Spinach Shakes-Don’t Run Away!!

Hi everyone. please click on the title of this post to read more. To start off, I would like to answer a reader’s question:

“Hi Alma. I am about to go away with 2 other families to a rented house for a week. I feel a tad anxious about cooking good meals without my pantry and my own kitchen. Any simple crowd- pleasing recipes you can recommend to take along? There will be 6 kids and I don’t want to resort to mac and cheese every night.”

Well, Julie, I highly recommend the last post’s Buttermilk chicken legs, removing pepper from the recipe for the kid’s version, maple soy salmon or chicken, basil corn whole wheat couscous as a side dish (or even plain whole wheat couscous for the kids), and cold peanut sesame noodles (some kids may just eat plain noodles so you can separate out for them). Most of these dishes require a lot of dry ingredients so you can even bring them with you if you have the room and save on shopping and money. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Now, I feel a need to prosthletize about the benefits of the vegetable fruit shakes-watch me make one in my video below… I have been drinking them EVERY day for close to 2 months now. For those of us who believe we do not eat enough fruits and vegetables (and most of us do not), these shakes ensure that we chug down a healthy quantity all at once so that we may leisurely eat our other food groups throughout the day without the pressure to focus on veggies and fruit.

I have spoken of the above benefits before, but my new info to share is that I have had borderline high cholesterol for years (bad genetics) and was told last year that I had to start the cholesterol lowering drug,Lipitor, once I finished nursing. Last week I was shocked when my doctor informed me that my cholesterol was FINE! Even if it is not the result of the shakes, it is still ultra healthy to be consuming these shakes. Be a convert to good health and ease of vegetable eating like me, my husband and 2 out of 4 kids (at times). I rotate kale (but be careful not to eat a ton of raw kale or any other veggie in the cabbage family if you have a thyroid issue), spinach, beet greens, collard greens and even romaine lettuce. Here’s a spinach one:

Spinach and Fruit Shake:

4 big handfuls of fresh spinach or 1/2-3/4 lb frozen chopped spinach
1 banana , preferably frozen-but peel it before freezing it
1 mango , chopped or a big handful of frozen chunk mango (most supermarkets have this item, definitely Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods)
2 cups water
Puree in a blender until smooth. Ahhhhhhhhh, refreshing!
P.S. I especially like all the vegetables frozen because it makes it creamier. Also, if it is not sweet enough for you, add a little juice, preferably pomegranite since it is so heart healthy.

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7 Responses

  1. Alma recently served me some of her kale-fruit shake and surprisingly, it was pretty tasty and fruitier than you can imagine anything that green could possibly be. Served in a green shot glass which disguised the color a little (very smart!) it was thick and cold and refreshing. i drank my "shot" and actually had another couple shots. i think i may try this at home, probably adding the pomegranate juice. Of course, Alma gave me a little "tasting" plate of other yummy treats, my favorite being the corn & mango salsa. Thanks for a fun visit!

  2. When I read about a spinach shake, and I like spinach,I thought Alma had finally gone off her rocker. The voice of reason, Brian, told me it was delish and offered me some to try. I have to tell you, it was pretty damn good!

  3. Today, I made the green smoothie with kale, blueberries, strawberries, frozen bananas and yogurt for my 2 year old son and almost 5 year old daughter (a selective eater if there ever was one). My daughter literally said “Mama, this is the most delicious smoothie ever,” and my son loved it too. I’m usually not big on hiding the veggies, but I’m completely sold on this one. I served it in a colorful plastic cup with a straw; it didn’t look green at all. Thanks, Alma!

  4. spinach shakes are awesome!!!!…….I’ve been making up my own recipes for about a week now…..i usually add spinach, 1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery, 1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberry organic yogurt, handful of blueberries, handful of red grapes, 2 or 3 strawberries, 1/2 gala apple, and about 8 oz of filtered water. This seems to be my standard shake, but…I’m still experimenting though!!!!!!!

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