Get your green on
Get your green on. Quite a few years ago I started experimenting with shakes in the morning because I got tired of buying a breakfast sandwich in the drive thru and I was wanting to turn my health around. I started going to a different drive thru that specialized in shakes instead of breakfast sandwiches. I noticed a difference in how I felt after the shake compared to the sandwich. I didn’t feel as sluggish and I felt energized. After a few months of doing this I realized that these shakes started to add up. They weren’t cheap, at $5 a shake, I was spending at least $35 a week. So, I bought a blender and started making my own.
Over the years I have put so many different things in my shakes and it has become a habit, just like brushing my teeth every morning. I mix it up occasionally, but the main ingredient is dark leafy greens; like kale, spinach, and collard greens. I know that I don’t eat enough of these during lunch or dinner, so that’s why I put it in a shake and drink it on the way to work. It is an acquired taste and it’s definitely not a milk shake, but I don’t make it for the taste, I make it for the health benefits. I look at it like going to the dentist, no one really wants to go, but you do it anyways because you know it’s good for you. There have been times, where I haven’t made the shakes due to vacations and I can tell a difference when I have them and I don’t have them. I don’t feel as energized and regular. I don’t have the fiber in my system that I get from all the green vegetables.
If you lack vegetables in your diet, I recommend a shake in the morning. The majority of your shake should be vegetables and dark leafy greens, add fruit as necessary to make it palatable. I make mine in bulk, every weekend I blend up a big batch and divide it out into 5 cups. I put plastic wrap over the cup and store it in the fridge. When I leave for work in the morning, I grab a cup and go. The last batch I made had, kale, collard greens, broccoli, blueberries, avocado, and flax seed. I cooked the greens and broccoli in an instant pot before I blended them up to make them digest easier. If you use an instant pot, put two cups of water for it to pressurize, just transfer over the water and greens to the blender.
