Disaster Smoothie: Lemon Mint Kale Banana Tangerine Blueberry

(Plus spinach and honey)

Oh my – I certainly brewed up a concoction this afternoon!  You know how they say you can throw anything into a smoothie?  Well, you can, but you might not be able to drink it.  

So I saw a recipe to make a homemade lemonade with honey, hot water and lemons.  And a nice icy lemonade sounded really good to me.   The problem is balancing the lemony tartness and the honey sweetness.  Using four cups of hot water and two lemons, I added 5 tablespoons of honey and about 10 mint leaves.  When I tasted it the lemon tasted a little weak, so I squeezed another lemon into the mix, for a total of three lemons.  Then it was pretty tart, but I wasn’t about to use more than 5 tablespoons of honey, even though I knew this would be two smoothies.  So I squeezed a tangerine into the mix.

Then I poured half into the blender, added 1/2 a large kale leaf, two spinach leaves and ice.  After blending I tasted it and let’s just say it was less than stellar, still too lemony.   So I threw a banana in.  Hmmmm, interesting for sipping (if you catch my drift).  So then I threw 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries in. 

I have a smoothie here.  It’s passable.   I’m making myself drink it.  The lemon flavor is the dominant one – I need to just put a big ol’ spoon of sugar in it, but I hate to do that.   I’m saving the rest of it to maybe add strawberries to tomorrow.  This would have worked had I put more truly sweet fruits into it, but I’m fresh out and was using up what I had on hand.   To make this up to you, dear reader, I’m going to make Smoothie No. 5 later tonight.   

I’m blaming all of this on not having a good breakfast today.  ; )

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Smoothie No. 1: Strawberry Kale

I’M KICKING OFF SMOOTHIE WEEK at 14 Months to 50, bringing you delightful blender combos made by me or one of you!   Thanks to everyone who emailed smoothie recipes to me, or posted one on Facebook.   I appreciate you!

Today’s smoothie follows tradition by containing each of the following, which seem to make up a fruit smoothie blueprint: some fruit, a creamy thing, a frozen thing, and something-really-healthy-but-not-sweet you can sneak in.  

Strawberry Kale Smoothie

6 medium to large strawberries

1 banana

1/2 c. frozen blueberries

1/2 c. almond milk

1 large kale leaf, chopped

Toss in blender and drink!  This recipe makes one large glass of frozen yumminess.  I didn’t add anything to sweeten it, but you could add some agave or honey or maple syrup.   I thought the natural fruit flavors were refreshing.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more blender magic!

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Close Encounters of the Kale Kind

UNTIL A FEW MINUTES AGO, kale was totally alien to me.   I’ve been wanting to try it, but wasn’t sure what to do with it.  But my Aunt Karen has sent me down the right path — I copied the way she and my Uncle Bob prepare their kale and it’s great!   

Now that I’ve eaten it, I really like the flavor of kale, to me it tastes a lot like a broccoli/cabbage combo.   The leaves are firm when you chew them, like cabbage, maybe a bit more firm.    So here’s your Meatless Monday recipe from me (and Karen and Bob):

Boil the leaves of the kale in shallow water, until they are bright green.  I only made one serving and I used about six leaves.  Since I used purple kale it was hard to cook by color, so I went by smell.  When I started smelling the kale and it was softer to a fork pierce, I drained the water off.  In the meantime, I was sauteing red and green bell peppers in some olive oil.  Once the kale was ready, I cut the leaves into smaller pieces and tossed them into the bell peppers, still on the stove.    I know I won’t have any problems just eating kale steamed or boiled, on its own.  And I’m glad I finally tried it!!   

(Oh!  Forgot to say, Karen drizzles hers with vinegar — I had mine without and it was just great)

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