Green Drinks for a Healthy St.Patty’s Day & Why You Should Rotate Your Greens

by Julie on March 16, 2011

The luck O’ the Irish is on your side today just in time for celebrating with the healthy leprechauns! It’s all about green, my favourite colour these days!  I’ve put together a collection of healthy tasty recipes for delicious Fresh Green Juice.  If you don’t have time for juicing maybe you might like to try maintaining your chlorophyll intake by placing a few drops of liquid chlorophyll in some water and giving that a good swig.  If you want to super charge your batteries with 300+ megahertz of energy try these super greens– carefully dried formulated powder from over 40 green plant juices that give your body a charge of energy.  Tony Robbins, the talking Machine, drinks this in his water ALL DAY LONG, and ahem…so do I!  It’s that good and it really improves my energy and my alkalinity.  Ideally you could ‘celebrate green day with a shooter’ of the best green juice on the planet–Wheat grass!  Just reading the unbelievable benefits makes you want to sprint to the closest juice bar for a fix, am I right? What a great way to be green for the big day!

“Scientist have discovered that green juices increase the oxygenation of the body, purify the blood and organs, assist in the metabolism of nutrients and counteract acids and toxins. Green juices are the superstars of the nutrition world.”  says Dr Robert O. Young.  He formulated the Super Greens because he truly believes we need more greens in our diet and this is a sure fire way to up the anti at any given time, with ease.

Enjoying green juices daily is the best way to alkalize the body with extremely vital nutrients that nature provides for us, in turn supporting a healthy immune system that will protect us from disease.  Juicing these greens allows for the vital nutrients to be assimilated easily and immediately, giving you an immediate energy boost.  I tend to follow up with a green smoothie a little while later to gain the benefits of the fiber and to keep me satisfied for a little longer.  If you suffer from symptoms of an acidic body that can be anything and everything from a simple cold to gastrointestinal issues, the list is enormous, you will benefit immensely by adding a juicing regime to your morning.  It boosts your daily veggie intake and charges your battery for the day.  How about using St. Patricks day to mark the beginning of your daily greens?  You still have time to pickup a juicer if you don’t have one yet.  I recommend the Breville, any model will do, except the compact model since you will be using it everyday and you will want one that can handle the volume.

One of my favourite green drinks is this first recipe for green lemonade that I like to have in the afternoon when I have a heckling for something yummy but I want to make a really good choice.  Balancing the flavour is sometimes needed as the size of produce really varies, so always test it before you pour into your glass in case it needs a little more of something.  A little trick I do for my kids to ensure that they drink the juice if it is strong or a little tart, is to add a drop or two of liquid stevia to balance it out a little.  On the most part they love their juice but I want to keep it that way!  For these recipes  I use plenty of cucumber as it is highly alkalizing and is a very high water content content veggie that is fairly neutral and can be swayed in many different flavour directions.  See for yourself and be sure to experiment with your own combination.  One last thing, sometimes I used the last of my veggies to make juice before they go off but your juice shouldn’t always be made from veggies that have been sitting in the crisper all week.  I suggest juicing with intention.  Buy the veggies you plan to juice instead of juicing on a whim with left overs cuz you’ll be more excited about the process and the final flavour outcome.  Alright, lets get this ‘Green’ party started!!

Green Lemonade (left photo above)
Yield: 1 serving approx 10 oz
1 apple (may leave out if you wish for no sweetness)
1 lemon peeled
3/4 large English cucumber or one small
2 large kale leaves
Method
Run all ingredients thru juicer, stir, test for flavour, enjoy.
Add a garnish to make it look pretty! Somehow, it makes it taste even better!

Green Leprechaun (above)
Yield: 1 serving approx 10 oz
1 green apple
1/2 pink grapefruit
1/3 bunch fresh spinach
3/4 large English cucumber or one small
1/2 inch piece fresh ginger
1 stalk celery
Method
Run all ingredients thru juicer, stir, test for flavour, enjoy.
Garnish and make look pretty!

Fresh Green Mint (above)
Yield: 1 serving approx 10 oz 1 pear
1 lime, peeled
10 stems fresh mint
1 large collard leaf
3/4 large long English cucumber or 1 small
garnish with mint sprig
Method
Run all ingredients thru juicer, stir, test for flavour, enjoy.
Garnish and make look pretty!

Rotating Your Greens
Everyday our family enjoys this Tasty Green Juice, our daily elixir, and we really miss it when we are away.  Every few days I jazz it up with a different green kale, chard,or sprouts when the kids aren’t looking.  It’s good to rotate your choice of greens on a regular basis so that your nutrient intake is varied as you can end up with too much of a good thing. Plants carry a trace of alkaloids in their leaves that in very large quantities are poisonous, but in small quantities are harmless yet beneficial to your immune system.  Because the leaves of a  plant are the most nutritious part, animals instinctively want to eat them and so should we.  Alkaloids are essentially the protective element of the plant kingdom so that in nature no one plant would become extinct, forcing grazing animals to move onto another specimen, eating a good variety of greens.  You don’t want an accumulation of alkaloids in your system so by rotating your greens often you will avoid this possibility of poisoning.  There are thousands of edible greens available to you so don’t worry too much about this but do check out your local market and start integrating sprouts, herbs, grasses, and leafy greens in rotation for juicing, smoothies and salads to be sure you have a nice mix.  You really can’t eat too many greens if you rotate them well.  I say the more the better and at every meal, every day!  There’s a very extensive list here of edible greens if you’d like to take a peek.

