I'm sure I've mentioned before in this little space that I like to call home that my dad has diabetes. For a while, he didn't even know he had it since he's led such an active life to balance out his tendencies towards ice cream and pound cake (often combined -___-). But since then, it's been a constant struggle for him to keep his blood sugar at the appropriate levels. Drastic measures have been taken in the form of daily injections; ick, which I might add: have not been helping whatsoever! I bake a lot of devilish, completely moreish things here at my humble blog, but other times, I really love to dabble in healthy cooking and baking.
I don't believe at all that things that taste good can't be good for you. I've been on a mission lately to find these things and I can say, happily, that I am well on my way to finding great alternatives for my dad. The thing is, he's a picky fella - he refuses to eat leftovers and gets bored easily, which, I must say, is okay by me since I like to reinvent, reinterpret and try new things anyhow.
But all in all, this is just me saying that there will be a lot more things on this blog rather than decadent sweets. But, again, this is me saying that I will always be committed to delicious food. So if it doesn't taste as good as it is good for you, then it will be sent back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth!
Anyways, onto this green monster smoothie. You've seen it; you might have cringed a bit at the thought of it. It's green and healthy and has spinach in it and has all the signs that tell you to click out of the page and wander off to find a cookie somewhere. This is where I tell you to take a deep breath, allow the thought to cross your mind, and let it settle there. This magical world that we live in has found in its right mind to allow the combination of spinach, orange juice, pear and honey to be something so, so incredibly delicious. Make it, drink it, love it - just like I have been for the past week (and my dad too)!
Green Monster Smoothie
Yields: 2 servings
2 heaping cups of baby spinach leaves
1 ripe bosc pear, cored
1 1/2 cup orange juice
1 tbsn. honey
In a blender, combine the everything and blend until no large spinach leaves remain and everything is well combined. Add more honey to taste if desired. Serve over ice!
* Option 1: Add a fresh or frozen, ripe banana and forget the honey! The sweetness of the banana is more than enough for the smoothie.
* Option 2: Add 1 - 2 cups of water. Sometimes I like drinking my smoothie more as a juice/ water!
* Option 1: Add a fresh or frozen, ripe banana and forget the honey! The sweetness of the banana is more than enough for the smoothie.
* Option 2: Add 1 - 2 cups of water. Sometimes I like drinking my smoothie more as a juice/ water!
These are my favorite types of smoothies! Veggies and fruit, all in one delicious package. I even made one today, although I usually add bananas to the mix because it masks the spinach flavor pretty well.
ReplyDeleteI usually prefer thick, very cold smoothies. Would this lend itself to being blended with ice, to make it thicker?
ReplyDelete@ Digigirl: YES definitely! It can go both ways. If you want it to be thicker, just add a frozen banana or some ice (I would say about 3/4 cup). If you want it to be thinner, you can dilute it with water to make more of a juice/ flavored water!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really good! I love those Oddwalla Superfood drinks, which everyone thinks look disgusting. I will have to make this!
ReplyDeletehave you try already nopal? in mexico its very often to eat it, its sort of a cactus leave and it decreases de sugar levels, mi grandma used to have diabetes and she could control it eating nopales, you can do it in salads, smothies with pineaple and orange, just grilled, broiled in water then sliced with tomatoe, onion and vinegar,
ReplyDeleteWoooow, the colour is soooo vibrant, so powerfull. I really like your smoothie. And I like it being healthy :-)
ReplyDeleteIt actually sounds pretty good. And it looks VERY good, such a vivid color, like new budding tree leaves.
ReplyDeleteMichelle darling, my dad has also diabetes, he has been figting it for long time (abt 15+yrs) and last yr had an open heart surgery to unblock two arteries. Both treatments, diabetes and heart condition are painful and they make him very fussy since he cannot eat nothing with salt AND sugar :(
ReplyDeleteI applaud and encourage your idea to create more healthy treats here in your blog (I also promised that to my daddy and I haven´t done it yet..).
I´m also loving the fact that you even change your banner to this healthy loving food!.
As for the smoothie I like to prepare one with lots of spinach, pear, banana, water and ice. No orange juice (has plenty of sugar) or honey needed at all and its very fullfiling!.
@ Anonymous: No, I've never tried nopal but since you've mentioned it, I've passed the idea along to my dad and we are gonna try to scope some out and try it! Thanks so much for the information :)
ReplyDelete@ Heidi: Oh man, I feel for your dad :( It's really hard changing your diet when you're so used to eating a certain way your whole life! Hopefully my attempts to change our diet as a family will last for a long time. I agree, when I have ripe bananas on hand, there's no need for honey at all, then I just dilute it with some water so make a sort-of juice! Next time I'll try it without orange juice all together - thanks :D
Interesting idea adding the pear. Mine is mostly spinach and peanut butter. Here is my recipe: http://www.greenlivingeco.com/green-monster-smoothie/
ReplyDelete