The Green Navel
When navel oranges are in peak season, I love to make this delicious, high-nutrient green smoothie. It’s such a great way to start your day! Green leafy vegetables cleanse, detoxify, and repair damaged cells in your body. Get them in your diet as much as you can for optimal health.
4 small pitted dates
1 T walnuts or hemp seeds
2 medium navel oranges*
Green leafy vegetables – as much as you can take! (My favorite combination is a handful of “Power Greens” from Costco and a handful of baby spinach)
Blend until creamy smooth.
*Peel just the outside orange part of the skin with a knife to preserve the white flesh which is very high in vitamin C. Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant and anti-oxidants mean anti-aging!
Berry Blast Green Smoothie
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp flax seed
3 – 4 pitted dates – more if needed for sweetness
1 orange or 1 cup mango
A big handful of greens; spinach, kale, collards, bok choy etc. (the more the better!)
1 cup frozen blue berries
1 cup frozen mixed berries
Blend everything in a high powered blender until smooth.
Spinach and bok choy are mild greens and are preferred by most smoothie drinkers. Kale and Collards, which are very high in anti-cancer phyto-chemicals and a great source of calcium, are much stronger and will make your smoothie bitter if too much is added. Start with just one small leaf and work your way up. If desired, use different fruits. The darker the color, the more anti-oxidants and the easier it is to cover up that green color which can be very unappealing to your novice smoothie drinker.
Sesame Seed Milk Shake
This is a delicious high calcium drink that greatly eased the pain of a damaged tooth.
1/4 cup sesame seeds (un-hulled – the hull is where 90% of the calcium is)
1 cup water
4 – 5 pitted dates
1/2 cup frozen banana slices (a good way to use ripe bananas)
1 heaping T carob powder
Soak sesame seeds and dates in water for at least 8 hours. Blend with banana and carob until smooth. Add more water if needed to thin. Add more banana and dates to taste.