Smoothies, Juicing, etc.

[kyuuei]

Do you do any of these? If so, what's your normal rotation?

Did you really feel a difference in using them? Did you end up thinking they were a waste, or too much work?

General discussion as well is welcome, of course.

My post on the matter:

I've not done it very long, and I'm not on a daily regime yet, but I've been helping my parents with a diet and we included these.. Right now just once a day most days, I hope soon to drink them twice a day. (Within 2 weeks from now.. after we're used to doing it once a day.)

What I've noticed so far on troubleshooting them:
- Smoothies are WAY cleaner and easier than juicing.
- Prepping the veggies ahead of time is the only way to go. As soon as we grocery shop, we wash the veggies, lay them to dry, and cut/dice/prep them in containers so we can just throw them in. We got lazy REALLY fast when we didn't do this.
- A proper blender is an absolute must. We tried using the 20$ blender we had for a while.. and it was like we were eating grass clippings. Things just didn't blend well enough, so it was chunky and just not nearly as pleasant. We ended up getting a nutribullet which is amazingly awesome.. if you never EVER EVER EVER EVER mess up putting the lid on and don't overfill it.
- We currently do 50/50 greens and fruits, vanilla flavored coconut milk, and add in a bit of flavored protein powder and coffee creamer. If we don't add the two latter ones, they never taste nearly as good. If you go above 60/40 I found it doesnt taste great no matter what you do.

So far, I've noticed that I quickly started craving them in the mornings when they started being made well. Sometimes in the evenings as well.
My mother said she has more energy since she's been drinking them.
I've consumed far more varieties of greens than I ever did on my own with salads and steamed sides. Kale, beets, beet greens, and mustard greens are new veggies to my diet entirely that I would otherwise not even touch.

 

[ilikeitlikethat]

Do you do any of these? If so, what's your normal rotation?

1 pint of milk and 5/6 bananas - Banana Milk Shake.




There's something I want to try but, haven't got the ice atm.
Ice and celery, with a little water... I might end up loving or regretting that one.

I offset the acidic properties of kiwi fruit smoothies by adding a little salt, am I right to do that?

I have a smoothie maker that I call 'My Smoothie Maker... Love That Thing', it's pretty much this ice crusher of a mixer that has a Smoothie Speed, that's top speed, and a pulse button that gets the Mix Speed up to Smoothie Speed, that you can do when ever you like; and it has a tap.
I made - something, tonight, using 'my blender with a tap' smoothie maker, like a soup that turned into a seasoning/flavour; I made Egg Fried Rice 'It', that I ate and Mac & Goat's Cheese 'It', that's now cooling in the fridge.
'It' consists of shreeded frozen capsaicins, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks, a lot of garlic (maybe a little too much, but, I was thinking 'Heart' 'Heart' 'Heart' and of this really skinny, but sexy looking girl I once saw on TV with a 'portly fellow' who virtually lived off garlic and)... Milk.


I like making mixed fruit smoothies, like kiwis, apples, tangerines, bananas, a little sugar, and water.


There's also something else I want to try.
Ice, cerlery, tomatoes, hot sauce and vodka. - El Diablo's Bloody Mary

 

[Eugene Watson VIII]

It takes too long and i'm sure you can destroy vitamins in blenders if you're not careful. Smoothies are good though.

 

[kyuuei]

There's something I want to try but, haven't got the ice atm.
Ice and celery, with a little water... I might end up loving or regretting that one.

Interesting.. I don't know if I would enjoy celery in a liquid-like form. I tend to like sweeter veggie smoothies, so I often add vanilla protein-powder and fruits to whatever veggies I'm blending up.

I offset the acidic properties of kiwi fruit smoothies by adding a little salt, am I right to do that?

I don't think salt is needed. Even if kiwi is acidic, its also quite sweet, but I don't think a pinch of salt ever hurt a recipe either.

