Cashew Lime Chicken

This was the preparation for this recipe.  The baggie contains the cashews, the bell jar had the sauce, and the other glass container had chopped cilantro. 

Here are the empty jars!  Using bell jars to have things ready to go while on the road was fabulous!  

The electric skillet of course!

My boy - I think we were at Swarthmore here - I am so proud of him and appreciate him so much!

Well, I am almost a week back from the college road trip and still trying to get back into a routine.  Wait, what routine!?  No such thing....  It was an interesting experience and I think my son now has a better idea about what kind of school he wants to attend.

It was difficult though as an education researcher and social worker not to think about all of this from a critical race theory perspective.  For example, every selective school we visited made a statement such as "We are need blind admissions, we don't want the inability to pay to prevent anyone from attending [Name of this fine school]."  What kept going through my mind however, was all the decisions and circumstances that low income kids are in that would prevent them from even being in a position to apply to these schools.  These elite institutions have the luxury to say this because only a token few are able to apply.  For example, I was thinking about the comment about how "we look at each student in the context of their school.  We want to see that students challenge themselves."  So my mind raced to think about the tracking in schools that leads brown or black kids and low income kids into the lower academic tracks, cutting off their access to AP classes.  So, if they applied, they would not even have a chance because their own schooling experiences created barriers to access to those classes - so they didn't "choose" not to challenge themselves, institutional factors and decisions tracked them effectively eliminated their ability to access AP courses. There is a really good quote about this in a book we were reading on the trip called "Dog Whistle Politics" by Ian Haney López.  I will try to find that quote and post it.

Anyway, on to the recipe: (Source: Make Ahead Paleo)

This would be good as a make ahead recipe even for home.

Ingredients:
2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts
1 cup of cashews
1/4 cup cilantro
1 1/2 cups of fat free chicken broth
1 TBS fish sauce
1/4 cup coconut aminos (this is a soy sauce substitute)
1 TBS fresh lime juice
1 tsp lime zest
1 TBS minced ginger
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp arrowroot powder
2 TSP coconut oil (again, I just took a can of coconut spray with me)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper

1. Combine the broth, fish sauce, soy sauce substitute, lime juice, zest, ginger, garlic, and arrowroot.  If you are traveling or keeping it for later, this will fit in a bell jar or similar sized container.  Or just set it aside in a bowl if you are making it right away.
2. Chop the cilantro and set aside
3. Use the coconut oil or spray on your skillet, heat it, add the chicken, then add the sauce and cashews.
4. Add the cilantro at the end
5. Salt and pepper to taste.


SEE --- So easy!

Strawberry Lime Shake

We started out this road trip after some serious planning together with Atzin.  He looked up the schools, planned the route, and set the appointments for the visits.  I assisted and planned the food and hotels.

I thought this was the perfect smoothie to start our road trip.  It was very simple to make; quick when you want to get out the door quickly in the morning and used the left over coconut milk from one of the recipes that I prepared for the road trip.

Here it is:

1 1/2 cups canned coconut milk
3 tsp of fresh lime juice
1 10oz bag of frozen strawberries
1 TBS coconut oil (optional)

Blend the ingredients in your high speed blender.  That's it!

Coffee Rubbed Steak Strips

I haven't had a chance to post while traveling, so I am very behind on sharing my cooking adventures while on the road.

I am so proud of myself for the meal planning I have done on this trip.  Today was the first day I had to go to the grocery store to re-stock on snacks and I still have enough food for two more dinners.  The challenge was knowing that we only had a car trunk for five passengers.  So that meant we would only be able to fit one cooler and maybe two grocery bags of food in the trunk with our luggage.  This is certainly not like the luxury of road trips in our now deceased Toyota Siena (How I miss my Siena!).  We would carry two coolers and not have to limit the grocery bags.  Well, I did manage to plan meals carefully so that I was carrying just what I needed and was able to fit the food in my car's trunk.

Pictured here is our first cooked meal on the trip.  From the previous posts, you saw that I had prepared Thai chicken drumsticks that could be eaten cold, a Paleo No Potato Salad, and I haven't blogged about a Chicken Salad.  The meal described in this post was dinner on Monday night in Williamstown. We visited Williams College (The college that is now my son's #1 - I think).  I couldn't wait to share this with all of you because I was so excited about discovering the use of an electric skillet and pre-prepared ingredients ready to just add to the skillet!  This was awesome and it really works.

The prep for this meal meant that I had one zip lock bag of pre-cut beef and the marinade.  I had a vegetable side dish for this meal (this was a prepared that I just heated up on the electric skillet as well because the room we were in did not have a microwave).

Here is the recipe from the book: Make Ahead Paleo

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1 1/2 tsp finely ground coffee
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 TBS granulated onion
1/2 tsp dry mustard
3/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 TBS honey

3 lb. of lean beef steak

Coconut oil for the skillet (I just brought a can of the coconut oil spray with me).

1.  Mix all of the ingredients listed above.
2. Place the beef in a zip lock baggie.
3. Add the marinade to the zip lock baggie.
4.  Once in the bag, zip it and make sure the marinade covers the pieces of beef completely.
5. Put it in your cooler until it is ready to use.

Creamy Cilantro No Potato Salad

Source: Make Ahead Paleo

This salad was a hit!  As Atzin, my son said, "Mom, this was questionable, but it was really good!"  He had a huge serving both on the night I prepared it and on the road.  We had this as a side with the Thai Lime Chicken Legs.

I made this ahead as well and packed it for the road trip.

