The Snacking Box

I have talked about the success of our "snacking table" several times on this blog. This is my lazy version. We haven't had time to put fresh fruits, veggies, and other snacks out so I have a created a quick, easy "snacking box" for the kids. If they are hungry between meals, they go here or they can always eat any fruit we have on the counter as well.

This week: organic brown rice cakes, Lara bars, sprouted almonds, dried seaweed snacks, raisins, banana leathers, and snap pea chips. It gets the job done and keeps tummies full while I'm running around!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

We are always looking for dairy-free desserts. We made a big batch of these cookies this week for a friend. I was really impressed with how they turned out. Savanna is the baker in the family, but since she was out most of the week I made these by myself. They were REALLY good!

Ingredients:

(makes 48 small cookies)

• 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (get at any health food store)
• 1/2 Tb baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups of turbinado sugar
• 1 cup of refined coconut oil or melted coconut butter
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/3 cup of ice water
• 1 Tb of black strap molasses
• 1/2 Tb vanilla extract
• 1 10 oz bag of vegan chocolate chips or carob chips
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl with a mixer mix sugar and oil about 3 minutes until smooth. Add water, molasses, and vanilla mixing until well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture until almost blended. Add the chocolate chips and nuts mixing until just combined.

Roll into small balls of dough and place 2 " apart on a baking sheet. Flatten out a bit and cook 13-15 minutes at 375 degrees until edges are slightly brown. Cool and Eat!

Spinach Dip

Another great summer recipe. I love it when I don't have to turn my oven on. This can be made a variety of ways and garnished and eaten with whatever you like. Here is what I put in this one:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of fresh spinach
• 1 large avocado
• 1/2 Tb of lemon juice
• Sea salt to taste

Blend in a food processor until smooth. Chill and eat! This is simple, but really good. Another great way to sneak in some greens!! (Again, from Alissa Cohen's "Living on Live Food")

Banana, Orange, Flax Crackers

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole golden fax seeds (soaked in 2 cups of water for 4 hours or overnight is fine)
• 3 ripe bananas
• 2 large oranges, juiced

Place ingredients in a food processor and blend well. Smooth onto Teflex sheets on top of a mesh dehydrator screen. Spread batter into thin sheets about 1/8 inches thick. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 10-16 hours (Flip them after about 7-8 hours).

My kids love to eat these crackers plain or smothered in almond butter. We had some leftover crushed strawberries from our jam making and we added them to the crackers this time. They aren't ready yet, but my house smells SO good!

(Also from Alissa Cohen's "Living on Live Food" book)

Trail Mix

Okay, so trail mix is kind of a no brainer. But, this batch turned out SO good that I had to share it.

Ingredients:

• Raw Pecans
• Raw Walnuts
• Raw Almonds
• Raw Sunflower Seeds
• Raw Cashews
• Golden Raisins
• Coconut Shavings
• Vegan Carob Chips
• Dried Cranberries

Toss and eat ! The boys had a bowl of it for breakfast with their yogurt. It may not last very long!!

* I did sprout most of the nuts (for more on sprouting, see my previous post- "More on our Snacking Table (& Why We Sprout)"). Pretty sure the carob chips aren't raw, but everything else is!

Avocado Chutney

This is a great summer recipe. It's fresh and filling, and super healthy.

(This recipe is from Alissa's Cohen's "Living on Live Food"- slightly modified by me)

Ingredients:

• 2 large avocados, diced
• 3 ears of sweet corn (corn cut off the cob- don't use frozen or canned)
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 teas of cumin
• 1-2 teas of oregano
• sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, chill, and serve over lettuce or with crackers or just eat it by itself! This amount fed my family of five and we had 3-4 servings left the next day. It saved surprisingly well overnight in the fridge, but I wouldn't recommend waiting too long to eat the leftovers...you probably won't have much any way!

Quick Lunches that Will Impress

This is one of my boys' favorite quick meals (and mine too- I've been on a hummus kick lately). Simply slice cucumber into thick rounds (or you can use zucchini, squash, etc.), top with a generous scoop of hummus and an olive. It was the day before our weekly shopping, so I just threw some leftover grated carrots in the middle for decor, but they ate them up too!