I made - something, tonight, using 'my blender with a tap' smoothie maker, like a soup that turned into a seasoning/flavour; I made Egg Fried Rice 'It', that I ate and Mac & Goat's Cheese 'It', that's now cooling in the fridge.
'It' consists of shreeded frozen capsaicins, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks, a lot of garlic (maybe a little too much, but, I was thinking 'Heart' 'Heart' 'Heart' and of this really skinny, but sexy looking girl I once saw on TV with a 'portly fellow' who virtually lived off garlic and)... Milk.

This is a very interesting combination.. :3 I'm of a mind to try it. You use it like a sauce/condiment?

I like making mixed fruit smoothies, like kiwis, apples, tangerines, bananas, a little sugar, and water.

This is my usual, fruit smoothies.. except I add spinach and a bit of kale to them, which turns them quite green but doesn't really affect the flavor when off-set with a teaspoon of flavored coffee creamer and coconut milk instead of water.

There's also something else I want to try.
Ice, cerlery, tomatoes, hot sauce and vodka. - El Diablo's Bloody Mary

I bet with some roasted tomatoes in the oven, skins peeled, and some absolute pepper vodka that'd be amazing. I'm completely addicted to cornichons lately, this seems like an awesome thing to enjoy them with.

It takes too long and i'm sure you can destroy vitamins in blenders if you're not careful. Smoothies are good though.

I don't think the amount of vitamins destroyed with a bit of heat from the blender makes a huge influence on the nutritional value.. Even if it did though, my parents are eating twice the veggies they used to just from blending them into smoothies.

They are a pain in the ass to make though, I'm still refining the process to make it easier. Prepping all the veggies ahead of time has helped a lot to cut down on the time it takes to make them.. but I'm still looking for an easier, stream-lined process since it is hard to prep the fruits without freezing them.

 

[ilikeitlikethat]

This is a very interesting combination.. :3 I'm of a mind to try it. You use it like a sauce/condiment?

Looking back, I remember Itâ„¢ was so bland, with a distinct taste, but a very bland one. Very bland.
Maybe a little too 'Garlic-e' for my usual palette but .... It was something to do something with...
And since it contained a lot of tomatoes, I wanted that something to be heated up.
I think I even pulped it and rinsed it until it was a funky wet mashy powered texture, but not paste!? - Itâ„¢ was 'something.'

This is my usual, fruit smoothies.. except I add spinach and a bit of kale to them.

Hmmm... Think I might try that. Cheers. 'TY'

 

[Fidelia]

I do both juicing and smoothies. In my smoothies I use homemade plain yoghurt (to avoid the additives and sugar in regular yoghurt), some V8 fruit/veggie juice, hemp hearts, spinach (you can't taste it, although it makes everything green) and lots of different fruits. It's a great, filling meal replacement and ensures that I eat more fruits than usual.

For juicing, I got a special juicer that allows you to keep the juice around for a few days without losing the important enzymes and nutrients. I wouldn't probably bother juicing if I had to do it every day. Usually I make about two jugs worth, add lemon juice and pour it into Starbucks frappacino bottles. I drink 2-4 of those a day. It looks gruesome, but tastes pretty good and contains huge amounts of vegetables! I don't think it's super high in calories, despite including some carrots and apples in the mix, but I try to have some before eating the rest of my food as it is filling.

I have used ginger and lemon juice for flavour and don't think I could probably drink it otherwise. I've found that too much cucumber can result in a lot of unpleasant frothy pulp, so I might put in one, but not a bunch. Usually I major on radishes, parsley, spinach, celery, and carrots and sometimes throw in a little of whatever else in the fridge that needs using up - a couple of grapes, part of an orange, a pepper or two, a couple granny smith apples for flavour, a bit of lettuce... I have avoided strong tasting stuff like kale, cabbage or onions etc. It really does help my voice and I think has made some difference to my pH levels. A batch usually lasts me about three days.

 

[kyuuei]

For juicing, I got a special juicer that allows you to keep the juice around for a few days without losing the important enzymes and nutrients. I wouldn't probably bother juicing if I had to do it every day.

