My Breakfast - Latest Green Smoothie

I continue to make green smoothies from my mom's garden and fresh citrus. I have finally figured out how to make my smoothies so that they are not thick. It isn't rocket science and I should have figured it out before but the secret ingredient is filtered water. Here is my favorite recipe. Remember, if you want your drink sweeter, add more bananas or another raw sweetener.

1 small grapefruit (makes it a little more tart)

2 or 3 oranges

1 organic apple

1 banana

1 large handful of greens (about two cups) - I used radish tops, mustard, turnip, spinach (whatever you have on hand will work)

and the key ingredient: 2 cups of filtered water

Blend in Vitamix for a minute and serve COLD.

This recipe makes almost three quarts. I put two away for later and add ice to one and have for breakfast. Usually, I keep the other two for the next couple of mornings. They are great each morning cold for an early breakfast.

Smoothie with hand-picked organic greens

Yesterday, I was able to make a green smoothie with greens picked from my mother's garden. A few months back, she planted a winter organic garden. Her garden was near citrus trees with sweet juice oranges. The orange crop in her yard were very small this year; quantity and size. However, she hand-picked a bag of juice oranges and about three cups of mustard and radish (tops) greens which were leafy and crisp. When I got home, I peeled two of the juice oranges, a navel orange, all of the greens with the stems removed, an organic apple, and a banana. All were placed in the Vitamix for a minute or so with a few cubes of ice.

The smoothie was the most beautiful shade of green AND it tasted very good, too. I couldn't get over the difference in taste with this smoothie that used only fresh oranges. I usually use one orange and a cup or two of pulp orange juice (not from concentrate). This was, by far, the best green smoothie I've made to date. :-)

Green Smoothies: Victoria Boutenko style

Just finished reading my second book by Victoria Boutenko, a raw foodist for over two decades.  The most important message in her books is that we all need more greens in our diet.  Her solution is the green smoothie.  She sweetens many of the green smoothies with a banana or two.  She has personal experience to back up her studies. She has experimented with many recipes and feels the secret is adding bananas to cut the strong "green" flavor.  She also says that after drinking a smoothie each day, you want one everyday due to the energy boost you receive. Check out her books.

To view her website, visit: http://www.rawfamily.com/