More from our snacking table, but this turned into more of a snacking lunch. Bradley cut up the cucumbers and added the hummus to our jicama, snap peas, and melon ensemble. It was very quick, very filling, and very tasty!

More on our Snacking Table (& Why We Sprout)

Our snacking table is still a success! We are getting more foods from the farmers market, and eating all of it by the end of the week. The nagging for snacks between meals has stopped almost completely too! Here we have cucumber, carrots, sliced apples, almond butter, raw corn on the cob (yes raw- it's straight from the farm and super sweet- no cooking or butter needed!), and steamed broccoli.

Here: Snap peas are a great snack since you eat the entire pod and they are sweet and crunchy, plus more watermelon, some lightly steamed broccoli with sea salt, and sprouted sunflower seeds.

A quick word about sprouting nuts: What are sprouted nuts, and why would someone want to sprout them? I learned about sprouting from Alissa Cohen's "Living on Live Food" book. Her explanation is great, so I'll just post it here:

"There are some very good reasons to soak and sprout. Soaking nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes removes their natural enzyme inhibitors: phytates and oxalates.

Sprouting greatly increases the nutritional value of these foods and makes them far more digestible because their protein is broken down into amino acids, their starches are changed into simple sugars, and their fats are converted into soluble fatty acids.

Sprouting increases the enzyme content of these foods. Even though they are initially raw, their enzymes are lying dormant. Sprouting activates them. If you do not sprout them, your body has to use its own enzymes to break up these foods.

Soaked and sprouted nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes are highly nutritious and produce an amazing amount of nourishment than otherwise would not be available."

Also, I've noticed with Brad's allergies that food he normal reacts negatively to doesn't bother him if sprouted. For instance wheat breads and tortillas bother him, but he does fine with sprouted wheat breads and tortillas. The same goes for some nuts he eats.

How do you sprout? Well, that is another post entirely. Certain foods can simply be soaked, others actually need to be sprouted. For most of the nuts and seeds we have been using at our snacking table, I simply put them in a large bowl and cover them with enough filtered water so they expand, then let them soak overnight on the kitchen counter. The next morning, rinse them well and they are officially "sprouted." The soaking obviously makes them soft, so I throw them in my dehydrator and season them (sea salt mainly, but you can use oil or other seasonings to spice them up- lime and Chile powder are good on pistachios and cashews!), and they crunch back up. This way we can receive the benefit of raw, sprouted nuts but enjoy the taste of roasted, crunchy, salted ones!

Food for Thought

I just had to share this little tidbit I learned this week. I just finished reading Michael Pollan's"Food Rules" book, and am about halfway through a book by Dr. Furhman called "Disease Proof Your Child." Both are great reads on feeding your children and family a whole foods diet- basically just feeding them real, unprocessed foods. Dr. Furhman said that at the beginning of each day they cut up some fresh fruits and veggies and put them in bowls on the kitchen table along with some selections of raw nuts. They leave this food out the whole day for the family to snack on. It's really a simple thing, but I tried it out this week and it had amazing results.

Especially since we home school, my kids seem like they are eating 24-7. And, not always the best of choices. But, I cut up several different types of raw and steamed veggies, one big bowl of fruit, and put out several different types of nuts throughout the week. The result: They stopped asking me for food between meals. They would just go over and eat what was out. They were eating raw fruits, veggies, and nuts all day long too! I found that my husband and I were going over and snacking on the produce too. And since the whole family was eating good stuff throughout the day, I didn't find myself worrying or nagging them to eat up veggies at mealtimes. I still served them, but it wasn't like that was all they were going to eat for the day, so it made me feel really relaxed.

When I got home from the market, I took about 30-40 minutes and washed all the produce and cut it up and put it in containers in the fridge. Each morning it took me all of about 5 minutes to set stuff out. I made sure to put out different stuff every day and put out stuff I know my kids like, plus some foods that they've never tried. I learned this week that Benjamin loves red bell pepper. Over the course of a couple days he ate 2 raw bell peppers himself! Bradley ate an entire jicama this week, plus an array of other great foods. Savanna really like the broccoli and kale salad. I found that I really like raw celery and carrot sticks. I've never eaten too many veggies without some sort of dip or dressing, but since they were all just out solo, I found I was munching on them throughout the day.

