Vegetables and green powder?

[Celebration]

My doctor doesn't like to talk about my diet but his nurse practitioner does. She talks about eating several servings of green vegetables a day, and that is too hard for me. I don't really have the time to juice vegetables, and don't want to always pay for fresh juice. But I could get all my servings of vegetables into two large glasses of juice. I can't possibly cook more than a couple of vegetables per day.

Does anyone here have any recommendations on those powdered green juices that I see? I'm want to consider alternatives to my buying and cooking several different green vegetables in a day.

Has anyone tried Green Vibrance, for instance? I am considering buying some but would love to hear from people on whether it (or any other green powdered drink they might drink) is tasty, or if they have noticed any difference after they drink them.

I found a list of the best leafy green vegetables on Web MD. According to the article, they might even protect against heart disease and cancer and diabetes. I'll try to cook one or two of them per day, but really want to look to some green powdered drink to fill in.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/leafy-greens-rated

Oh, be sure to take any diet recommendations with a grain of salt, but BEFORE EATING THAT GRAIN OF SALT, be sure to talk to your doctor about it.

[elleng]

1. Sorry, no ideas, but x-post at Cooking & Baking?

V-8?

Good luck.

[Celebration]

3. I can't have that much salt

I do like the low salt kind, but I was looking for green vegetables.

Thanks for the reply though! I bet people in Cooking and Baking would tell me to cook the vegetables.

[elleng]

4. They'd probably have good, useful suggestions,

with or without cooking; explain your restrictions.

Also, our 'vegetarian/vegan' group.

[Celebration]

6. Okay, that is a good idea

I'll try that group. Surely someone there knows something about green powdered drinks.

[Warpy]

11. I know they've pretty much eliminated the fiber

which is a large part of why we eat fruits and vegetables.

I wouldn't touch the stuff unless I was mixing it into fruit juice with pulp.

I honestly don't think much of juicing as a way to get veggies (obviously), I think you lose too much of the good stuff. You do get the vitamins and minerals and sugars.

[Celebration]

15. I get fiber from ground flax seed

I think there is fiber in the powders, but not positive. I really don't think I need more fiber though, in any case.

[Speck Tater]

2. What about green smoothies?

All you need is a blender and about 2 minutes of preparation time. Start with a base juice like tomato juice or V8 and add an apple or other fruit (quartered and cored) and some veggies (I like carrots, kale, celery,...) and run the blender on high. They're called "green" smoothies, but they usually turn out brown. They are very tasty, however. There are a lot of good combinations you can find by Googling "green smoothie recipe". For example: 30 delicious green smoothie recipes

Fruit and berry smoothies make a great quick breakfast too. Start with apple or cranberry juice and add apple, banana, blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, or whatever. Pineapple is always a good addition, as are oranges.

[Celebration]

5. I tell you what intimidates me

I love a green drink they sell at Whole Foods (Green Machine). It has about six different green vegetables in it. I watch them make it, and it takes so much bulk (as an example, practically a whole stalk of celery, and that is just one of the ingredients). Then they have an industrial type juicer that seems to go on overload. Just washing that many vegetables would be a pain. I don't have trouble eating enough fruit, though. I can eat apples and grapes all day long. So I don't really need them in juice. That would help with the bulk, but I am specifically looking for green vegetables, but the idea of using only green vegetables in a blender is daunting. I love fruit, don't get me wrong. But I just don't need to eat any more fruit.

[Speck Tater]

7. The problem with a juicer

is that it wastes all the pulp. It doesn't take that much bulk in a blender.

I was pretty intimidated by the process too, until I tried it for a week. Now it's second nature. And the green veggies are in addition to a base liquid in the blender. You can use plain water, or milk, or fruit juice or tomato juice or prune juice or cranberry juice.

Here's one simple recipe from the link I posted, for example:

I try to consume chocolate for breakfast in some way, shape, or form each and every Friday. I've been slacking on my greens lately, so -- I thought a smoothie packed with spinach might be just the thing to start my day today. What's in this baby is surely well concealed -- there's a heaping serving of peanut butter AND cocoa powder. Almond milk. Banana. Honestly, it all sounds awful when you think of it together. Like the waste you'd throw in a garbage disposal after finishing a full meal.

But it works. Just hear me out!

The spinach flavor is pretty much not there at all. Seriously. It just boosts the whole thing with nutrition. Even Stephen, who is always, ALWAYS skeptical of my green monster creations, enjoyed this quick and easy breakfast. I promise you will, too!


Just blend together the following ingredients until well combined . . .

1 frozen banana
2 to 3 heaping handfuls of spinach
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 to 1-1/2 cups almond (or soy or regular) milk

Believe me it's WAY cheaper than buying juice from Whole Foods. You go to the discount supermarket, buy a bag of spinach, take it home, wash it, bag it, put it in the fridge and when you need it, pull out a couple handfulls. It's not a big production number. If you really want to avoid the work of washing it, buy frozen spinach. It'll make your smoothie colder. (I use frozen berries and frozen bananas in my smoothies, I don't see why frozen greens wouldn't work.)

[Celebration]

8. it sounds yummy

but I would like to more closely duplicate the Green Machine, that has no banana, berries. I know it can be done, but quicker and easier to use powder, plus less messy.

Yeah I can only afford a couple of juices a week at Whole Foods. Powdered would be cheaper.

[Speck Tater]

9. I haven't tried the powder.

But I suspect fresh made would be cheaper still. (Just a guess, to be honest. But my smoothies are pretty cheap.) I even get adventurous and toss in strange things like canned beets or avocado. You can't do THAT with powder!