This was the problem I had with juicing, it was too much clean up to do everyday. With the little nutribullet clean up is rather easy.. but I do like vegetable/fruit juices a lot. What sort of juicer do you have?

 

[Evo]

This was the problem I had with juicing, it was too much clean up to do everyday. With the little nutribullet clean up is rather easy.. but I do like vegetable/fruit juices a lot. What sort of juicer do you have?

Yea the lemon juice is a natural preservative too

Even when I have some for the next couple days...I am bad at keeping it a habit.

Thanks for the idea though, of chopping them ahead of time...that sounds like it would be more motivating.

If you chop up the fruit and then put it in the freazer you can use a smoothie maker and don't need ice ...just put the fruit in the blender frozen. That could save on time.

I now only juice. But it's not a lot. Unfortunately I am bad at routine. The only time I juice now is if I feel a cold coming on or if I'm sick and it lasts more than a day. It clears up my common cold within 24 hours. yay!

 

[peter_93]

Smoothies and the juices are good for health. much nutrition is found in the fruits and fruits smoothies I love mango smoothies as it is so delicious and the energetic.

 

[kyuuei]

Yea the lemon juice is a natural preservative too

Even when I have some for the next couple days...I am bad at keeping it a habit.

Thanks for the idea though, of chopping them ahead of time...that sounds like it would be more motivating.

If you chop up the fruit and then put it in the freazer you can use a smoothie maker and don't need ice ...just put the fruit in the blender frozen. That could save on time.

I now only juice. But it's not a lot. Unfortunately I am bad at routine. The only time I juice now is if I feel a cold coming on or if I'm sick and it lasts more than a day. It clears up my common cold within 24 hours. yay!

I can get really bad at routine as well. I supplement my lazy days with this stuff:
http://www.answerfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/bolthouse-farms-green-goodness-juice.jpg

It's about $1 a serving.. expensive in the way of things, but it'll keep me drinking the green stuff, and a bottle lasts me a week, so $4 a week isn't so bad. I'll remember smoothies 4-5 times a week, and supplement with this, and it works out alright.

So far, what I do is do EVERYTHING on Sunday or Monday. Soak the veggies (kale, beet greens, and spinach) in a sink of cold water, 2 tsp salt and 1/4 cup vinegar for 30 minutes. It gets all the dirt and microscopic critters off of the leaves and makes them last muuuch longer. Lay them out to dry, and while they're drying on a towel I roast the beets in the oven for an hour and a half. Peel the skin and make a red velvet cake smoothie out of them and that covers Sunday. The rest of the veggies I tear the stems and parts I don't like off, and the leaves go into tupperware so that in the morning I just drag the container out and toss a handful or two in. The fruits I just peel and cut them and stick them in that day. I should start freezing them though.

A scoop of vanilla protein powder (I'm about to switch to Lean 15 though), and some coconut milk, and that's it. I think if I freeze the fruit it'll be colder to drink which may be better, so I think I'll switch to that and see how it goes. Blackberries have proven very tasty in the smoothies, but the seeds are a bit annoying.

Smoothies and the juices are good for health. much nutrition is found in the fruits and fruits smoothies I love mango smoothies as it is so delicious and the energetic.

Mango I always have to buy frozen.. it's soo good, but its one of those fruits that are a total pain to prep.

 

[Anew Leaf]

Awesome thread!

When I am in my routine, I tend to do green smoothies for breakfast and lunch. They are ridiculously easy to put together since all I need to do is hit "black hole destroyer" to get food. I tend to make a large amount in the morning and drink half for my breakfast and bring the other half to work for lunch.

In January I am planning on attempting to do only juicing/smoothies for 30 days. I have managed 14 days at the most, and I am going to see if I can wrangle a full month. /random fact about future plans.

Edit: If you want recipe ideas, Kyu, I can pull some together for you.

 

[kyuuei]

Awesome thread!

