Green(or healthy) smoothie recipies

[twinturbo]

How are you with the cruciferous family? I was thinking some variations like yu choy, ong choy, gailan although the first two might bulbs I'm not sure.

[becca]

Tonight's smoothie:

1 granny smith apple, cored
1 large stalk celery
1" knob of fresh ginger
1 cup kale leaves(I might have gone heavy on kale)
handful of cilantro
wedge of lemon, peeled and seeded(I just slice of the skin quickly and pick out the seeds as best I can)

water and ice to taste, about 1 cup of each. 

It is okay.  Tastes like a healthy drink, lol.  But tart and gingery.  A bit too pulpy, even with the super duper blender.  I am sure I could blend it more.  We shall see what dh has to say about this one. 

[YouKnowWho]

Mean Green!

We did juice for awhile but financially and physically couldn't take it.  I could only buy enough for a days worth of juicing to keep in the fridge at once and it meant waking an hour earlier.

Mac - I will say this, I burped kale all day long    But I tolerate kale whether it be raw, juiced, cooked without digestive issues.  I think cucumbers were the cause of the burps, but kale/ginger were the strongest flavors so that is what I tasted.

Not to say we don't break it out from time to time.  My kids like Mean Greens, but they also like most veggies as well.  Forks over Knives which is basicially vegan minus fat was a great experiment as well but when two to three members of the family cannot tolerate the starchy proteins needed to achieve a healthy vegan diet (ie protein) and one of them really needs fat, well it was too tough to make a go.

DH and I are on different diets.  I do small amounts of meat in relation to large amounts of veggies, except at breakfast when I do protein.  DH is doing low carb, high fat (and is down 20lbs the stinker).  I cannot do his diet though thanks to the lack of a gall bladder.  I was either constipated or umm, not 

[becca]

Yeah, High fat, animal fats, can be hard on my tummy too.  Liver issues and no gall bladder as well.  Olive oil is not an issue for me.  Nor is butter, like in cookies, lol.  But ribs?  Oy!

I am not juicing.  I just toss it all in the blender.  No cleanup, other than a spin with a bit of dish soap and water. 

[YouKnowWho]

Yeah, much like a GI reaction, I can tell you in an hour if that was a mistake.  Red meat fine, pork fine, salmon iffy, chicken and turkey as long as I avoid the skin (can cook skin on, but God help me if I digest), ribs are dependent upon how I cook them...  My favorite part of pork chops used to be the fatty bits - yeah, big mistake. 

DH and I joke about being the Jack Sprat rhyme because I take my helpings sans added fat or give him my fatty bits.  He jokes about having to fix my cooking as he heaps butter, coconut oil and salt onto his plate.  Gag.

I will be curious to see where his numbers come in a month because he has to go to the dr..  He is staying in ketosis and even cheat days don't knock him out of kilter.  He has more energy, exercising and just keeps dropping.  It's enough to make you hate him.

[becca]

I saw a book, by the guy that does the Makeover weight loss show, and he claims that just 3 days a week will be enough for weight loss(of the low carb dieting).  I did not actually read it, but ran across it while reading.  I do not check for or likely stay in ketosis, nor do high fat.  I do more of a lower carb, moderate healthy fats way of eating.  Too hard for me and too extreme with feeding kids. 

My dh eats whatever I make, lol.  Like it or not, he is happy someone does the cooking for him.  It annoys me that i try to change up my eating and he is the one who drops a few pounds.  Not me. 

[hopechap]

Yeah well, that has happened around here too. DH is dropping while for all my green drinks (admittedl heavy on avocado) I have lost three pounds - but not as much as him -- and I led him into this !

So about this gallbladder thing -- I must be really dumb about putting two and two together -- but my chronic gi and runs -- thats fatty foods? I geuss i need to keep a food diary.  Someone told me that people without gallbladders have a hard time digesting nuts. Well that has not been too much of a problem until the last two years when the tree-nuts came marching back in.  I have not been able to find this on the web, though.  Anymore dietary info about post-gallbladder bodies ?

[becca]

I was never given any restriction after my GB surgery.  I am not sure if my issues are related to not having one or not.  I have other liver issues(which maybe my GB was related to).  So, I think too much fatty food just stresses digestion overall, if one has any compromise, which could be a million things.  My issues are all over the place, more like IBS for me.  My gastro suggested trying a probiotic.  I have in the past(he did not know when he suggested it) and not sure I noticed any digestive improvements. 

[momma2boys]

Got some interesting info last night by going to google and searching post gallbladder removal diet.

[hopechap]

Thanks - will google again.
Becca - have you tried eliminating dairy? It helped my sister with GI.

[becca]

Hope, I actually went dairy free for about 11 months while I bf my son.  I did not notice any particular changes in my health at that time. 

[becca]

Today's smoothie:  I am copying this from my  diabetes website, where I shared.  So I am including my cal/carb, etc... counts. 

Okay, my breakfast: (and I will add a snack of turkey sausages at 100 cals. after I exercise).

Blueberry/kefir/kale smoothie(it is mild and good tasting!)

1/2 cup of the kefir
1 cup frozen blueberries
2T ground flax
2 small leaves of Kale(which is more than it sounds, as they are generally very large and fluffy leaves)
2 packets stevia in the raw sweetener at 0 cals and 0 carbs.
ice and water to desires texture/consistency

195 calories, 27 carbs, 8 grams of fiber, 7 grams of fat and 8.5 grams of protein.

Hard to time a BG reading as these do not go down fast(too cold). I started having it at 8:10, and it will be close to 2 large goblets full! I will check my BG at 10. Hopefully that is time to cool off after I exercise on my elliptical, since my BG is lower right after, then adjusts.

[GingerPye]

How was your BG at 10?

and what is kefir?   

[becca]

Oops, that was diabetic geek speak because I shared the recipe over there. 

But, it was 93 at 9:30 and 95 at 10:00.  So, very level, given a 10 point margin of error on meters anyway.   And the goal is under 140 at 2 hrs pp.  So I did well, very well.  I never like to get to 140, however.  Rarely do. 

 
And kefir is a cultured dairy product, similar to yogurt, but a drink, and quite high on protein per 1 cup serving.  But it was pretty sour tasting.  First we tried it.  I thought ds might like it.  He is a yogurt freak.  I had to add so much sugar and honey to his smoothie this am, it was not so healthy.  It was too sour for him.  But he did like the flax in his smoothie.  He had a different smoothie, lol, not the one I made for me.  So, I am left using up th ekefir.  I bet it might be good in pancakes, much like buttermilk.  or bread?

[ruffbean]

Smoothies are a must! And I don't know how anyone lives without a high end blender. We use ours at least once every single day. We bought a Blendtec instead of a Vitamix after we read this review and we're glad we did: http://www.fooduciary.com/blendtec-vs-vitamix-the-choice-is-obvious/.