Thickalicious Exotic Tropical Green Smoothie With Cardamom

Today's lovely Thickalicious Exotic Tropical Green Smoothie is fragrant, sweet, delicious and packed with a ton of nutritional benefits.  The mango, pineapple, and banana are all fruits with endorsed health recognition, as well as the delightful flavour that you expect from yummy tropical fruits.  I use organic frozen fruit from Costco.  A half-cup of pineapple from a huge bag goes a long way and makes smoothies for two adults in our house, so don't be freaked out the initial output of $$.  Believe me, buying organic is worth it if you don't have access to local unsprayed products (many organic growers choose not to pay the rather exorbitant cost of registering their operations, but will advertise as 'unsprayed', etc.  If you shop at the 'farmgate' or a farmer's market, you can ask all about how they grow their fruits and veggies).  

I'm pretty sure you will also love the other items in this smoothie: the chia seed is one of the highest sources of balanced Omega-3 essential fatty acid (meaning that it is not overpowered by Omega-6, a not-so-useful fatty acid, very plentiful) which is great for hearts and brains of all family members, and provides good energy, as seeds often do, packed as they are with everything a plant needs to grow.

   Turmeric is used in a lot of our food prep these days since my husband took a longevity class at the local Elder College and learned about ayurvedic herbs, like turmeric.  Besides a whole list of impressive benefits, turmeric is a mild digestive, always nice to have when you are eating a variety of foods like a smoothie contains.  

Today's 'new' smoothie addition is the cardamom pod-- $150/k at our local health food store, so we didn't buy much (and it is light-weight).  You can read a little about it on the sidebar.  

And of course, the lovely sweetening coconut shards and the rolled oats that get imbibers of Thickalicious smoothies through from breakfast to lunch without cravings!

METHOD:

Layer the following in your blender:

• 1/2 C. organic Rolled Oats
• 1 T. Chia Seed (ground with Cardamom in a Coffee Bean Grinder)
• 5-6 organic Green Cardamom pods (ground with Chia in a Coffee Bean Grinder)
• 1 tsp. Turmeric
• 1 C. Coconut Shreds (organic, unsweetened preferred)
• 1/2 C. Frozen Organic Mango
• 1 organic Banana, ripe, chunked
• 1/2 C. Frozen  Pineapple
• 1-2 Handfuls of Tender Green (what makes it a Green Smoothie)
• 2-? C. of Filtered Water
• small packet of Sweet Leaf Stevia or other sweetener of choice (optional)

Let it sit in the carafe for a few minutes just to allow some soaking by the seeds and oats.  Then whirl up and enjoy!

Thickalicious Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Green Smoothie With *Benefits

This morning's smoothie was set up for my husband's jaunt off on his bike for a few miles and back.  It's sunny but cool.  He's just finished a Longevity class from the local ElderCollege and is keen on incorporating the Ayurvedic herbs into his daily diet. This Thickalicious Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Green Smoothie With *Benefits is a mouthful, in more ways than one.  Like my othersmoothies, this contains rolled oats to sustain him from hunger pangs on the trip, chia seed to give him great bursts of energy and perseverence, pineapple, banana, dates and coconut for that smacking good taste (and all those phyto-nutrients), and  ashwagandha and turmeric for the Ayurvedic *benefits: improved immune system, brain power, longevity!

Layer the following in a blender carafe (you might want to do two half-batches if you have a regular blender):

• 2 C. Frozen Pineapple chunks (or Fresh)
• 1 C. Rolled Oats (buy Gluten-Free if you are coeliac or sensitive to wheat / gluten)(Presoak in 1 C.of Water if you have the time)
• 1 Banana in chunks (Frozen is great)
• 6 Pitted Dates (I used Medjool but use what you like / can find)
• 1 T. Chia Seed ground in Coffee Grinder or 2 T. Chia Seed Gel http://techygran.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Make-Chia-Seed-Gel-and-How-To-Use-It
• 1/4 C. Coconut Shreds
• 1 tsp. Ashwagandha mixed with 3 T.*Coconut Sugar or 1 packet of stevia
• 1 tsp. Turmeric
• Large handful Tender Greens of Choice
• 1 C. Filtered Water, or as much as you wish.  Letting the contents of the Carafe sit for about 15-30 minutes is a good idea for the chia (chia gel) and the oats.. makes digestion easier.

Whirl up and drink right away!  You are going to feel satisfied and won't be given to the usual cravings, probably right up until lunch time!

Smoothie of the Week: Apple-Almond-Blackberry Green Smoothie

Here is another delicious Blackberry Smoothie-- using apple, almond milk and of course, blackberries.

Now, it is possible that the combining of the almond milk and the fruit might pose a bit of a digestion problem for some-- if so, just take a full-spectrum enzyme before, during or after the smoothie... enzymes help with digestion.

Combine the following in your Vitamix (or other) blender carafe:
*Frozen Blackberries
*Tender Greens (Kale, Baby Spinach, Romaine, etc.)
*2-3 Apples (cored, all seeds removed, skin on)
*1-2 C. Fresh Almond Milk (10 soaked almonds per Cup of Water spun up in Vitamix)
*1 tsp. Cinnamon
Whirl up until fully creamy smooth.  Add more water or almond milk if it is too thick.  Mmmm.