Friday, May 7, 2010

Green Smoothies and Kombucha

On my quest for healthy, refreshing beverages I decided to try green smoothies and kombucha as they seem to be popping all over the blogosphere. Here is my story.

I decided to try green smoothies because green veggies are really grossing me out right now. I usually love my leafy greens but those darned hormones have changed all that. So, I thought I could blend them with some fruit and make it yummy for everyone. Basically you blend 40% fresh greens with 60% fruit, some ice and a little liquid of choice to get the desired consistency. I tried frozen spinach my first go around, but it was really spinachy tasting. Now I have been using fresh kale, a pear, a few strawberries (I have fresh at the moment, but frozen would be good too), some frozen tropical fruit, apple juice and ice (which I usually put in first!). Sounds bizarre I know... but the fruit really takes the cake as far as the flavor goes, but you get the healthiness of fresh greens. The kids loved it too. Sadly Nick was definitely turned off by the color. I am glad my green experiment went well... because I didn't get further than a bottle of kombucha from the grocery store...

Maybe you have seen it in the healthy section of the store? Little bottles with refreshing names that cost more than a half gallon of organic milk and has little stuff floating around in the bottles. Kombucha is this mushroom-like thing that ferments in tea and sugar... read about it here. So, I was totally optimistic about this amazing healthy beverage and planned on growing my own kombucha mushroom....... but then I tasted it. Yuck!!!!!! All I could taste was yeast... and all day afterwards I could only taste yeast. And when I made pizza with yeast, all I could taste was kombucha. Apparently some people like it. Some people LOVE it and crave it. And then there are people like me who are grossed out beyond measure and wonder if it really is all its cracked up to be if it isn't even palatable.

I just thought I would share my experiment with you... in case you are as crazy as me and thought about trying those things. Or maybe you haven't and are now inspired to add some yummy greens to your life... smoothie style. :)

5 comments:

Jacqueline said...

lol.. so interesting to hear you posting about the green smoothie today. i was on gwyneth paltrow's website today (goop.com) and she was talking about drinking kale-drinks and how healthy they were. i think i may give it a try!

my mom used to make homemade kombucha. she had these huge, gross mushrooms that would sit and ferment in jars in the darkest corners of her cupboards. she forced me to try it a few times, and surprisingly it wasn't bad. but sometimes knowing where something came from ruins the whole thing!

Clare said...

LOL!! Well, it seems a lot of people like kombucha... maybe I will try it again when I am NOT pregnant. Growing mushrooms in cabinets is pretty gross.

Try the smoothies! They are surprisingly good! And good for the wee ones too! :)

Kristen's Raw said...

Mmmmm I love green smoothies. They make an appearance in my diet many times a week. :)

Cheers,
Kristen

Annie Hatke Schap said...

Don't you ever wonder if some people are into kombucha because it's so "in"? Lol... maybe I'm just a meanie. I don't think I've ever tasted it. I bet Kale is really good for green smoothies because it's relatively tasteless! I like it in soups for that very reason. I can see how spinach would be too much. I think if I ever am turned off of leafy greens for reasons like yours I will venture into the green smoothie area... but until then, I think I'll keep my greens whole! Lol!

Clare said...

Haha Annie, you are possibly right about kombucha... but some people really like it. Bleh! Yeah, we usually heat whole greens with butter and salt but right now they are so yucky! bleh!