Tag: green smoothie

Green Smoothie with Sprouted Broccoli

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Adding some sprouts to your daily juice or smoothie is a great way of making sure you keep your immune system alive and kicking. If you are the kind of person who catch everything going then try to add a variety of sprouts to your diet. I find them easy to add to my morning green drinks as it is over and done with. Sprouts are filled with life enhancing enzymes which nourish our bodies. give us energy and sorts out our metabolism. My personal favourite is broccoli sprouts. With its crunchy consistency and cabbage flavour it reminds me of my childhood. Yes folks, in Sweden during the 70s, kids got chunks of raw cabbage and swede at snack time in school. No YoYo’s or flapjacks in sight. As it was what everyone else was having during snack time however you did not question it. Again, this comes down to habitual behaviour and doing what people around us are doing. If you’ve been used to breakfast being a croissant, toast and cereal then changing to a green juice or smoothie could be a step too far. But just as the Japanese can enjoy miso for breakfast, we can enjoy a liquid breakfast once in a while. It is simply a matter of turning what breakfast is about on its head.

This morning’s brekkie was a smoothie and some nuts – yum!

Green Smoothie with Broccoli Sprouts

4 large leaves Swiss Chard

2 large pieces of broccoli

2″ piece of ginger root

1/2 cucumber

1 banana

1 avocado

1 lemon, peeled

Blend all ingredients with 1/2 pint of coconut water or regular, filtered water until smooth. Drink immediately or place in airtight container to minimise oxidation. Enjoy your Tuesday. X

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Green smoothie with broccoli sprouts and mixed nuts…

Jason Vale’s ‘Ultimate health booster’

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Some time ago I decided to invest in a new juicer. I had dabbled with juicing for well over a year, using an old and beat up thing from a previous era, and felt it was time to get serious. Having received my new toy (The Aluminium Juicer by Philips if anyone’s wondering), I was excited to see that it came with a recipe book by juice guru and motivational health coach, Jason Vale, called ‘The Juice Master, Keeping it simple’.

For those of you who do not know of Jason Vale (and I didn’t until the book arrived), he is known as The Juice Master, or the Jamie Oliver of juicing.  An enthusiastic fan of juice detoxing he also runs retreats, juice bars and publishes DVDs and tv-programmes – clearly a busy man. What’s nice about his book however is that it has got something for us all. There are recipes for juices and smoothies aimed at old, young, sick, slimming and anti-ageing seekers and so on. The factual section of the book goes into great detail about what each ingredient does for us and what vitamins it contains. He even manages to fit in a little 3-day juice detox programme for those feeling brave.

As I was in a rush today, I decided to test one of Jason’s concoctions and picked the   Ultimate Health Booster. It promised to ‘cleans the system, feed the cells and boost my immune system. What’s not to like? His recipe calls for a juice but as I was doing liquid lunch I decided to go off piste and have it as a smoothie instead. The fibre from the fruit and veggies would fill me up more than a juice would. This is my little adaptation of Jason’s liquid sunshine:

Ultimate Health Booster by Jason Vale

1 inch slice of pineapple (I did 2)

1 apple (J recommends Royal Gala or Golden Delicious)

1 inch broccoli stem

1 small handful of spinach (I had 2)

1/2 stick celery (I had 1)

1/4 inch piece of ginger

1 inch slice of cucumber

1 small handful of watercress

Parsley (I didn’t)

1/2 ripe avocado

2 cups coconut water (my addition)

Blend the lot and drink immediately. This amount gave me 2 large martini glasses of gorgeous green smoothie and it was utterly delicious. I can highly recommend it and will try more of Jason’s recipes to share on this blog. Happy Friday x

Take your green smoothie on the road

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photo-8Food preparation styles vary greatly. Some are wonderfully organised and approach cooking with military precision. Others not so much. In fact, a post-dinner snap shot into our household resembles a crime scene investigation more than a culinary endeavour. Saying that, I have long accepted that perfection is an overrated virtue and today I am simply enjoying the process of finding nutritious and interesting foods that are tasty and easy to prepare.

I suspect my disorganised tendency may have something to do with spatial awareness, i.e. do not have too much going on within the same workspace at the same time. But more often than not I am also cooking for my children whilst working out where my taste buds are heading as this green wave I am riding is coming from gut feel alone. All I am doing cognitively is making sure there is enough green food choices available in my fridge at any one time. I am all for ease. Which is why I have started to take my morning smoothie on the road. Making a smoothie in the morning takes no time – throw in all ingredients, blend and pour. I use a portable container with a straw and drink it in my car. It couldn’t be easier. By the time you’ve  arrived at your destination you’ve forgotten that you really wanted a latte. x

 

Brekkie green style

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This morning I am heading off to Ignite, a two-day seminar in London on how to live your life more authentically. Heady stuff! It is going to be intense and possibly life changing and therefore I need robust fuel to sustain me for a long day. A rich green smoothie is always a great brekkie option and that is what I have chosen today. In addition I have added my all time favorite snack – avocado on Finn Crisp with sliced tomatoes. Simple, tasty and gloriously healthy. Happy saturday x

Smoothie:

1 cup kale

1 cup spinach

1 banana

1/2 cucumber

1 tbsp coconut oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp ground flax seeds

1 tsp Spirulina powder

2 cups water (or more if you want the consistency to be more liquid)

Blend away until all mixed and enjoy immediately. The nutrients do not like to hang around for too long.

Avocado on Finn Crisp:

Finn Crisp slices ( I use the original version)

Mashed avocado

Slices of tomato

Squeeze of lemon

Black pepper

Sea salt/Himalayan pink salt