Ugli Shax: green smoothies aren't always pretty

Summer Smoothie

mazeway — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:07:36 +0000

Ah, liquid summertime!

Makes two smoothies:

1/2 a honeydew melon

bunch of kale, ribs removed

couple gratings of frozen gingerroot

flavorless protein powder

2 cups of ice cubes

Grind ‘er up! Bright green, cold, and refreshing.

But what ELSE do you eat?

mazeway — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:19:48 +0000

I’ve started a local food blog. Non-Frederick residents won’t care about the restaurant reviews or alerts about good deals at the co-op, but I’ll also post recipes for yummy things and you may care about that. Check it out:

More Food!

Grapefruit smoothie?

mazeway — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:11:43 +0000

Okay, this is kind of a weird one. I blended some frozen peaches, a fresh peach, a bunch of red dandelion, a 1/2 block of silken tofu, a squirt of agave, and some vanilla rice protein. It tastes like grapefruit. The first sip made me say “Yikes! bitter!” But it is also sweet and a bit creamy, and,well, good in spite of confusing my tastebuds totally. If you like grapefruit, you’ll like it. If you dont’…I think you know the answer.

From the Bluth Banana Stand

mazeway — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:40:01 +0000

Oh….yummers. Get those cacao nibs out again. This time, blend your greens with 2 Tbs nibs, 1 frozen banana, a shot of agave nectar, enough soymilk (or milk of your choice) to blend, and a hit o’ protein. Oh my. Chocolate covered banana, hold the stick. Seriously.

New discovery!

mazeway — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:52:37 +0000

Oh people, I’ve discovered cacao nibs! They’re some sort of superfood, all full of antioxidants and flavinoids or kryptonite, or something. Dunno. But look what you can do:

pile o’ greens (I used spinach)

10 mint leaves

Tbs. cacao nibs

vanilla rice protein powder (I have new powders to share with you…later)

an apple

water needed to blend

Cranked the ol’ VitaMix up to High (it has no 11) and YUM. Mint chocolate goodness. AND it was kinda pretty. A shamrock green.

This just in….

mazeway — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:09:31 +0000

I got a Vita-Mix this weekend. My dear ol’ KitchenAid broke AGAIN, in the same way (the gear that turns the blades lost all of it’s teeth) within about 18 mos. I think the smoothie habit killed it. I started researching the mega-blenders like Vita-Mix and BlendTec, reading all the reviews and comparisons. It’s nearly impossible to make a clear choice as they both cause rapturous testimonials and about even numbers of people that have tried both prefer one or the other. Price was the deciding factor for me. I’m just not buying a 400 dollar blender. I found mine on Craigslist for $175, brand new, a 5000 model. Last night for dinner we had black bean burritos with super-smooth bean filling and then had oh, so yummy blueberry icecream made in the blender. This morning, I made my first smoothie in it. I love that I can just toss a whole carrot in and have it smooth. I blended a pear and an apple with about 1/4 c apple juice to get it going. Then I added the 2 carrots and 1/2 lb of spinach. It’s too thick. So tomorrow I’ll have to maybe add more water or something. It’ll take some playing around, but initial reviews are positive!

Software: Protein Powder

mazeway — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:29:15 +0000

Not everyone does it, but need a bit of protein powder in my smoothies. If I don’t have it, I find that the sugars in it make me shaky AND I hungry much sooner. I rotate my powders around to keep my metabolism on its toes and to keep from being bored. My big two are both by Naturade, one is 100% Soy and the other is “Soy Free Veg.” The soy has the least taste, but I try not to get too much soy, so I switch it up.

You can get the nutritional info on them here.

Occasionally, I use Nature’s Plus Source of Life:

It’s more supplementy with all manner of vitamins and such in it. It also contains sugar and a “granola” flavor, so I only use it if I’m not expecting to get a lot of good food…or when the base of my smoothie is kinda nasty and I need to mask the flavor. Link to this stuff is here.

Sometimes, when I just don’t have any greens in the house or anything but an apple and a banana, I use this stuff:

It has utterly whack-job Dr. Bronner style packaging, but seems like good stuff and it holds me until lunch, too. Here’s the link.

Don’t try this at home.

mazeway — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:55:31 +0000

Or, perhaps, Serious Professionals Only.

I’d juiced 6 carrots and a mango. I went to get me greens. But alas! There are none! I have spring mix, which is riddled with bitter radiccio and frissee. And I had arugula. Mmm….okay….I’ll try it with the arugula, which is not bitter, but has a very distinct taste. And odor. I toss in the juice, the arugula, a banana (bananas’ll mask anything, right?), some frozen strawberries, and soy powder. Not only was it one of the most Do-Not-Eat colors I’d produced, it has a VERY strong arugula smell. Must use a straw with this one. A very long straw. The taste? peppery. I’m sure that I could work up a flavor combo that this would complement–perhaps a gazpacho smoothie–but this is not it. Waste of a good mango. I drank it, though. That’s just how far gone I am. But there is still time to save yourselves! Before you know it, I’ll be dumping beans in these babies…so strap in. Or run. Whichever.

It’s browner in person. But it totally matches my blog!

Where’s the rum? smoothie

mazeway — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:19:56 +0000

Mmm…this one was good. And a lovely Army green.

juice of one young coconut

juice of (use the juicer for this): 4 carrots, 1 apple, 1 mango

1/2 c frozen raspberries

1/2 c crushed pineapple

1/2 lb spinach

2 servings protein powder (I used soy protein)

Tropical!

Creamy Berry Shake

mazeway — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:28:56 +0000

Today, I tossed in some tofu instead of protein powder.

1 1/2 c carrot juice blend from yesterday

1/2 pound baby spinach

1 pound silken tofu (I use fresh stuff from the Asian market)

1c frozen mixed berries.

Ugli, but good!