Back in October I came down with a long lasting cold that’s been going around. Gary and Dave had already had it, so I knew what I was in for when I got the first sore throat. (There were 2 and the second one was worse.) I decided to take some immune boosting action. I stopped eating dairy products, started drinking carrot juice and began eating even more fruits and veggies.

Then I added one green smoothie a day to my diet. Wow! The smoothies made a huge difference in my energy level and general physical well being. I’ve had one almost every day for 32 days now. I started making them with an Oster blender, which works okay, but it takes a while and doesn’t pulverize the greens as well as a high powered blender.

After a month on the smoothies, we bought a Vitamix. The basic recipe I started with is:

2 Tb flax seeds
some pomegranate juice or water
a cup or so of frozen berries, usually blueberries and strawberries
one date
2 cups of greens, (lactino kale, red russian kale, collard greens, spinach, chard, dandelion greens…)
some mint from the garden
some ice

Today’s smoothie was pomegranate juice, lactino kale, a carrot, strawberries, a banana and flax seeds. I think it was too sweet with the carrot and banana and I won’t make this one again. Blend and learn.

Even though the smoothies always have greens in them, they are not always green. The basic recipe is more purple. The smoothies taste far better then they sound. If you use mild greens like spinach and chard, you really can’t taste the greens at all. I don’t always use berries or flax. Sometimes it’s an apple or orange or whatever fruit we have on hand. Raw almonds work well in place of flax and they are filling too. If you google green smoothie, you’ll find more recipes than you can make.

So, if you need an energy boost or an immune boost, try a green smoothie. You might be surprised at how good it makes you feel. I was.