Creamy tropical green smoothie

This is my first green smoothie with coconut milk in it. I used all the tropical fruits I had, plus some kale, and it was pretty darn good. Not too much to say about it, really. This would probably be good with mint or cilantro, or maybe even Thai basil, but I didn't think of it until after I drank it. Maybe next time.

Creamy tropical green smoothie

1 banana
1/2 cup orange juice
3/4 cup frozen mango
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 kale leaves

Blend.

Pineapple matcha smoothie

This is a green smoothie, but the green is from matcha (powdered green tea) instead of bona fide greens. It's a delicious way to start the morning, mostly sweet with some bitterness from the tea.

Pineapple matcha smoothie

1/2 banana

1/2 cup orange or pineapple juice

3/4 cup frozen pineapple pieces

1 tsp matcha

Pineapple-spinach smoothie

So far, kale has been my favorite green to put in green smoothies (no surprise there), but I've used spinach and chard too. Spinach has a more assertive taste, and it's been a bit overwhelming in a couple of my smoothies. I found that pineapple stands up to spinach pretty well, so that's been my spinach smoothie strategy. You still get some nice spinach notes without feeling like you're drinking a spinach salad. And the color is gorgeous to boot.

Pineapple-spinach smoothie

1/2 cup orange or pineapple juice

3/4 cup frozen pinapple

1/2 banana

Big handful spinach (maybe about 1/2 cup?)

1 tbsp ground flax seed

Blend.

Go-to green smoothie

I have hopped onto the green smoothie bandwagon. I'm a big fan of greens, and I love the way they taste, so I had been hesitant to put them in a smoothie where I might not be able to taste them as well. But the warm weather last week and the big bunch of kale in the fridge made me decide to try it. Since I am not working or going to classes right now, I have the flexibility to make this for lunch at home, and I think I'll be having a lot of these during the good weather this year. I really enjoyed the taste and texture. I like to have the chewiness of the bits of kale in there, but Jon isn't a fan. Our blender won't get it much smoother than the picture above, which as you can see, has some chewy bits in it, so these are just for me. Some sites advertise that these smoothies are good because you can't taste the greens, but I like that I can taste them a bit. It's not like drinking a pile of kale or anything, but it has some of that vegetal taste I love so much. This smoothie is not a complete lunch for me, and I prefer not to have my lunch entirely sweet anyway, so I've been supplementing with cheese and crackers or soup or other leftovers.

I bought a bunch of frozen fruit recently, and I have some ideas for other good green combos, so you will be seeing them again.

Evelyn's green smoothie

1/2-1 banana

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

2 leaves kale, stems removed

Blend.

My homemade breakfast

I had an excellent breakfast today, and it was almost all homemade:

1 slice of homemade yogurt bread with (not homemade) butter
Fresh homemade yogurt with homemade granola and (not homemade) dried raspberries

Homemade fruit smoothie: banana, orange juice, carrot, frozen strawberries, frozen raspberries, and frozen pineapple.

In case you're wondering, yogurt is easy to make. Heat 1 quart of milk on high heat, stirring constantly, until it gets really steamy and foamy. When it comes down to about 110 F, add it to a bowl with a couple spoonfuls (spoonsful?) of yogurt with live cultures (Dannon has worked best for me) and keep in a warm place 8 hours or so. I kept mine in the oven with the oven light on, and by the morning, the temp in there was 116 F, which is a temperature that makes the little lactobacilli very happy. Homemade yogurt is super-delicious just after you make it, before refrigeration, so it was a real treat to have some of that this morning.

My granola contains: oats, dried cranberries, dried cherries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, and honey. I'm not going to put up the recipe because, although it's pretty tasty, I am still trying to figure out an ideal cooking time/temperature. My oats didn't get very cooked when I made it, so it's somewhere in between granola and muesli.