Kale Greens Smoothie

This past weekend Sarah and I picked up a Ninja Professional Blender with Single Serve Cups.  I have gone through 2 blenders now, only to have them last for a couple months before they crap out on me for various reasons.  For what ever reason, the one that we had last, had been sitting in our cabinets for several years without being used due to a crack in the base causing it to leak everywhere when I would use it.  Finally, Sarah agreed to make an upgrade in our kitchen and get a true blender.  We picked up the Ninja from Target which was on sale for $140, plus we got a $25 gift card when we bought it.  Let me tell you, this thing is a BEAST!  It has three layers of blades and comes with two single serving mugs with drinking lids.  One of the main reasons I wanted a new high quality blender is to make green smoothies - or smoothies made with a leafy greens base.  These smoothies use various ingredients, but mainly some sort of leafy green, such as kale, spinach, mustard, or collard greens.  In order to truly blend up the leaves into a drinkable smoothie, you need a decent blender to get the job done.

This morning I was finally able to put the Ninja to work and put together my first greens smoothie, which I had for breakfast.  My plan is to try and replace one meal a day with a greens smoothie and maybe....someday use them as alternative meal for a sustainable low carb diet.  Right now, however, I am just focusing in on real foods and not focusing in on avoiding carbohydrates.  Below is the recipe I used for my smoothie.  It was adapted from the video below which was posted by Ben Greenfield at Ben Greenfield Fitness, who I listen too, probably way too much, but oh well, he's a wealth of knowledge and really knows his shit.  Plus he is not afraid to stray away from the "big dollar diets" which are often formed by our government through deep pocket government interest groups such as corn growers and the milk farmers.

Anyway....below is the "recipe" I used to make my first greens smoothie....

1. Plenty of Kale (about 2-4 handfuls).  But, again, feel free to use what you got, whether it's spinach or whatever.
   
2. 3 Brazil nuts and a small handful of almonds.  Yup, whole nuts...just another reason for a high quality blender.
   
3. Whole fat REAL coconut milk (about 1/2 cup - 1 cup)
   
4. Apple Cider Vinegar (about 1-3 Tbsp)
   
5. Whole Banana
   
6. Generous serving of cinnamon (helps stabilize blood sugar)
   
7. MCT Oil (Medium Chain Triglyceride Oil)...I will admit, this was the closest thing my local nutritional store had for MCT Oil, but it is only 93% MCT's....needless to say I will be ordering my MCT oil online from now on.
   
8. A scoop of protein powder
9. Some Sea Salt
10. And finally, I tossed in my daily dose of Hammer Supplements....feel free to toss in your daily multivitamins or other supplements.  
    

And after a little blending.....

The finished product with THICK, and definitely filling.  The taste?  It was OK, nothing that I would be guzzling by the gallons, but not too bad, tolerable, for sure.  If I would add more cinnamon next time and maybe a splash of vanilla extract.

Here is the YouTube Video from Ben Greenfield about his smoothie: