It Ain't Easy Bein' Green...

Kermit the Frog had a love hate relationship with swine. Perhaps he passed that along to a few of us in generations thereafter. He also passed along this catchy tune. It certainly isn't easy bein' green.

The toughest challenge for me in "going green" and raising my (green) pom-poms and rah-rah off to Herbs-r-Us with the other limey bastards, dancing in sync to a catchy tune with the other health crazed Oompah Loompahs is simply the incessant nagging from my taste buds for salty-sweet goodness that comes in a pretty, crinkly wrapper! After all, Kale is not exciting to look at. In fact, its undeniably boring to the untrained eye, amid a plethora of phallic, verte protrusions from the local grocer's Produce section. Until you get to know it.

Frankly, it's easier to love bacon. Especially chocolate-covered bacon..... I digress; back on point:

A quality brand blender is a good start, if you want to love greens. I have to tell you that my KitchenAid culinary tornado of a blender, purchased on discount as a refurb at a culinary outlet store for less than the price of dinner-for-two at a steak house sans overpriced wine selection, has been a key factor in my new Green Love.

Second, is a good recipe. I have to tell you that +Drew Manning has posted an absolutely fantastic Spinach Recipe that I enjoy thoroughly. It was giant leap for mankind, but a baby step for a fat guy with limited flexibility in the legs that left my taste buds dazed, confused but most importantly, open to the idea of an encore performance. In fact, I have come to crave my morning shake.Even in the afternoons. It's almost like I can't wait to go to bed just so I can get up and have my Spinach Protein Shake! (ok, it's not that good - i still enjoy going to bed early for a few reasons, but the reward of this shake in the AM is a Plus - especially when someone else washes the blender after for you).

Try the recipe located at BlendedRecipes.com, and listed as Spinach Protein Smoothie. It's been spotlighted by Dr. Oz, The View and has received a number of other celebrity endorsements. Frankly, it just tastes great. Here are a few of my suggestions to tweak it:

• Pre-slice organic bananas, and lay out on a cookie tray. Store in freezer for a few hours until they set. Then transfer them to a freezer bag or container for easy access/storage.
• Switch up the "milk" to adjust the flavour.. you can use hemp, soy, almond, coconut or whatever "dairy" you prefer. For me, unsweetened rice milk and coconut milks are my preference.
• Switch up the protein powders you use for the same reason. I am currently using pumpkin seed protein but it has a distinct flavour and texture that a few participants to taste-testing have found off-putting.
• Kale works great for this, instead of spinach.

Now, I would love to tell you about the heaping spoonful of delicious Liberte French Vanilla Greek Yogurt that really puts a nice spin on this, but that would be faux pas given the dairy basis of aforementioned yogurt and I haven't found a reasonable replacement as of yet so enjoy as described above.

Several weeks into this protein shake consumption, I took my green obsession to the next level, and purchased a juicer. More on that later!

Shake'em if ya got'em!
FatGuy