This week our snacking table consisted of: carrots, celery, jicama, bell pepper, kale, artichokes, peanuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, strawberries, oranges, cucumber, tomatoes, apples, cantaloupe, and peas...isn't that cool?!? Just thought I'd pass on this little tip!

Homemade Salsa

This is a GREAT recipe, care of my friend Carolyn. :) I modified it a bit due to what I had on hand, but I will post her exact recipe since I can't remember exactly what I did! Almost all of the ingredients came from our garden- we've made about 12 jars of salsa in the past week, and seriously, it is the best salsa I've ever had!!

Ingredients:

• 12 cups blended tomatoes (she blanches her first and removes the peels, but I didn't do that)
• 2 bell peppers (I used green)
• 2 Anaheim peppers
• 3 jalapeno peppers
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 large onions
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro
• 2 T sugar, 2 T sea salt, 1 cup of white vinegar (I only put in about a 1/2 cup of the vinegar)

Chop peppers, garlic, onion, and cilantro in the food processor, or if you like it chunkier, by hand. Mix with your blended tomatoes.

Bring to a boil. cook down for about 1 1/2-2 hours.

Place in jars and process them in a water bath canner for 25 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

**Makes about 3 quarts of salsa!

Homemade Applesauce

Well, I love to make fresh applesauce, but we got a HUGE amount of apples from a friend's tree, so we decided to can some so it lasts longer. We just made it up as we went along, and the results were great. Here are the details:

Slice apples- I didn't take the skins off, but most people do. I have a Vitamix that completely pulverizes EVERYTHING!

Put them in a large pot with just a cup or two of water to steam them until they are soft.

Blend them until smooth. I added a bit of honey and cinnamon.

Pour into the cans, and can in a water bath canner. Applesauce takes about 20 minutes (for pints and quarts) in the canner. Cool and Store!

**Fresh applesauce is even better tasting and better for you, and will last about a week in the fridge. Just cut up the apples and process in a food processer with honey and cinnamon until it is the consistency you want (you can put it in the blender for really smooth- we use the fp so it is a bit chunky).

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Savanna and I made this yesterday- SOOO good! Not really one of my healthiest recipes, but it's seriously good!

Ingredients:

• I package of organic frozen spinach, defrosted
• 7-8 artichoke hearts, chopped (you can use the marinated kind or I just bought a bag of frozen hearts at Trader Joes and defrosted them)
• 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella cheese (you can use any kind you like- if you use soy cheese, use the Follow Your Heart brand. It's the only kind that melts. We actually used goat cheese- sounds weird, but it's really good).
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 container of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
• garlic powder and sea salt to taste

Saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil on low. Add the defrosted spinach and artichoke hearts. Stir in the Tofutti cream cheese and grated cheese and whatever spices you want until well mixed. Put this mixture in a baking dish and bake at 325 degrees until hot and cheese is melted all the way through- about 15- 20 minutes. Super fast, and super delicious!

***A friend of ours has a goat farm and she was telling us all about the benefits of using goat products over cow products. Now our family doesn't eat very much cow dairy, and I'm trying to get away from using soy products a lot, so we thought we'd give it a try. Goat's milk does have some lactose, but it does not have Casein, the protein in cow's milk. Casein is a huge allergen, and two out of the three of my kids can't tolerate it at all. Savanna really liked the goat cheese, and it tasted just like regular cheese in this dish. Even James thought it was great and ate it up- and that says a lot!

Green Smoothies

Many of us are looking to find easy, tasty ways to add not only fresh fruits and vegetables into our diet, but fresh greens.

What is a Green Smoothie? A Green Smoothie is simply a smoothie made with fresh, organic (whenever possible) greens, fruit, and water or juice.

