Week 1 – Green Breakfast Challenge

“Oh my God this is good!”
“Wow! What’s in this? Really?”
“This is really good. I can’t believe it”

Our personal goal with this challenge is to “Think Out of the Blender”. For us, breakfast naturally means green smoothie but we wanted to change it up some and make some green breakfasts that were not just green smoothies.

Here was our last week’s line up – try one, try them all and let us know what you think:

Day #1:
Family Green Juice

It was wonderful kicking things off with this family made juice. All three of us had our hands in preparing and making this one. Our son Jonathan loves to “make the juice”.

We juiced:
9 carrots
1 apple
1 lemon
1 large beet
2 celery stalks
1 cucumber
1 chunk of ginger (about 1 TBS)
1 fennel stalk
2 large collard leaves
1 large red chard leaf
4 beet green leaves
2 cups spinach

This makes 4 super yummy cups of juice!

Day #2
A Standard Green Smoothie

We were a little short on time this morning so we went back to basics and make a standard green smoothie. One of the many great things about making a green smoothie for breakfast is that it is fast.

1 TBS Chia seeds
1 apple
2 cups fresh pineapple
2 large Chard leaves
1 1/2 cup baby spinach
water to blend

Blended smooth in our Vitamix to make about 5 cups

Day #3:
Green Ginger Lemonade

1 apple
1 lemon (peeled)
1 inch ginger
2 celery stalks
1 stalk fennel
1/2 cucumber
1 giant Collard leaf
3 cups Spinach
4 Beet Greens leaves
4 huge Romaine leaves
1 large Chard leaf

If you find that your green juices pack a powerful flavor that may be a little too much for your taste buds to handle, a great ingredient to add is a lemon. The lemon is fantastic at balancing the robust flavor of greens. Add to that ginger and fennel and you get something special.

Day #4:
Creamy Mango Delight Green Smoothie

1 TBS Chia Seed
1/4 c goji berries
1 banana
1 mango
2 c Spinach
3 large Romaine leaves

Blend it up and drink it!

We find that many people not only prefer their green smoothie smooth, but also creamy. Few things make a green smoothie naturally smooth like a ripe mango and romaine.

Day #5:
Apple orChard Cleanse Smoothie

Sometimes it is really nice to have a rich, thick, nutrition packed green smoothie and this one does the trick. The combination of a lot of apple and chia makes this recipe a little more pulpy than most. If you drink this one and find that its “pulpyness” is too much to handle, fear not; strain it through a nut milk back and you have fantastic Apple orChard Tonic.

1 TBS chia seed
1/4 goji berries
2 apples (cored)
4 big Chard leaves, stalk removed (for later juicing)
water

Blend it up.

Day #6
Raw Green Tabouli

Today was the day we truly thought “out of the bender”. We whipped up one of our most favorite raw dishes of all time, Raw Green Tabouli. This amazing dish surprises most everyone that tries it. It’s hard to believe you are eating almost nothing but greens – and there is no bulgur wheat in this one. The hemp seeds give it an amazing texture and nutritional boost. You have to try it to understand just how good it is.

1 bunch Italian parsley
1 bunch cilantro (I take off all the stems of both greens, but you don’t have to)
1 cup hemp seed
8 green onions finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1/8 cup olive oil
about 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cucumber peeled and diced
1/2 tsp sea salt

Chop it all up, mix and serve. You may find that you want or need a little more oil for your taste.

Day #7
Raw Avocado Greens Soup

This one brought back memories of serving our boy his green smoothie soups when he was a young toddler. Soon after our son started eating solid food he started on green smoothies. Too young for a straw and unable to suck the goodness through a sipi cup, a bowl and a spoon was the perfect solution. He could not get enough of them. This recipe is amazing. Be sure to get some nice sweet tomatoes for this dish as it really takes it to another level.

1/3 cucumber
1 large fennel stalk
3 baby bok choy
2 lacing (dinosaur) kale leaves
1/4 cup sprouts (radish or clover)
1/2 avocado

After blending smooth put in a bowl, add chopped cherry tomatoes, garnish with cilantro and orange bell pepper and enjoy.

Get in on the challenge and eat your greens!

This challenge is great for anyone. Start at anytime. The main purpose is to get more greens in your diet. It’s easy and there is nothing better for you.

We are just getting started on Facebook, you can follow along daily with us there: http://www.facebook.com/Got.Greens.Revolution

 
What did you have in your breakfast today that was green?