me. I cannot drink a full smoothie, especially during an episode, but I go through phases where I can have some every day or a couple times a week, or other times when I can't have any at all. Lately I have been doing protein smoothies with milk or almond milk, half a banana, cocoa powder, almond butter and coconut oil. I do not have nearly as many challenges with those and it keeps me full all morning.
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