Green Smoothies

In the past, my breakfast usually consisted of one cup of milk and a slice of toast with cheese.  After cutting off dairy, it became one cup of soymilk and a slice of toast with nut butter. Then, it was one cup of almond milk and slices of apples or grains cereal (the kind that you can actually see the seeds and grains, not those sugary version).  Since my husband gets up earlier and I am a night owl, he usually just heats up a cup of milk and then grab a frozen muffin for his breakfast.  Ever since going down this path of healthy eating, it bothers me to think of him eating muffins every morning.  Besides, my girls would munch on muffins for snack or breakfast, just because they are tasty and easy to get.  The following is the story of how I make green smoothies our staple breakfast, 6 days/week for us adults, and one day/week for the girls.

When I first mentioned green smoothies, everyone in my family wrinkled their nose in disgust.  I was in doubt myself, whether I could tolerate the (imagined) weird flavor.  I decided to try my first green smoothies at Jamba Juice and it wasn’t bad.  It’s actually quite sweet, even though it’s green.  Then I used my $20 blender to make some pretty “benign” version, spinach, banana, water, avocado and apples.  They turned out well and my family is okay with that.  With that success, I started serving green smoothies twice a week, usually on the weekend when we eat less vegetables.

If you’ve been reading green smoothie girl blog (http://greensmoothiegirl.com/)

or other healthy eating website, you must have heard of Vitamix and/or Blendtec.  Those are my dream blenders but they are quite expensive as compared to the regular ones.  After my husband got ulcer and the medication cost $500, my desire to make green smoothies grew stronger.  Besides, my digestive system was growing weaker, too.  I couldn’t eat too much meat or beans without feeling the indigestion.  When the stir-fry vegetables are chewy, I’m also having a hard time eating it.  Therefore, I couldn’t tolerate kale well, no matter how nutritious it is. At the end of last August, when I saw Costco had Vitamix on sale, I bought it after getting my husband’s consent of drinking green smoothies for breakfast.  My plan was to get up as early as he does and make green smoothies for both of us.

With the powerful Vitamix, I become more adventurous.  I use a variety of raw veggies for the smoothies, not just spinach and lettuce.  Every morning I make 4.5 cups of green smoothies.  He takes 1.5 cups while I drink the rest.  Sometimes I save one cup for the girls to share after school.  On Saturdays, the whole family drink at least one cup of green smoothies for breakfast.  The effect?  My nails are growing faster and stronger.  I have more energy and less craving for caffeine.  Coffee used to be my vice and I loved it, not only for energy but also the aroma, the taste, and the “I can conquer the world” caffeine effect.  I had no intention of quitting coffee before I started my green smoothies journey.  A couple of months into drinking green smoothies, however, I found out that if I get enough sleep that day and drink green smoothies, I don’t need coffee for energy and I don’t have headache (the common withdrawal symptom)!  Since I don’t usually get enough sleep on the weekdays, I drink green teas.  I now only drink coffee once a week, on Saturdays, when my husband and I sit in the coffee shop, waiting for the girls to get out of Chinese school.  I know green tea still contains caffeine but at least, I sleep better at night when I don’t drink coffee.  I still have coffee at home but I rarely have the desire to drink it.

You might want to know what I put in my green smoothies, well here is the staple ingredients, with some extras below:

Mix greens (or lettuce), kales, parsley, chard, cucumber, celery, avocado (or chia seeds), ginger roots, banana, pear (or apple), water kefir

Extra: cilantro, beet roots (cooked or raw), doTerra OnGuard essential oil, carrot tops, lime/lemon juice, flax seeds.