All things green

I bounded out of bed this morning (yes, bounded – I’m not kidding when I say sleep is the key!) when I woke up to the sounds of Kevin showering and the knowledge that he would soon be on his way out the door. I was downstairs in the kitchen when he walked out of the bathroom and asked, “are you about to get on your motorcycle?”

I got a Vitamix for Christmas (I know, right!?!) and I’m sorry, but you have every reason to feel as jealous as you do. It’s AMAZING. It’s maybe the best thing I’ve ever owned. It’s an absolute game changer. Every morning since shortly after we got back from our week long tour of the Great Lakes region, I’ve woken up and thrown some combination of fruits and veggies into the Vitamix and made magic. Kevin calls it my motorcycle because of the sounds it makes when it switches between speeds. 🙂

This week, I’ve been working on a strawberry rhubarb green smoothie recipe partly because strawberry rhubarb is Kevin’s favourite and partly because both are good sources of vitamin C and I’ve been battling illness. The recipe isn’t quite there yet, but it’s coming along…

My reason for bounding out of bed this morning was because I knew Kevin was leaving to run errands for the day and that when he got home we’d be entertaining friends for the evening. I knew we wouldn’t be eating well later in the day so I wanted to get started with something super healthy and cleansing.

I’m not one for using supplements when cooking. I prefer to use a combination of whole foods to get where I want to go. For that reason, I take a lot of guidance from Angela Liddon at Oh She Glows. Her recipes are clean, mostly gluten-free and oh so healthy. I used this one for inspiration this morning.

Local kale that I’d frozen over the summer, apple, celery, cucumber, lemon, ginger, coconut oil and coconut water. Since I skip the sweeteners and this smoothie can be quite savoury, I decided to add a little zest and use some of the coconut water with Thai chili extract that I picked up last night.

With these ingredients, there’s no concern for adding a lot of liquid. I used about .5 cup of coconut water and that was it. The apple and cucumber lend themselves well to making for a smoother final product.

Seriously delicious.

I made sure that all of the coconut water wasn’t eaten up by the smoothie and saved the rest to try on its own.

Last night, I was expecting a new best friend, this morning happiness in a bottle. These products are making some big promises!

The coconut water definitely had a zing to it, but it isn’t spicy like you might expect. The chili flavour isn’t strong enough to have been detectable in the smoothie, but it was nice on its own. It’s as refreshing as any coconut water, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it after a workout.

If you like coconut water, give it a shot!