Just another Day on the Farm

So, here is the offical Dr. Oz Green Drink

1/2 cup spinach, 1/2 cup chopped Cucumber, 1 Stalk Celery, 1/2 tsp Gingerroot, a pinch of Parsley, 1/2 an apple, 1tsp lime and lemon Juice. Puree till smooth. I cut down the portions to make it one serving instead of 4.

So I have done a fair amount of updates and tried a few add on’s to the orginal recipe, to read more about it, check out Green Smoothies Round two. Today’s tweek rocked, earning for only the second time a 8 out of 10 rating, which was the basic recipe with one cup of fresh pinnapple added with whatever natural juice it produced.. this created a lighter green drink but it added a great flavor to the drink overall..

I am sure Canned Pinnapple in its natural juice with no sugar added would also be great, the only issue I can see if that as its a acid fruit, and the can’s are lined with BHP, that although you hit the fact that the fresh pinnapples are so not local, its half of one and half of another in terms of what is better.

So today’s Green Smoothie marks the seven day of drinking my greens, and I figure also a good time to share a bit of what I have learned this week, I promise for those that don’t want to read about green Smoothies, I will try and limit myself to no more then a one a week update with added info, recipes and pictures.

Ok, so a week on and here are a few of my overviews

This is a NOT a frugal or cheap or Sole drink, anyway you cut it, if you are being really frugal this is not a good drink, I figured out that each drink(16 oz) costs on average of between 1.25 to 1.50. Now compared to buying a fruit smoothie its a steal and if you could trade a bought coffee for the green drink, it is about the same cost. However given that I normally can keep my “bought” food bill down to 50 dollars per two weeks, this drink has blown a hole in that so big, it feels like a grand canyon. Then add in that the things the drink are made off, have no change of being local at this time of the year. ahhhh.

Its better to drink it with a straw, so far I have gotten a few folks to try it and we all agree, better with a straw then without

Blending longer is better, while it may looked blended by  20 to 30 seconds, give it another 15 to be sure.

Make it fresh and Drink it right away, and cold is better then room temp.

Now on to the good points,

You can mix it up in regards to what kind of fruit and still keep all the goodness in it but not feel like you are in rut.

If you make it a meal, its cost becomes reasonable for most folks, I can and do pull whole meals together for less then 1.50 a portion that is for sure but I think that price range for most folks is within what would be considered frugal.

You do feel better on it, it has made a clear difference in the amount of energy I have and that is well worth it, if it does even half of what Dr. Oz says it can for the rest of the my body health, that’s a bonus for sure.

My last point is a bit of a surprising one to me.. it truly does make me feel full and I stay full and not hungry for a couple hours after drinking it. I didn’t think that a drink would be able to do so. Given that per my add up, the basic drink is about 100 calories and that with the different fruits/yogurt, come in between 200 to 250.. any way you cut it, its a low cal meal that makes you feel full for a good while.