New Lily

9 Simple Tips for Making Smoothies (Juicing Too)

Some of my favorite add-ins are basil or mint leaves....

Some of my favorite add-ins are basil or mint leaves….

I love my Vitamix.  I feel so fortunate that we decided to “bite the bullet” and buy one when my husband was diagnosed with cancer some years back.  It’s been worth every dime (or dollar…or hundreds of dollars…but whatever). As long as we have a little fruit in the house, some greens, and maybe yogurt or kefir, we can make great smoothies almost everyday. I would say we do the smoothie thing about 4-5 days a week.  I love handing #5 (Annie) a smoothie as she heads out the door. She’s 17 and drives so she has access to junk food if she wants it.  I feel good about loading her up with a tall glass of greens and fruit, knowing at least she has started the day right. The rest of my younger kids stay home for school, and smoothies are a quick way to start the day (clean-up is another topic altogether). [Read more…]

Finally a Green Smoothie I Can Handle

Not bad!  That's saying a lot!

Not bad! That’s saying a lot!

My brother-in-law is staying with us.  He decided he wants to start drinking a green smoothie everyday.  Since he had never tried one, he said to me, “How bad can they be?”  Well…pretty bad, actually.  Warm and fuzzy are not emotions that are stirred up in me when the word green smoothie is mentioned.  I’ve tried my share.  When two years ago my husband was diagnosed with cancer, I started making green smoothies for him.  I wanted the healthiest variety.  And he couldn’t eat fruit because his throat was subjected to radiation treatments and was incredibly sore.

We tried many different varieties containing lots of kinds of greens… wheatgrass, kale, spinach, collards, celery, cucumber, etc.  None of them were particularly palatable.  Some people would say it just takes time, that your taste buds get used to things.  Not mine. [Read more…]