What are greens? Here are a few of the greens that can be added to your daily smoothies:

Arugula

Asparagus

Beet Greens (the tops)

Bok Choy

Broccoli

Carrot Tops

Chard

Celery

Collard Greens

Endive

Escarole

Frisee

Kale

Green and Red Leaf Lettuce

Mustard Greens

Romaine

Green and Red Leaf Lettuce

Spinach

You can also add weeds, herbs, or sprouts such as:

Weeds:

Chickweed

Clover

Dandelion

Lambsquarters

Purslane

Stinging Nettles

Herbs:

Aloe Vera

Baby dill

Basil

Cilantro

Fennel

Mint

Parsley

Peppermint Leaves

Spearmint

Sprouts:

Alfalfa

Broccoli

Clover

Fenugreek

Radish

Sunflower

Why do we need greens? A few of the many great benefits greens provide include:

*An abundance of protein in the form of readily available essential amino acids (as opposed to long molecules of protein found in other sources that the body has to break down and then reassemble).

*An abundance of insoluble fiber, a *sponge* that can absorb large amounts of toxins and take them out of the body.

*An abundance of Chlorophyll which counteracts toxins, provides iron to organs, helps purify the liver, cleanses the bowels, and eliminates body odors, to name a few.

*They can raise or maintain an appropriate level of stomach acid. (Stomach acid is responsible for the proper absorption and assimilation of vital nutrients, the destruction of harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, and the digestion of large protein molecules which can prevent allergies from forming).

*They make the body more alkaline. (Most diseases, including cancer, thrive in an acidic environment, sokeeping the body alkaline is essential for health).

Why is blending our greens so great? Greens are full of nutrients, but most people don't receive them because of two main reasons: 1) People cook them, destroying up to 80% of their nutrients and enzymes; and 2) People eat them raw but don't chew them well enough. Greens have a tough cellular wall that must be completely ruptured to release the vital nutrients inside. Blending your greens is the perfect solution.

* I received the bulk of this information from *Green for Life,* written by Victoria Boutenko.*

My Weekly Menu

It occurred to me that it would fun to occasionally post my weekly menu plan- just to give you an insight as to what we are eating. Today Savanna and I spent about 3 hours in the kitchen preparing foods for the week. I will try to post the recipes in the next few days, but in the meantime here is what we made today, and what we will be serving the rest of the week! (We learned many of these from our recent trip to the Raw Spirit Festival in Santa Barbara.)

Today we made Banana Quinoa Muffins, "Ranch" Dressing (cashew/avocado based), Buckwheat Crispies cereal with Hazelnut milk, Pistachio-Lime Hummus, Cashew Mock Chicken Salad, and Sun dried Tomatoes!

Banana Quinoa Muffins

Cashew "Mock Chicken" Salad

Cashew "Ranch"

Buckwheat Crispies with Hazelnut Milk

Marinated tomatoes (they will go into the dehydrator tomorrow and voila! Sun dried Tomatoes- Mmmm!)

As for the rest of the week, besides the above, we will make:

Monday: Nori Rolls filled with avocado, cucumber, cauliflower rice, and sprouts with Tamari dipping sauce

Tuesday: Spring Rolls filled with shredded carrot, jicama, sprouts, and sun dried tomatoes with a Chinese dipping sauce

Wednesday: Whole Wheat Blueberry pancakes and fruit salad

Thursday: Veggie burgers wrapped in lettuce leaves

Friday: Veggie sandwiches and salad

In addition to this we've been making some killer Green Smoothies lately. James and I started a 30 day green smoothie challenge 4 days ago. We are each going to drink a quart (32 oz) of green smoothie daily for one month- good stuff!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Savanna belongs to a book club and she was asked to bring these to their next meeting. She and I were not feeling well, so James actually made these beauties. I watched him, and it only took him about 15 minutes! Seriously easy and seriously good.

How He Did It:

We get the 1 pound bars of chocolate from Trader Joes (there are two kinds that are vegan: the dark chocolate and the bittersweet chocolate). Just break off a good size piece of the bar and chop it into small pieces. Microwave the chocolate pieces on high in a glass bowl for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the strawberries the melted chocolate and place on wax paper. Place in the fridge for about 10 seconds and then serve! (You can also refrigerate these for about day, covered).

