No...this golden carrot

CHL

On Sept 26th I posted a recipe using carrot, banana, apple, avocado and almond milk. I gave it a 5/10.

4 large carrots,
1 small lemon, peeled
3/4 cup water
Generous teaspoon of honey.

Blend. Serves 1.5.

Verdict
This one gets a 9/10. A little more water would have brought it up I think to 10. Yum

KALK modification

KALK with A
from my friend and colleague Bronwyn
1 apple (organic if possible),
1 lemon (organic if you want to use the skin, I don't),
Kale (1-2 cups),
0.5 to 1 inch ginger.
Half an avocado
Water

Mix this up and add water to adjust the consistency so you can pour it. Its quite good to eat with a spoon too. The avocado gets you a healthy dose of fat and smooths out the texture and taste.

Verdict: 8/10
I go up and down with this one - sometimes I love it, sometimes its a bit of a green overload. I'm not convinced by the avocado but it definitely rounded out the lemon and ginger.

Fruity Indulgence

PRB

5 segments frozen peach
half cup of frozen raspberries
1.5 bananas
1/4 pack silken tofu
1-2 cups unsweetened almond milk.

Verdict:8/10
The amount of fruit could certainly be increased, by about double with the exception of the banana which I would reduce to 1 banana. Otherwise smooth and sweet, but not too sweet and a delightful colour.

Banana free!

SAA

3/4 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 large apple
1/2 avocado
1-2 cups unsweetened almond milk

Makes 2 portions

Verdict 8/10

I really liked this one - I think I would add more strawberries to bump up the flavour a notch. Also finally made a banana free smoothie. Why? Because I ran out of bananas!

Golden carrot

CAB

2 large carrots
1 banana
1 apple
1/2 avocado
1 to 1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk

Makes 2 portions

Verdict 5/10

This was too thick and definitely a slow drinker. A couple of cubes of ice would have been good. Perhaps some other vegetables could be added next time. The carrot combo is a tricky one. Perhaps no banana would have been better.

First strawberry

BABS

1 banana
1 apple
1/2 cup blueberries
5 frozen strawberries
1-1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 avocado

Makes 2 portions

Verdict: 10/10
This one is YUMMMY! My first 10/10. Probably because there's not kale to add that little bit of toughness. I wonder if it will keep me going til lunch?

Nearly top notch

BAAK

1 banana
1 apple
1/2 avocado
0.75 cups kale
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Makes 2 portions

Verdict:9/10
Woooo - this was close to very delicious. Creamy, lovely pale green, smooth, and a little sweet with just enough fiber to be filling. Yum, yum, yumminess.

VitC blast

KOAL

1 small cup kale
2 apples
1 lemon
1 orange
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Verdict 8/10
This was pretty delicious. Tangy, sweet, filling.

Beth Terry's My Plastic Free Life Green Smoothie

Here's one from Beth Terry. Its a kambucha. I have yet to make it but thought it was worth posting along with the link to her site: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2013/08/my-morning-zero-waste-green-smoothie/

Water
Apple or other fruit
Sunflower seeds,
Chia Seeds
Cashews
Frozen kale  - Beth Terry tells you how to freeze kale for easy use. See the website above.

No proportions are given so try experimenting.

Blend the first 5 ingredients til they are smooth then add the kale and blend.

Give me some comments if you like!

Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and cashews bought from Whole Foods bulk bins in my own glass jars
*Frozen kale
- See more at: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2013/08/my-morning-zero-waste-green-smoothie/#sthash.Nz2z77Wr.dpuf

Sun

Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and cashews bought from Whole Foods bulk bins in my own glass jars
*Frozen kale
- See more at: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2013/08/my-morning-zero-waste-green-smoothie/#sthash.Nz2z77Wr.dpuf

Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and cashews bought from Whole Foods bulk bins in my own glass jars
*Frozen kale
- See more at: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2013/08/my-morning-zero-waste-green-smoothie/#sthash.Nz2z77Wr.dpuf

Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and cashews bought from Whole Foods bulk bins in my own glass jars
*Frozen kale
- See more at: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2013/08/my-morning-zero-waste-green-smoothie/#sthash.Nz2z77Wr.dpuf

Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and cashews bought from Whole Foods bulk bins in my own glass jars
*Frozen kale
- See more at: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2013/08/my-morning-zero-waste-green-smoothie/#sthash.Nz2z77Wr.dpuf

Kale and Coconut

The vitamix came into its own today as I pulverised kale and this was the first time I have added cilantro to a smoothie.

