Green Juice or Smoothie: Kale, Spinach, Celery, Cucumber and Apple

I have been reading so many health benefits regarding juicing and smoothies.  Why drink my calories when I can enjoy eating food and I have a good diet?   Then I read more about how juicing and smoothies can help supplement a well rounded diet and it is considered a beauty ritual for better skin.  

I used my 10-year old KitchenAid blender.  I do not own a juicer nor do I have a fancy $500 high speed blender.  When I found this tutorial on how to make juice with a blender and then strain it, I had to try it!   

Since I have a regular blender, I diced all my fruits and veggies.  I snipped the kale and spinach with kitchen scissors as small as I could. I wasn't sure if my blender was powerful enough to pulverize and liquify the kale and spinach.  A high speed blender would not require the extra step of chopping the fruits and veggies this small.  

I wanted to pack as much "green", nutrient dense fruits and veggies as possible.  Most recipes call for a handful of this and that, which mean that they are forgiving recipes.  As this is my first juice/smoothie recipe, I decided to write down exact measurements so I can repeat the same drink if my results were fabulous.  I am so glad I am writing it down now!

I made this as a juice.  I blended everything to a smoothie and passed the contents through a jelly bag and squeezed the pulp dry (I had about 2 Tbsp of dry pulp).  If you do have a regular blender, put the coconut water first, then the leafy greens and diced fruit/vegetables afterwards.  The leafy greens get blended better.  After the first sip, I was amazed how delicious, fresh and sweet a combination of kale, spinach, celery, cucumber and apple turned out.  Almost too sweet. 

Green Juice or Smoothie:  Kale Spinach, Celery, Cucumber and Apple
Make 1 serving, about 3/4 cup juice

1/4 cup (2 oz) coconut water, unflavoured/unsweetened
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/2 cup chopped kale
1/2 cup diced apple
1/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup crushed ice (optional) 

Blend until smooth.  For a smoothie, pour into a glass.  For juice, strain in a jelly or nut milk bag.  Discard or re-use the leftover pulp in baking or cooking. 

- Adapted from GetFitEatRight: Green Smoothie: Kale, Spinach, Celery, Cucumber, Apple

 I had to serve this in a martini glass.  The juice was so delicious and pretty.  Each sip was savoured.   

Enjoy!

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Homemade Iced Coffee with Microwave Simple Syrup

In my small town, we have several small coffee shops and a Tim Horton's.  It is a treat for us to go out for coffee.  With the warm summer weather, iced coffee is a wonderful, refreshing treat but the price tag is not!  I remember paying at least CAD$3.50 for a medium cup.  I think making this at home would be economical for a group of mommies at a playdate!

In general, I hate waste.  As an experiment, I refrigerated leftover morning coffee in a glass pyrex container.  The next day, I reheated it and enjoyed it.  My taste buds were not perceptive enough to notice a difference between today's and yesterday's home brew so I save leftover coffee now.  Hubby is the same.  One hot day, I decided to throw some ice cubes, milk and sweetener in some leftover coffee I had in the fridge and the rest is history.  I've read that some people complain about the bitterness and oxidation of coffee, etc.  It doesn't bother us.  Everybody's palate is different! 

To last a few days, I brew a strong pot of coffee, cool it down, and pour it in a nice pitcher for the fridge.  Serve with ice, your milk of choice and your sweetener of choice.  The ice cubes will dilute the cold coffee, so you may want to make your pot of coffee stronger.  For us, we are OK with a weaker iced coffee.  I don't need so much caffeine in the afternoon. You can even freeze your leftover coffee in ice cubes but I didn't want to stain my white ice cube tray.

Looking online, there is the "cold brew" method of making iced coffee, where you steep the coffee grounds in cold water for 8-24 hours, filter out the grounds and keep this concentrate in the fridge. But for this busy mom, I haven't felt the need to make it this way (yet).

 

Homemade Iced Coffee

- Cooled strong pot of coffee (1 1/2 to double strength,  if preferred)

- Ice

- Milk or cream of your choice

- Sweetener of your choice or simple syrup (below)

Make your normal or a stronger pot of coffee.  Let cool and transfer cooled coffee in a container and store in refrigerator.  Serve with ice,  milk of your choice and sweetener of your choice.  Enjoy.

Out of curiosity, I made a simple syrup in the microwave, as I have heard that it dissolves better in iced coffee than white sugar.  Simple syrup is 2 parts sugar dissolved in 1 part water. 

Microwave Simple Syrup

1 part water (e.g. 1/2 cup water)

2 parts sugar (e.g. 1 cup white sugar)

Microwave 1/2 cup water in a microwave-safe 2-cup glass measuring cup at HIGH 1 minute or until very hot. Stir in sugar; stir 20 seconds. Microwave at HIGH 30 seconds; stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture is clear. Microwave another 30 seconds if needed.  Be careful not to boil this mixture over.  Cover and chill until ready to use. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 month.

- Adapted from Southern Living's Super Simple Syrup

 I have a cool carafe of iced coffee in the refrigerator.  Feel free to drop by for a glass! 

Enjoy!

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