Beet, Berry, and Almond Smoothie

 My picture does not do this smoothie justice. It's a deeper color in person.  Let's call it very-mixed-berry and it was yummy! 

I have a list of smoothies I want to sample, many of which are on my Na zdrowie Pinterest board (Pronounced: Naz-droh-vee-ay, which means cheers, or drink to your health in Polish.)

Since I had some steamed beets in the fridge, I thought I'd give this one a try.  I added 2 small steamed beets (cut in half), some frozen mixed berries, honey, milk, mint, and slivered almonds.  I eyeballed the ingredients, but here's a similar, more detailed recipe. 

Pear and Cucumber Smoothie

Juicing is great! We have had our juicer for years, but you lose all the fiber when you juice....so M and I have been blending.  With a blender, you keep all the ingredients you throw into it and receive all the yummy nutrients and fiber.  

In a blender combine the following ingredients and liquify for a super green pear and cucumber smoothie.  Just another green drink suggestion!

1 pear, cubed
1 cucumber, cubed with skin on
handful of parsley
a few tablespoons of chia seeds
1/4 cup frozen mango
1" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1-2 cups of water, depending on how smooth or thick you want your smoothie 

Serves 2-4 people.

Aduki Bean Smoothie with Spinach and Strawberries

I read about azuki beans, also spelled adzuki or aduki beans, a few months ago.  They are small red beans typically used in Japanese cooking.  Yesterday I found canned organic aduki beans at the market and decided to make an aduki bean smoothie thanks to this smoothie recipe.  I pinned a few other aduki bean recipes on Pinterest and will be making them soon.  Check back soon!

Aduki Bean Smoothie:
1 banana
1/2 cup canned aduki beans
handful of spinach
1/2 cup frozen mango
5 strawberries
1 cup strawberry kefir
1 cup milk 

Beet Juice

What a beautiful drink!  This was not M's favorite juice.  He stated that it was not sweet enough and "too much like a garden."  However, I made enough for four servings and enjoyed this juice for a few days (I stored the remaining juice in the fridge in a stainless-steel mug because beets tend to stain things like plastic).  I especially like the red-purple color - I am also a borscht fan - and beets have so many wonderful healing properties.   Did you know that beets are high in fiber and vitamins A, B, and C, not to mention they cleanse the body, calm the mind, and help to lower your blood pressure? Read more beet benefits here.

Serving size 4

In our blender I added:
4 small beets, softened
beet juice (if any)*
a handful of the beet leaves, chopped
1 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 apples,chopped
small bunch of mint
1 to 1.5 cups of water
1 cup of orange juice

1. Remove the outer covering of the beets with a carrot peeler.  Using a fork, poke holes in the beets and place in a microwave-safe dish.  Steam for a few minutes in the microwave, or until tender.  I checked ours every 30 seconds. Carefully remove beets from the microwave. Once the beets are cooled, chop into smaller pieces. Save any beet juice. 

2. In a blender, add cooled beets, beet leaves, carrot, apple, mint, water, orange juice, and beet juice.*  Liquify in your blender and enjoy!

*NOTE - If there is any beet juice from microwaving the beets, you can add to your blender too. 

Spinach Oatmeal Smoothie

M and I have been on a daily smoothie/juice kick for the last few weeks.  Our drinks are healthy and delicious - not sure why it has taken me so long to blog about them.  Therefore, you'll be seeing our favorite drink recipes in the upcoming posts. 

Today we had a spinach oatmeal smoothie, which was sweet, satisfying for breakfast, and such a pretty green. I never thought to add oatmeal to our smoothies until I saw some posts on Pinterest, like this one, or spinach for that matter.  Oh the power of Pinterest! 

For this recipe, you'll need:

1 cup cooked instant oatmeal with milk or water
1 banana
about 1/2 cup strawberry Kefir
about 1/2 cup orange juice 
a few tablespoons of chia seeds
handfuls of  fresh spinach

Directions:
1. Add all ingredients to the blender and liquify.

Na zdrowie! (Polish for drink to your health.)