Smooth Day

It`s something about summer I guess, but lately I have been craving fruit!  So much so that I went to the store looking for something for dinner that didn`t involve a lot of cooking as it`s been really hot, that I went home with nothing but fruit and a sandwich for my meal.  Then several days later on a larger shopping trip, I picked up a number of items for a Smoothie recipe I came across.   I had been planning to make said smoothie for breakfast for the last several days but not wanting to run my blender too early and disturb the woman who lives beneath me (that also works from home) I kept putting it off.

Well, today I had a massage appointment, the first in a long time.  I went to this business in my neighbourhood and was looking forward to the walk over in the sunshine. On the way back from a wonderful massage, I planned to make that smoothie for lunch.  I received a new blender and electric frying pan for Xmas from my family one or two years ago. On the way home I recalled the first time I used the frying pan and dropped the lid which shattered into a million pieces.  I had this horrible thought of using my blender today for the first time and dropping it, then having to watch that shatter too. Yet, still very excited to make this smoothie.

I got home, rounded up my recipe and fruit, realizing that I didn`t have any actual instructions just a list of ingredients.  I wasn`t sure what to do but put everything in the blender to blend it up.  So I did just that.  When it seemed to look like a smoothie, I grabbed my favourite tall mug and got ready to fill it up.  Well, I was determined not to drop my blender, hugging it closely and in an attempt to untwist the top from the base, I tried to get some leverage by holding the handle with one hand, that was a mistake because the top part untwisted and my smoothie started to run all over the counter.

There was a lot of fruit in there and I couldn`t watch it all go to waste. I finally got to taste my smoothie by slurping it off the counter, not all of it, but most of it.  I then wanted to wipe down the base of the blender and cord which were covered in smoothie but in an attempt to move it out of the leftover smoothie on the counter I pressed my Ice Crusher button.  That would have been an even bigger mess, however thankfully I had the lid still firmly sealed. I still ended up with some of my smoothie on my shirt though.

Anyway, I thought I would share my story and the recipe as I drink my smoothie out of my mug. 

1 cup green grapes
1 orange

1/2 Bartlett pear
1 banana
1 cup kale
1/2 cup water or OJ (I used OJ)
2 cups ice cubes

I didn`t even measure anything properly and can`t tell you exactly how much you would get out of it since part of it ended up on the counter but I would guess around 3 tall glasses.  I read that you can substitute spinach if you can`t find kale or don`t like it. Note that the kale is the least smooth part (or maybe I just didn`t blend it enough) so if you don`t like pulp in OJ, you might not like kale in your smoothie.  I`m not sure if I`ve ever had kale before but wanted to buy some for another recipe I heard about so figured I would try it in the smoothie too.  I do have to say it`s a nice cool drink on a hot day! 

About a week ago I was watching a little bit of Ellen and Gwyneth Paltrow who was promoting her Vegetarian cookbook, made Kale chips which sounded yummy.  When Ellen asked what temperature and how long you cook them for Gwyneth couldn`t remember but said it`s in the book.  I had planned to see if I could find a recipe online at a later time.  The next day I opened my email and sitting in my inbox was a recipe for Kale Chips from one of my daily newsletters!  I haven`t tried that one yet cause they are in the oven now!  

http://www.canadianliving.com/blogs/food/2011/04/26/crunchy-kale-chips-recipe-ie-how-to-eat-a-bucket-of-kale-per-day/