The first is a green smoothie, and it's my favorite flavor combo so far.
Toss one banana, a large amount of spinach greens, and an entire peeled lemon into the blender. I had a few extra grapes laying around so I threw them in there too.
Blend it up!
The result was a delicious green (more green than usual, and I loved the color) nutritious smoothie!
So remember: if you have a banana and a handful of dark leafy greens you can make a green smoothie! The extra ingredients (grapes, lemons, cucumbers, strawberries) are just extras, and all very good, but not necessary. I made this green smoothie in front of my co-worker, who had never tried green smoothies before. I gave her a cup of it, and I wasn't sure how it would be received, since it is "green" and all, but she actually asked for more. Of course, there were not extras. We both devoured the whole blender :)
So why did I choose the ingredients I did?
Spinach is such an amazing green. It has a high concentration of calcium, iron, and vitamin A.
Here is a breakdown of the vitamins and minerals in it, but if you can only remember three things about spinach, remember calcium, iron, and vitamins!
Vitamins
Amounts Per Selected Serving
%DV
Vitamin A
2813
56%
Vitamin C
8.4
14%
Vitamin D
~
~
Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol)
0.6
3%
Vitamin K
145
181%
Thiamin
0.0
2%
Riboflavin
0.1
3%
Niacin
0.2
1%
Vitamin B6
0.1
3%
Folate
58.2
15%
Vitamin B12
0.0
0%
Pantothenic Acid
0.0
0%
Choline
5.4
Betaine
165
Minerals
Amounts Per Selected Serving
%DV
Calcium
29.7
3%
Iron
0.8
5%
Magnesium
23.7
6%
Phosphorus
14.7
1%
Potassium
167
5%
Sodium
23.7
1%
Zinc
0.2
1%
Copper
0.0
2%
Manganese
0.3
13%
Selenium
0.3
0%
Fluoride
~
Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2626/2#ixzz1GKMHaYQb
Next up: bananas. I always choose a banana to go into my smoothie because it has such a sweet, smooth taste and it covers up the vegetables completely. Not only that, bananas are high in potassium, which is excreted in sweat, and since I sweat a lot when I work out and I work out a lot, I need at least one banana every day. What happens if you don't get enough sodium, calcium and potassium, especially if you are working out? Leg cramps in the middle of the night! Muscle spasms. Charlie horses all throughout the day! If you have a leg cramp or charlie horse, chances are you might need some extra electrolytes in your life!
(Bananas were also recently recognized on Yahoo! news as one of the top ten best foods to eat that are good for you and fill you up at the same time. Who would have known, right? A healthy fruit? That crazy common sense, always comin out of left field!)
Lemons: I add the lemon because I try to have one whole lemon every day. Lemon juice will break down kidney stones because it dissolves uric acid, and since I've had kidney stones, I am now in active prevention of another attack every day of my life. A girl I work with also has kidney stones, and her doctor told her to take pills which are essentially "lemon pills". She asked if she could just drink lemon juice instead, and she told me his words were: "You could. But you'd have to eat like, a whole lemon juiced into water every day. Or you could take these pills three times a day". She chose the pills. I'll take the lemon. It's fast, it's natural, it's delicious, and I don't like popping pills!
Lemon is also known for it's healing properties, detoxifying the liver, cleansing the kidney of uric acid, building bones for the fetus in pregnancy, etc etc.
The second thing I made today was socca.
Socca is a bread made from garbanzo bean flour. They eat it a lot in other countries and everyone who tries it comes back to States talking about how good it is. I got really excited to try it when I kept reading about it on this website. Pure2Raw are twin girls, raw-food vegans who opened their own bakery and sell gluten free, dairy free, raw treats. They also make a ton of other delicious food and I've become a frequent flyer to their blog when I need some food ideas. They're a lot younger than me and they have their own business! Talk about motivated!
While at the health food store I bought garbanzo bean flour, then added water and a pinch of salt. The great thing about socca is it only has four ingredients:
garbanzo bean flour
salt
water
oil (or butter to grease the pan)
I used 1 cup of the flour, 1.5 cups of water, and a pinch of salt. Whisk everything together and into the buttered pan (or oiled pain) it goes. I encourage you to watch this video that Lori made of herself making the socca. It's ridiculously easy. Literally put ingredients together, whisk, and pour into pan.
My ingredients in pan:
And 30 minutes later when I took it out of the oven and cut it into squares:
It turned out exactly as Lori and Michelle described: dense and almost custard-like in the middle, crispy on the outside.
The great thing about socca is that it tastes like you're eating bread, but you're not. You aren't consuming the empty calories, the sugar, or the carbs like you would be if you sat down and ate three pieces of bread. You are actually eating beans, in the form of bread, so you are getting protein and fiber, along with all the vitamins and minerals beans are known for. It is filling, too, so two pieces later and I was stuffed!
You can add spices, seasonings, onions, anything you want. I rolled plain with mine to see how it would turn out, but then ended up putting some cheddar daiya cheese on top:
Swoon.
This was so incredibly amazing.
Well, I'm off to work again! If tonight is anything like last night, it's going to be another crazy, but great time! :) Have a great night!
No comments:
Post a Comment