Kale Chips

I don't ever remember eating Kale as a child. I personally don't like the taste of Kale, but have been putting it my green smoothies for awhile now because of its nutritional content.

Diana Dyer, a dietitian and author on the subject of cancer survival, has this to say about kale on her blog http://www.365daysofkale.com/: "The standouts are the high content of calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin K, potassium, manganese, copper, and even the plant form of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid). In addition to the carotenoid beta-carotene, kale contains other very important carotenoid molecules called lutein and zeaxanthin (both necessary for eye health) and numerous others (probably too many to count, and maybe even yet identified)."

In other words, Kale is REALLY good for you. And, I finally found a way to eat kale that I like- Kale chips! My kids also love these Kale chips and best of all, it's another super simple, quick recipe! We make big batches of these every other week.

Kale Chips:

• 2 bunches of kale (I like the Dino Kale- the Kale with the huge leaves. Savanna likes the curled types of kale- those are the ones you often see as garnish on your plate at restaurants- she says they make crunchier chips)


• Olive Oil (approx 3 Tb, depending on the amount of Kale used)


• Sea Salt (approx 2 Tb)


• Apple Cider Vinegar (optional- a dash or two)

I usually just eyeball this recipe, so you'll have to bear with me. First, cut the leaves off of the stalks. Set the stalks aside (you can save the stalks for soups or smoothies). Cut the leaves into chip-sized pieces. In a large bowl mix the leaf pieces with a fair amount of olive oil and sea salt and just a dash or two of acv. I like to massage the leaves to make sure that each chip is covered in the marinade. They taste better if you allow them to marinate for about 20 minutes. Spread onto a baking sheet in a single layer and bake on the lowest setting of your oven. Check after about 30-40 minutes. They will wilt at first, and then crisp up.

I usually don't bake them in the oven, so they I'm not positive how long that will take- on the lowest setting, it could be a while. I bake my chips in my dehydrator at 105 degrees for several hours until they reach the desired crispiness. They store really well in the gallon-sized Ziploc bags and do not need to be refrigerated. You can play around with the amount of oil and different types of seasonings.

Enjoy!

Artichoke Hummus

Okay, well after the last post I felt like I had to redeem myself. This recipe was posted on our family blog, but I thought I'd put it here too!

Here is another one of our favorite homemade hummus recipes. Hummus is a staple in our home. We have tried all kinds, but usually they are garbanzo bean (chick pea) based. Well, Brad is allergic to these now, so I have found several great no-bean hummus recipes. I tried this one out and it was a huge hit. After his salad, Brad sat with a spoon and just at this hummus out of a bowl like it was pudding or something! Here it is:

Artichoke Hummus

• 1 artichoke heart


• 1 zucchini, peeled but keep the skins


• 1 cup tahini


• ½ of a lemon, juiced


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 clove of garlic


• ½ tablespoon paprika


• 1/3 cup olive oil

I used a fresh artichoke and took out the heart so there isn’t a lot of artichoke in here. You can use more if you want (and ones from a can or jar would work too).

1. Peel zucchini and chop up and put in blender with HALF of the skins you peeled off. (the peels seemed to add a different flavor but they are strong so if you have a big zucchini don’t add them all unless you want it very green). If your zucchinis are very small, then you can use two.


2. Add rest of ingredients in blender and blend until thick and creamy. Add water as needed to help with blending.


3. TIP: the olive oil lends to the richness so add more if you need too.
   

*I added some dill and parsley flakes which Brad loves.

Enjoy!

No-Bake Brownie Balls

Here is one of the three dozen brownie balls we made today. This is another simple, fun recipe. The kids can help with this too. Bradley loves to roll them into balls, and then roll them in the coconut flakes. He does a really good job too!

Brownie Balls

• 1 cup of walnuts


• 1 cup of dates (soaked in water for about 20 minutes, and pitted)


• 1/4 cocoa powder or carob powder


• 1/2 cup or so of shredded coconut

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend well. You may need to add a bit of water to make sure they stick, just don't add too much or they get really sticky (I like to save the water the dates were soaking in and use that). Roll into bite-size balls, and then roll in the shredded coconut. These can be eaten fresh from the fridge or the freezer.