When I am in my routine, I tend to do green smoothies for breakfast and lunch. They are ridiculously easy to put together since all I need to do is hit "black hole destroyer" to get food. I tend to make a large amount in the morning and drink half for my breakfast and bring the other half to work for lunch.

In January I am planning on attempting to do only juicing/smoothies for 30 days. I have managed 14 days at the most, and I am going to see if I can wrangle a full month. /random fact about future plans.

Edit: If you want recipe ideas, Kyu, I can pull some together for you.

recipes would be highly valued! Mine have all lately started to taste the same no matter what fruits I put into them.. It's hard for me as well since I buy seasonal.. Typically spinach, kale, and beets with the greens on top are all fairly cheap so I stick with them.. but fruits are completely seasonal and based on what's on sale. So having some ideas of what to stick in would be great. The usual assortment:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Pears
- Pineapples and Mangoes when I can afford to buy frozen or they're ridiculously cheap
- Oranges
- Berries when they're in season (strawberry, blueberry, blackberry)

I'd like to try things like pomegranates and such but they're a bit intimidating.

 

[Anew Leaf]

recipes would be highly valued! Mine have all lately started to taste the same no matter what fruits I put into them.. It's hard for me as well since I buy seasonal.. Typically spinach, kale, and beets with the greens on top are all fairly cheap so I stick with them.. but fruits are completely seasonal and based on what's on sale. So having some ideas of what to stick in would be great. The usual assortment:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Pears
- Pineapples and Mangoes when I can afford to buy frozen or they're ridiculously cheap
- Oranges
- Berries when they're in season (strawberry, blueberry, blackberry)

I'd like to try things like pomegranates and such but they're a bit intimidating.

One off of the top of my head (since I am eating it right now ) is:

Blue Bear:

2 cups of water
4 collard green leaves
1 pear
fresh ginger root (to taste, I use a lot >.>)
1 cup frozen blueberries (or ice if you don't have access to this)
1 banana

I tend to add supplements to this like flax seed oil/hemp seed oil/coconut oil, ground flax seed, spirulina, acai powder, hemp protein powder... to up the fiber and protein contents.

I will post some more later for you. I have about 5 juicing recipe books to help give me variety.

 

[Ryadai]

My favourite combination at the moment is:

Spinach
Cucumber
Celery
A slice of lemon/Lemon juice
Apples
Frozen grapes and sometimes a few extra ice cubes.

 

[HongDou]

Blake Lively talked about this in Seventeen Magazine a while ago and I think it's tasty.

Strawberries (I haven't tried any other fruit but I'm sure mostly anything will work)
Spinach for fiber
Yogurt for protein

This is a smoothie, btw!

 

[Winds of Thor]

One off of the top of my head (since I am eating it right now ) is:

Blue Bear:

2 cups of water
4 collard green leaves
1 pear
fresh ginger root (to taste, I use a lot >.>)
1 cup frozen blueberries (or ice if you don't have access to this)
1 banana

I tend to add supplements to this like flax seed oil/hemp seed oil/coconut oil, ground flax seed, spirulina, acai powder, hemp protein powder... to up the fiber and protein contents.

I will post some more later for you. I have about 5 juicing recipe books to help give me variety.

The collards are so good for you .

Can you take it easy on the marijuana, [MENTION=13402]Saturned[/MENTION].

 

[DaniaWania]

I like green juice ^^

 

[kyuuei]

Krogers (a grocery store near me) has had Buy 1 get 1 free of those expensive Bolthouse Farms smoothies lately.. I've been addicted to their acai +10 juice and the green machine juices as well. I stocked up while they were $1.50 each. :3 They help keep me on track when I'm too busy to make smoothies, so I usually buy them anyways, so this was a total steal for me.

 

[1487610420]

dis cumed 2 mind

/relevant

 

[Lexicon]

I just got a Nutribullet, actually. These recipes sound fantastic. Keep'm coming.

*subscribes*