KCAB
 


1 banana
1 cup kale
1/2 cup cilantro
1.5 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp honey
1 apple

Verdict
7/10. Needed some extra creaminess. Next time I'll add some tofu. I think I could leave out the honey too as the apple and banana have enough sweetness. The cilantro gave an interesting twist which I'll definitely try again.  The texture was great with the Vitamix - lovely and smooth.

Texture perfection!

This one was completely savoury:

CAT

1/2 cucumber
1/2 small avocado (2oz)
1 cup coconut milk (unsweetened)
1 tsp size piece of ginger

Verdict: 7/10
I finally reached the texture demonstrated in the shop with the Vitamix. Not a bitty bit in site sot 10/10 for creamy smoothness. The taste was good but lacked a little something - perhaps salt. Since I'm trying to have super low salt, I couldn't add this. Maybe a touch of sweetness like honey or agave would have done the trick, or even a little garlic to give it some extra punch. 

Thats better! Today I opted for a lighter fruit smoothie for my second vVitamix attempt but added some cucumber to keep the vegetable element in.

CABT

Half a cumcumber (washed, with peel)
1 apple
1 banana
A few strawberries
Half a cup of blueberries
1/5 packet silken tofu
1 cup almond milk
2 ice cubes

Verdict. 8/10
The seeds of the strawberries added a little texture which I think I wanted to avoid. The two ice cubes also lost another point as I think it diluted the creaminess from the tofu. But other than that, very yummy! The picture shows about half the volume made so definitely a LARGE portion.

Newbie Vitamix experience

The first vitamix smoothie

RAB
About 1 head of romaine lettuce
2 medium carrots
1 apple
1 banana
1 cup of almond milk (unsweetened)

I did chop all this up. Blended about 30 seconds from low to high.

Verdict: 5/10
Its the Romaine. Overall the texture was much better than my usual chopped up smoothies but I think I'm just not a fan of Romaine lettuce as an ingredient. It was sweet, mild but just a bit too earthy and then rather than a nice green colour it was a nice BEIGE colour. Not so appetising.

Hoping for a tastier smooth beverage next time!

Blenders...

I experienced a smoothie miracle yesterday....in Wholefoods...

I don't normally shop at Wholefoods, bit too pricey and a bit too much "in your face commercial good for you" vibes but they do have some things you can't get at other places. As we walked in, I noticed that there was a Vitamix demo going on. I've watched the You Tube videos on different blenders and balked a the price and honestly, how fancy can a blender get. I'm telling you, it can get FANCY.

There were 2 smoothies to taste, one with kale and vegetables and one a sweet treat. I went to heaven. Not a bitty bit in site. It was almost frightening how smooth and creamy it was.  Upshot - I'm getting one today so I can generate my own smoothie miracles...I'm so excited, if it wasn't undignified I'd be hopping up and down which is probably what I'll be doing at breakfast tomorrow morning.

Some Greenies

KALG
from my friend and colleague Bronwyn
1 apple (organic if possible),
1 lemon (organic if you want to use the skin, I don't),
1-2 cups (1-2 cups),
1 inch ginger.

Verdict 9-10/10
Really tangy, a great pick me up.

CCAB
2 cups green chard
1 small apple (3-4 oz)
2 small carrots
2 tbsp ground flax
protein powder
1/2cup almond milk (unsweetened)

Verdict. 6/10
Sweet and earthy. Thick consistency. Add more almond milk or water to thin it out but I rather like the need for a spoon. I think I prefer kale over chard.



CACGL
from my friend Katya
1 cucumber
1 apple
1 carrot
ginger to taste
lemon juice
1/2 orange optional
celery to taste optional

Verdict - yet to try this one

MBKS

Recipe
Mango (the yellow star one),
1 Banana (not too ripe),
1 cup kale,
1 cup spinach,
ground flax, protein powder.

Verdict. 7/10
No trouble going down, lack a little zing....


SR
This one is from my friend Bronwyn, master of the ALKG
1-2 cups strawberries
1 head of romaine lettuce
1/2 cup coconut milk
protein powder
1 tbsp ground flax

Verdict 7/10
Looks a bit unpalatable but is surprisingly tasty.