If you prefer to celebrate with a green smoothie do check out this tasty recipe for optimal nutrition and energy–it’s sooo green that it will make St. Patty veeerry happy!

Forget just wearing green on St. Patricks day, Drink Green too!  Hope you have a lucky day!

Julie

Here are the Styling Props
Linens: Purl Soho, NYC- white cotton gauze yardage beneath veggies and all other fabrics except t-towel in top image & clover plant photo, Gronlyk, Copenhagen
Tall White Screened GlassSilk Road, Victoria B.C.- it has a dragon on the reverse side-really cool glass, I’ll show the other side one day!
White Floral Textured plant pot: Abbott of England Product found at Paboom, Victoria B.C.
Moss Green Jug: Isle Sur la Sorge Market, France
All other items from my personal collection over the years.

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{ 14 comments }

Maria @ Scandifoodie March 16, 2011 at 2:16 pm

So delicious and refreshing, I love it!

Kristyne March 16, 2011 at 8:44 pm

Hello! I just found you via A Creative Mint and I’m so glad I did. Your photos (and recipes) have convinced me to finally get myself a juicer. And how cute is that little cucumber flower. I wish my mom knew how to make those when I was a kid instead of those radish roses 🙂

Julie March 16, 2011 at 8:54 pm

Hi Kristyne, so glad you made it here! You’ll be amazed at how great you will feel once you get into a routine with juicing. A green smoothie cheer to you:) Thanx for stopping by:)

Wendy March 16, 2011 at 10:44 pm

Top o’ the morning to you Julie! You’ve outdone yourself AGAIN! I absolutely adore this post. It makes me want to juice every green in sight. Thank you for the beauty and inspiration. Happy St. Patty’s Day to you and yours!

Julie March 16, 2011 at 10:51 pm

Wendy, Happy St. Patty’s day to you too! Thank you for your comments. I love that you are so excited about greens!!! That’s my plan, to get everyone lovin’ their greens!! It’s working bit by bit!

Coco March 17, 2011 at 2:31 pm

Thank you Julie for posting these great recipes! I went to the store yesterday and stocked up on a TON of greens so Im excited to try these recipes out. I’ve made a similar green lemonade before and loved it! And I always forget to rotate my greens, so thank you for that too 🙂

Birgit March 18, 2011 at 6:46 am

i love these! slowly, the fresh greens are popping up at markets after winter – like spring spinach and others. i can’t wait to get some of them tomorrow morning at our local market. for sure, some of them will end as a green drink.
your pics are lovely!

Carrie Southern March 21, 2011 at 6:31 pm

Hi Julie! Two months ago I made the change to an alkaline diet. I love the food and how fantastic I feel! I don’t miss sugar or meat, coffee however is still tugging on my heart strings. I wanted to thank you for how much of a support your website has been for me. We are slowly transitioning our kids to a vegan alkaline diet. Cooking for six in this new way has caused me to at times feel a little burnt out in the kitchen. Trips to whole foods can take over an hour as I discover, learn and understand the new way of eating. Grabbing that readymade pizza would be so easy! Planning ahead along with your recipes are a life saver! The thoughtfulness, beauty and information you pour into each post has become my bible – I hope I can say that without offending anyone 🙂 I have heaps of appreciation for your tremendous effort! The joy of cooking (and eating) has an entirely new meaning for me. All my best, Carrie

Julie March 21, 2011 at 9:35 pm

Hey Carrie, so glad you said hello and shared your success, yippee! Doesn’t it feel great to have all that extra energy and know that you are feeding your body what it really needs! I feel honoured that I am your source of inspiration. Your wonderful comment is a real inspiration for me and makes me even more excited to keep doing what I am doing, knowing that I am helping families like yours to make a difference in their lifestyles. Keep up the good work and know that this transition time is the hardest and soon enough this new lifestyle will come naturally to you and your shopping trips will become easier. Hugs to you and the family and thank you so much for sharing cuz you are a great inspiration to other moms:)

lesley@homemadegrits March 22, 2011 at 11:01 am

sending my readers y’alls way today. love everything you guys are doing. makes me feel so inspired!

Colleen March 23, 2011 at 12:43 pm

This is a great post. I can not wait to try out a few of these.

This is my first time visiting your blog. I am excited to dig in and see what other great recipes you have. Love it!

¡Yo Soy Liz! March 24, 2011 at 10:07 am

I drink a green smoothie every day for breakfast but I always use kale. I figured it’s probably best to switch up the greens every now and then but I have really not liked the other greens I have tried (spinach and romaine.) In fact I put just one romaine leaf in my mostly kale smoothie today and I am having trouble drinking it I dislike the taste so much. But now you have me really worried with this build up of alkaloids. Any suggestions for really mild tasting greens similar to kale?

Julie March 24, 2011 at 12:09 pm

iYo Soy Liz
You need to consume an awful lot of one green but rotating ensures no symptoms.
I would try collard greens, pea shoots, Swiss chard, beet greens, sunflower sprouts, or fresh mint & other herbs and see if any of these work. It might help to add a few different ones in one smoothie.
Keep up the green smoothies!! Theres a link in the post for a long list of other greens.

Julie May 25, 2011 at 7:04 am

Julie, this looks pretty darn amazing! I’m going to try one of them tomorrow!

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Disclaimer: The content on this site is not written with intentions to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatments. Our content is for information purposes only and should not be used to diagnose or treat health issues of any sort. Our information and statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Copyright Julie Cove and Yvonne Becker, 2009-2010. Please do not use or copy any information, recipes or photos without permission or without noting its origins on your blog or website.