I’ve been a victim of juicing. It’s all I want to consume these days. There is an indefinable feeling of freshness and re-energization that comes about to your body, mind and spirit after you’ve had a cup of fresh vegetable mixed with fruit juice.

At first, if you’ve never really had leafy greens as a drink, it might sound unusual. But keep your mind open because with the right mixture, it can taste great but better yet, you have a sound mind that you’re treating your body well.

Kale has many benefits as a huge giver of vitamin A and calcium. It’s high in fiber and can give you a “full” feeling so you don’t feel hunger (best used as a smoothie though); in this way it fights gaining weight. Antioxidants, phytonutrients, betacarotene, what can’t this super green do?

My frequent mix as kale juice is 1 carrot, 2 green apples, and a big bunch of kale. If I have grapes, I’ll add those in too.

Here are my suggestions and the way that I make my kale smoothies. First, because kale is a bit fibrous, a higher-speed blender is needed. Me? I use a magic bullet so I actually end up chewing on pieces (which I don’t mind). One thing that helps is:

1. Remove the stem. Peel the leaves off of the hard stem.
2. Freeze the kale before-hand. It’s great for storage too and you can mix it with frozen berries (which will assist in making in tastier) or peaches.

I throw in kale, green apple slices, half a banana and then fill it up 1/4 of the way with some type of juice I have on-hand.

After blending it for a minute – it’s done! This type of smoothie shouldn’t sit too long or it congeals and gets thick. The great thing too is that it fills you up – you don’t need a meal so quickly after.

Enjoy ~ (the photos I took are of the kale juice….I like to use purple kale)