I know you are saying "This is not a food blog" and you would be so right, but organizing the meals for my family is a big part of my life. If you think clutter and disorganized closets and drawers pulls on a family, that is nothing compared to no food in the fridge or on the table when it is time for dinner.
That is why organizing my recipes is such a high priority for me. It takes all my organizational skills to get a meal on the table with everything at the right temperature at the same time.
I also need to keep an organized record of new recipes that I find or make up.
Last week I shared with you my first experiences with kale. I have been playing with kale even more. Finding a really good smoothie recipe has been a high priority for me. One reason is that I find baby kale to be milder in taste than spinach. Kale is also super nutritious.
So here is one recipe for a kale smoothie that I am totally in love with.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup apple juice, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup canned pineapple with juice, a big giant handful of kale and 2 Tbs whey protein powder, 4-5 frozen strawberries and 1 Tb chia seed. Of course, all these amounts can just be approximated.
That is why organizing my recipes is such a high priority for me. It takes all my organizational skills to get a meal on the table with everything at the right temperature at the same time.
I also need to keep an organized record of new recipes that I find or make up.
Last week I shared with you my first experiences with kale. I have been playing with kale even more. Finding a really good smoothie recipe has been a high priority for me. One reason is that I find baby kale to be milder in taste than spinach. Kale is also super nutritious.
So here is one recipe for a kale smoothie that I am totally in love with.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup apple juice, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup canned pineapple with juice, a big giant handful of kale and 2 Tbs whey protein powder, 4-5 frozen strawberries and 1 Tb chia seed. Of course, all these amounts can just be approximated.
(While I was taking the pictures of the different ingredients that I use, I felt like an advertisement for Costco. They don't know what a great fan I am. The only ingredient I didn't buy there was the apple juice which you can totally get there too.)
Place the ingredients into a blender. I use a Blendtec. The Blendtec blends the greens super fine. I'm sure other blenders work great as well.
Place the ingredients into a blender. I use a Blendtec. The Blendtec blends the greens super fine. I'm sure other blenders work great as well.
Once it is blended all that is left is to enjoy!
You can control the thickness of this smoothie by the amount of kale that you put in it. In this one I put a lot.
One thing I do to make my smoothie making easier is to put 4-5 strawberries in individual baggies so they are ready to put in the smoothie without having to fuss with the big bag of strawberries. Those resealable bags don't always reseal for me.
The Chia Seeds are very optional. They just add fiber, protein and omega 3.
The Whey protein powder that I used is flavored with vanilla. Whole Foods sells a protein powder that doesn't have the flavoring and other additives. I think it might be better but I haven't tried it yet.
So how did I come up with this recipe? Mostly by listening to people talk about how they make smoothies. My husband said he heard that pineapple went well with kale. My niece told me that she didn't like bananas in her kale smoothies. Before she told me that, I had added frozen bananas to all my smoothies. She is so right, these kale smoothies are so much better without bananas.
Recording this recipe helps me because I have a terrible habit of making up something that I love and I think I will remember how to make it but, lo and behold a few weeks later I have no idea what I did.
You really should give this a try. You will be amazed at how good greens can taste for breakfast, or lunch, or for a snack. Whatever!
Click here for recipe: Pineapple Kale Smoothie
The Whey protein powder that I used is flavored with vanilla. Whole Foods sells a protein powder that doesn't have the flavoring and other additives. I think it might be better but I haven't tried it yet.
So how did I come up with this recipe? Mostly by listening to people talk about how they make smoothies. My husband said he heard that pineapple went well with kale. My niece told me that she didn't like bananas in her kale smoothies. Before she told me that, I had added frozen bananas to all my smoothies. She is so right, these kale smoothies are so much better without bananas.
Recording this recipe helps me because I have a terrible habit of making up something that I love and I think I will remember how to make it but, lo and behold a few weeks later I have no idea what I did.
You really should give this a try. You will be amazed at how good greens can taste for breakfast, or lunch, or for a snack. Whatever!
Click here for recipe: Pineapple Kale Smoothie