Foods That Heal--Our Supper Smoothies

Last night's smoothie

The green color comes from the spinach puree in it. I told my hubby to pretend it was a kiwi smoothie. It was sweet and tasty!

I've been trying to beef up our nutrition even more so than normal because of my husband's injury. I'm enjoying learning more about healthy foods and have fun trying to incorporate them into our diet. Every night with supper we have smoothies (Jer calls them "smoolies") and everyone in the family enjoys them and I feel good knowing how many good nutrients we are all getting. We've always enjoyed smoothies but now we are enjoying them every night.

I never measure anything and just throw things together. I use homemade yogurt (see the link in my menu plan a few posts back) and throw in whatever juice we have on hand along with fruits, some veggie puree, some flax seeds, etc.

What's most often in our smoothies?

Plain yogurt

Orange juice

Frozen blueberries (thanks to a recent great sale on them!)

Flax seeds

Spinach, pumpkin, or sweet potato puree

Green tea

When I get a chance to buy some wheat germ, I hope to add that in as well. Here is some info from my book, "Giant Book of Kitchen Counter Cures" by Karen Cicero and Colleen Pierre.

Benefits of plain yogurt:

Bolsters: bones, digestion, immune function, weight control

Battles: cancer, canker sores, diarrhea, high blood pressure, yeast infections

Pages 484-489

Benefits of oranges:

Bolsters: bones and teeth, circulation, immune function, wound healing

Battles: birth defects, cancer, gallstones, heart disease, high cholesterol, stroke, wrinkles

Pages 311-315

Flaxseeds

Rich in fiber and lignans

Bolsters: brain and vision development in infants, regularity

Battles: cancer, heart disease

Pages 202-206

Spinach

Bolsters: memory, vision

Battles: age-related macular degeneration, cancer, cataracts, fibroids, night blindness

Pages 424-428

Pumpkin

Bolsters: immune function, vision

Battles: cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke

Page 376-381

Sweet Potatoes

Bolsters: immune function

Battles: heart disease, cancer, leg cramps, yeast infections

Pages 438-442

Tea

Bolsters: bones, immune function, vision, weight control

Battles: arthritis, cancer, cataracts, heart disease, stroke, tooth decay, ulcers

Pages 443-447

Wheat Germ

Bolsters: bones

Battles: Alzeimer's disease, birth defects, heart disease, high cholesterol, stroke

Pages 468-472

Blueberries

Bolsters: memory

Battles: cancer, heart disease, urinary tract infections, wrinkles

Pages 68-71.

*Sometimes I add a little bit of honey or a teaspoon of vanilla extract to make it taste sweeter. If you use juice concentrate, the smoothie will be very sweet but if you use already made-up juice you may have to add some honey.