[tinrobot]

24. Just toss some spinach in your regular smoothie

You won't taste it and it will get you at least one serving of veggies.

[2naSalit]

10. A friend was telling me

Last edited Fri Jan 25, 2013, 03:29 AM - Edit history (1)

about a machine she just bought that is better than a juicer, she says it uses the whole vegetable and is really healthy. She has so many food allergies that she can hardly find anything that's already prepared. I am starting to find that there are fewer foods I can tolerate as well and will be looking into this machine she just got. Sorry I don't know exactly what it is but there is such a thing and I would suggest looking online as we both live in a pretty rural place and she gets a lot of stuff online. I'll ask her about it and see but it might be this weekend before we have a chance to speak again.

Someone else told me about spirulina: https://www.google.com/search?q=spirulina+health+benefits&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US

Looks like a possibility...

[womanofthehills]

12. Sounds like the Vitamix

I bought mine refurbished as they are pretty expensive. You just throw all your veggies in with a little bit of water or juice and you have a drink with all the fiber. Easy way to make veg soup too.

[2naSalit]

13. I think that was it! Thank you so much!

I'll be looking for one of those.

[Celebration]

14. I actually think it is a large version of something similar that they use at Whole Foods

I'm sure it's awesome, but it is expensive, and I am one to buy things like this and then not use them because they are too much trouble.

[womanofthehills]

22. I love my Vitamix

you get all the fiber with little clean up time. My favorite soup - carrots, celery, tomatoes, a little bit of chicken stock, cheese on top - instant delicious soup made in about a minute. I got my Vitamix refurbished too and I've had it for about 8 yrs now with no problems.

I also have a Breville juicer. I use both juicers every day. I make a carrot, celery, beet, apple juice for lunch everyday. I give the pulp to my chickens so I figure I get some of the nutrients back when I eat their eggs. It takes me about 2 minutes to wash the vegetables and 2 minutes to rinse the Breville. If you make juice with the Vitamix, you need to add water or apple juice because the pulp makes it very thick. Carrot, apple juice and lemon makes a tasty drink in the Vitamix.

[BuddhaGirl]

16. Green Vibrance is a great product!

I have used that, interspersed with Garden of Life's greens product Perfect Food...they have a cocoa flavor that's really tasty. I make a smoothie with it, adding banana, and it's delicious!

[Celebration]

17. Thanks, I'm ordering it!

I saw it today at Vitamin Shoppe, but I think it is cheaper at Amazon.

[handmade34]

18. "Garden of Life"

is good (expensive though)... I have the Perfect Food (RAW) and I mix a scoopful with almond milk (can use reg milk or juice) a bit of agave or xylitol or maple syrup... blend well... add a ice cube or two and drink... very good and makes me feel good to drink it!!

http://www.vitacost.com/garden-of-life-perfect-food-raw-organic-green-super-food

[Nay]

19. Doc said the same to me, here's my solution.

Each Sunday, I cook up a thick soup which includes several green vegetables (spinach, greens, etc.) and other fresh/frozen vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, celery, onion, rutabaga, carrots, mushrooms. I cook this until the vegs are just soft enough to put in a blender. I make a big batch of this, blend it all, and pour it into 2-cup glass containers for freezing. I then take out on container a day and consider it at least 4 or 5 servings of vegetables. (Blending makes the serving size actually bigger, compared to a cup of, say, broccoli florets.) That way I cook once for the week and have my veggies. I also will cook 2 veggies every day for our dinner, so I figure I get quite a bit of veggie goodness.

[Tumbulu]

20. nice idea! Thanks nt

[Joseph125]

21. Green vegetables

Green vegetables are very beneficial for our health and fitness because these vegetable provide us a good deal of the vitamins, fiber, calcium, iron, mineral, and nutrition.
If you have no time for making the vegetables juice or cook the vegetables then you can use the vegetables in raw form or in salad form.

[leftyladyfrommo]

23. Here is what I do. And I really don't like veggies and I don't cook

I cook almost everything I eat in my little crockpot or my rice cooker-steamer. I buy several bags of frozen green veggies that I can tolerate: green beans, green peas, endaname and add corn. Then I pour some of all of them into my steamer and steam until hot. Then I eat a whole big bowl full. And I like them that way. I put just a little salt on for flavor.

I also do the same thing with fruit because everything is out of season right now. I pour some of several fruits in a bowl and let it thaw. Then I eat them.

That gives me plenty of veggies and fruits for the day.

I also steam leafy veggies every so often and eat those. I don't like them much but they are all just loaded with good stuff.

[Celebration]

25. very interesting!

Thanks for the input. I did order some Green Vibrance and like it, but I like your method too. I have been steaming vegetables for a long time but don't seem to get enough servings that way.

[Voice for Peace]

26. if you can afford to buy supplements, spirulina, chlorella, super food greens

Also, you can cook for a week or several days at a time,
freeze in small amounts.

I don't think the juices are as good as taking the pills
or caps (which you can also get in powder form but
doesn't mix all that well or taste great)

[NBachers]

27. I can endorse The Ultimate Meal as a good green source

and I've been feeling more lively and good-natured since I started incorporating it into my diet.

I do a lot of grinding of flax, chia seeds, chocolate nibs, pumpkin seeds, etc. for my breakfast. I mix it into my Budwig Diet flax oil and cottage cheese, along with a little pomegranite juice.

For juicing, I'm leaning towards the whole-item liquification methods, but the machines, like the Vita Mix, the Ninja, the Blendtec, or the Nutribullet. But they're either expensive, or they don't seem quite able to do the job yet. It's something to look into.