Drink your greens Kale Smoothies

A friend of mine sent me some recipes for some "green" smoothies. The idea is that you can tastefully drink your healthy (but sometimes not so tasty) greens in a fruit smoothie. These are not my recipes, but I wanted to share them for anyone who is interested in making them. I tried the Orange Cream and loved it! It was SOO much better than the ones I had come up with on my own. Disclaimer: It isn't going to taste like a normal smoothie so don't expect it to. BUT it is very healthy and I personally feel, tasty. I used regular vanilla soy, but the Very Vanilla from Silk might be mighty fine.... You could probably use regular milk or vanilla almond milk.

Combine ingredients into a bender. Blend until smooth (really smooth - you don't want to see green flecks floating around in it. A quality blender is helpful. Mine is a Kitchen Aid 5 speed and it does a great job)

Orange Cream Kale

2 cups vanilla soy milk
3 whole kale leaves
1 ½ cups frozen tropical fruit
Fruit of 1 fresh orange or one 7-oz can mandarin oranges, drained
¼ cup dry milk
6 oz (½ of can) frozen orange juice concentrate
6 oz vanilla yogurt

Blueberry Lime Kale

2 cups soy milk
3 whole kale leaves
1 ½ cups frozen blueberries
½ cup pineapple chunks
6 oz blueberry yogurt
4 Tbsp lime juice (lemon is nasty with kale)

Berries & Kale

2 cups soy milk
3 whole kale leaves
1 ½ cups frozen mixed berries
½ cup frozen tropical fruits
2-3 Tbsp dry milk
6 oz (1/2 of can) frozen juice concentrate of apples or any berries
6 oz mixed berries yogurt

Strawberries & Cream Kale

2 cups vanilla soy milk
3 whole kale leaves
1 ½ cups frozen strawberries
½ cup frozen tropical fruits
¼ cup dry milk
two 6 oz cups strawberry yogurt

Tropical Kale

2 cups soy milk
3 whole kale leaves
2 cups frozen tropical fruits
6 oz pineapple yogurt
4 Tbsp lime juice (not lemon!)

The following is taken from http://www.everynutrient.com/healthbenefitsofkale.html

"Kale provides an excellent source of vitamins B6 and C, carotenes, and manganese. It is also a very good source of vitamins B1, B2, and E, fiber, iron, copper, and calcium. Kale has almost three times as much calcium as phosphorus. This is a beneficial ratio because high phosphorus consumption has been linked to osteoporosis since it reduces the utilization and promotes the excretion of calcium. Kale and collard greens exhibit the same anticancer properties as other members of the cabbage family. "