I Don't Like...

I always hear those words... it doesn't matter what the ingredient is - Spinach, Beets, Celery, Kale, Chard - ah ha, there was at least one of those you nodded your head to, right? Well, let me tell you. There's times I don't like something...I mean really...Jicama?...who eats Jicama anyway... but I've learned the trick to eating something I don't really find appealing...

Take beets for instance, the number one veggie everyone tells me they don't like when they see it in my smoothie ingredient list. Once upon a time I wouldn't touch a beet with a ten foot pole, and then a friend of mine shared a photo of her smoothie...and it looked so incredibly disgusting, so wrong, so...bloody... and that's when I knew I had to find out just what she was drinking... turns out it was beets and I trepiditiously (I don't think that's a real word) went to the store in search of organic beats... and found them. It took a few days of staring at them before I actually threw one in the blender... and low and behold... yum! But not because I loved beets, because I loved what I mixed with the beets to mask the flavor. Pick a fruit, any fruit, preferably one with a strong flavor that steals the show: bananas, pineapple, very ripe peaches, strawberries.

The strange thing is - and this really did happen - the next morning, I woke up craving beets. Not the flavor of the smoothie so carefully masking the flavor of what I thought I didn't like, but the actual earthy taste of beets. Weird  right? Well, I never dismiss a craving, because I know that my body is instinctually aware of what it needs. I made another smoothie, different masking flavor, one that allowed some but not all of that beet flavor through...and I'm not going to lie...I didn't love it...but my body loved it. It seemed like every cell was doing a happy dance for hours after that smoothie.

I did a little research and discovered that beets contain nitrates. Yes, this is a good thing and here's why. Nitric oxide allows the blood vessels to dilate which allows for increased blood flow. No wonder my body was doing a cellular level happy dance:)

I was also really fun to drink the scarlet smoothie in front of my hubby to see him cringe. He said it looked like "Goat's Blood" and hence my smoothie had a name:)

**Goat's Blood Smoothie

1 Beet, 6-7 Baby Carrots, 1 Celery Stalk

1/2 cp Blueberries 6 Lg Strawberries

1 cp Organic Lemonade

1 cp Water

**No animals are harmed in the making of this smoothie -Please Use Organic Produce! Your body will thank you. 

Blend all except water at Medium speed until all veggies are smooth increase to High Speed for about a minute (if you use a blender as I do this smoothie will have "texture" add enough water at this point so that you do not feel like you have to chew...) I add 1cp Water and mix for a few seconds on High.

Supplies 3 Veggies, 2 Fruits approx 253 calories (for 90 reduced calories use all water no lemonade)