You can use any kind of nuts you like. I've made these with pecans, hazelnuts, cashews, and almonds. You can do a mix too if you like!

Pistachio-Lime Hummus

Saturdays are my food prep days for the week. Savanna and I made several things today, and thought I share a couple of the highlights. Savanna actually made this hummus herself. Don't let the color deter you! In our quest to find no-bean hummus recipes for Brad, this one is REALLY yummy and very simple. The kind of recipe I like!

Pistachio-Lime Hummus

• 1 cup of raw pistachios
• 1/2 tahini
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Process all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. You might need to add extra water or oil if it's too thick. It will also thicken in the fridge, so keep that in mind. We omitted the garlic and cinnamon, and it had a very mild, smooth flavor (made it for a 5 year old after all!), but I bet the garlic would give it a nice kick. Not sure about the cinnamon...sounded a bit weird to me. Let me know if you try it and how you like it!

Green Smoothie Recipes

I posted this on a friend's food blog, but thought I'd post it here too!

Our family has been making green smoothies pretty much daily for about a year and half. I have noticed TREMENDOUS benefits in our health from adding more servings of fruit and dark greens. We are a veggie-eating family, but some of those dense, leafy greens are hard to get down. If you want to learn more about the benefits of making and drinking green smoothies, I HIGHLY recommend the book "GREEN FOR LIFE" by Victoria Boutenko. It's a quick read and chalked full of great nutritional info.

In the meantime, I thought I'd post a few of our family-favorites! You may need to add less greens in the beginning and more fruit (especially for the kiddos), but as you do this more and more, you will be able to drink more greens and like them! I sometimes sweeten our smoothies with a little agave nectar or raw honey. However, that's not really necessary if you use very ripe fruits. I hit the sales on super ripe bananas or day-old strawberries and freeze them in large batches. Frozen grapes are really good for smoothies too.

Smoothie #1
3 bananas

1 cup of papaya

4 big handfuls of baby spinach

2 cups of water


Smoothie #2 (similar to #1, but still a hit)
3 bananas

3 huge handfuls of baby spinach

2 cups of water


Smoothie #3
2 bananas

6-7 strawberries

juice from 2 oranges

2 handfuls of romaine

1 cup of water


Smoothie #4
Half a head of green or red leaf lettuce

2 bananas

juice from 2 tangelos

1/2 a bag of frozen mangoes

1 pear

1 cup of water


Smoothie #5
6 ounces of orange juice

1 cup of pineapple

1/2 cup of coconut milk (this is the best if you get a Thai coconut and use the water and meat, but the canned stuff works too)

2 handfuls of romaine/spring mix/or red leaf lettuce


Smoothie #6
1 stalk of celery

2 cups of blueberries

1 banana

2 cups of water


Smoothie #7
6 to 7 romaine leaves

1 cup of red grapes

1 medium orange (peeled, but whole, not juiced)

1 banana

2 cups of water


Smoothie #8
2 large grapefruits- juiced

6-7 frozen strawberries

1 cup of peaches

2 handfuls of bok choy


Smoothie #9
4 ripe pears

4-5 kale leaves

1/2 bunch of mint

2 cups of water

(I would add sweetener on this one!)


Smoothie #10
2 bananas

2 large collard or chard leaves

1/2 pack of Trader Joes frozen "Mangolicious" blend (has frozen mango, raspberries, and blueberries)

1-2 cups of water or orange juice

**You can substitute water with any juice you like. The amount you put in depends upon the consistency you like. My kids like it thick like ice cream...I like it almost as thin as juice.

The possibilities are endless really. You can add greens to any of your usual smoothie favorites. It will change the color, but if you do it in a small amount, it shouldn't take away from the flavor much. You can substitute in these recipes for any greens you like. Our favorites are KALE, COLLARD GREENS, SWISS CHARD, SPINACH, ROMAINE, and BOK CHOY. I sometimes also add ground flax or nuts/nut butter for added protein. Most of these recipes will yield a quart of green smoothies (32 oz). Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!