Sharing my lunch with you...

Today, for a late lunch, I made myself a green smoothie and a cup of rosehip tea. I thought I would share them with fellow Bloggers as some friends have expressed curiosity in the green drinks I have started making.

For the green smoothie, my first ingredient was lettuce. Spinach will work just as well, and actually does not affect the taste at all in my opinion. But lettuce was all we had in the house today. I usually just put a cup or so of water in the blender first, so that it does not end up really chunky, but we had orange juice in the house so I used that instead. Water is just fine if you have that. The juice did add a very nice fruity flavor.

We are stocked up on frozen bananas and blueberries in our freezer, so those are what I usually use. I also found a couple frozen strawberries too, which I threw in. I found that they changed the color to a deep red, instead of a very muddy green. Also, one thing I have found with frozen bananas is that the flavor does deteriorate in the freezer over time. I think we have cycled through all our old ones now and I have been enjoying the taste of the fresh ones.

Next, I throw in a teaspoon of kelp powder, which is especially good for females who tend to need the iodine that most seaweeds contain. I get mine from a small health food store in Grand Ledge called Wild Oats. I got 0.46 lb and it was only $1.61, but it will last me quite a while. One teaspoon a day is fine. The powder has a strong seaweed smell, but you can’t taste it at all in the drink.

Then, I went outside to collect greens from the yard. Dandelion leaves are good for cleaning out your body. I picked 3-4 smallish ones to use. They do add a very distinct bitter flavor, so be sure to pick the smaller ones, and only use a few. Last Sunday, I tried making a green drink with dandelion as the main green, and it turned out so nasty, that I had to throw it all out. So do be careful how much you put in. The orange juice did blend really nice with the dandelion taste. If there is a chance that the leaves could have gotten sprayed with pesticide from neighboring fields or they grow close to the road, I wouldn’t use them.

Last, I picked a couple peppermint shoots that were coming up in the flower bed. Peppermint is overall good for just about anything!

I also got dried rosehips from Wild Oats on my trip there today. I have been struggling with a cold due to stress and lack of sleep from Seussical show week. Rose hips have a TON of Vitamin C in them. I found that they actually taste like dried tomatoes! The tea had a slight tomato soup flavor to it, but not nasty at all. I didn’t add honey, it didn’t really seem appropriate with the tomato. ;) Drank it all down, and so hopefully I will be feeling better soon!

Hope you enjoyed this descriptive narrative of my lunch!