One head of cauliflower
1/2 cup dill pickles (finely chopped)
3 ribs of uncooked celery (finely chopped)
1 cup of sliced black olives
1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)
1/2 cup onion (finely chopped)
1 clove of garlic (minced)
1 TBS mustard
1 TBS fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
5 boiled eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise

1. Steam the cauliflower fro 5-7 minutes.  It should still be a bit crunchy (soft, but not too soft).
2. Transfer to bowl and refrigerate them for about 15 minutes.
3. Combine the eggs, pickles, celery, olives, cilantro, onion, garlic, mayo, mustard, lime juice, sea salt, and pepper.
4. Remove cauliflower from the fridge and chop it up. Add it to the rest of the salad.
5. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Thai Chicken Drumsticks

Source: Make Ahead Paleo

So far I am on the end of day two of the road trip.  I feel like we've eaten enough for a week so far!  I'm so grateful I planned so many meals on the road because these boys certainly do have an appetite.

Well, this dish I'm sharing here was our first lunch on the road.  I pre-prepared these chicken drumsticks and they were great.  The boys loved it.

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs. uncooked chicken drumsticks
1/2 cup cilantro
2 cloves of garlic
2 TBS fish sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
2 TBS fresh ginger
1 medium shallot
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS honey
2 TBS canned coconut milk
2 TBS coconut aminos (substitute for soy sauce)

1. Mix all of the ingredients in a food processor.
2. Place the chicken legs in a baking dish and pour the marinade on the chicken legs.  Make sure each chicken leg is covered in the marinade.
3. Bake for about 45 minutes.

So easy, they tasted great cold.  The boys ate these up! And so did mom!

Paleo Shrimp Scampi

911 operator:  "911, what is your emergency?"

Mom:  "My daughter is trying to kill me!!"

911 operator: "What is your daughter doing to you?"

Mom: "She is trying to feed me healthy food and won't give me any tortillas! She is killing me!" 

This is the conversation I envision between my mom and the police.  My mom's idea of healthy is a breakfast with steak, 3 eggs, a side of pancakes, and hash browns.  Getting my mom to eat better is difficult!  So the most I can do is cook my way when I'm there.  She almost always likes what I cook (as long as I add a tortilla!).  I always joke with her and tell her that one day she will be calling the police to tell them that her daughter is killing her by feeding her healthy food.  Anyway, I try.  On the other hand, my dad really likes to eat healthy.  He will eat well as long as it's provided for him.  I know with my dad's arthritis and other conditions, a paleo diet is perfect for him.  I wish I lived closer so that I could share my regular meals with them.  

Today was a day that I spent with my parents, caring for my mom and dad.  I went to my mom's infusion appointment at the hospital.  It's amazing to me how BAD hospital food is for people working on their healing.  My mom's lunch while at the hospital consisted of chicken and rice soup, a sandwich with huge whole wheat bread and deli turkey (not even lettuce on the sandwich), mayo for the sandwich, and peaches in syrup.  How can it be that people with illnesses such as cancer are given foods that do not promote their health.  Imagine if at a bare minimum, the hospital gave people a real peach instead peaches in heavy sugared syrup.  

Normally when we go for treatments I carry my big lunch bag with plenty of healthy snacks.  This time I didn't have time to pack anything.  So while we were out, hospital food it was.  However, the morning started out with almond flour pancakes and dinner was Paleo Shrimp Scampi.  At least I made up for it.  Here is the recipe for the shrimp scampi.  It is super easy and quick.  I was able to make this while my mom napped after her appointment.

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The biggest take-away from this post is the spaghetti squash noodles.  As I started to eat gluten free, I had transitioned to rice pasta, and eventually I transitioned to kelp noodles.  Now that I discovered spaghetti squash, I use those almost always.  I have sad and lonely kelp noodles in my cabinet because I will usually opt for the spaghetti squash.  The spaghetti squash noodles are delicious and I love to eat a huge serving knowing that they are really low in calories and loaded with only the good fats that you add to them - or even nothing at all! They can be eaten in so many ways.  We also eat these noodles when we make "spaghetti" with marinara sauce and lean ground beef.  So you can adapt the spaghetti noodles recipe to other dishes that have pasta.  

For the Pasta:

1 large spaghetti squash or 2 small ones

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Sea salt and pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the squash on a baking dish and put in the oven.  If it is a large spaghetti squash, it will take about an hour to bake.  Smaller ones can take about 45 minutes.  When it's done, take it out and cut it in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and discard.  Take a fork and scrape out the "noodles."  It's like magic!  Put it in a bowl, drizzle some olive oil and add the spices.  Toss it so that olive oil and spices is distributed throughout.

For the Shrimp Scampi: 

16 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 TBS butter

2-3 TBS olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Sea salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1 TBS fresh parsley, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Melt the butter over medium heat, add the olive oil and garlic.  Suate the garlic for 2-3 minutes.  Add the shrimp, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Cook for about 5 minutes until the shrimp is cooked through.  Remove from heat and add the desired amount on top of the spaghetti squash on your plate.  Toss with lemon.  

My dad loved this.  He doesn't eat much anymore.  He asked for a second serving.  For my mom, I did the exact same thing, but used chicken since she doesn't like seafood.  My mom of course asked, "Do I get a tortilla with this?"  I said, "No.  Just like this."  

This was incredibly fast.  The only thing that takes long is the spaghetti squash, but I will typically bake it ahead of time knowing I will be using it later.  You can also steam it which is faster, but I prefer the baking.  Baking is very forgiving.  If you go over the hour a little bit, it's no big deal.  With steaming, you have to get the timing perfect or you will end up with mush instead of noodles.  

Piedad's Turkey Tacos

I named this dish after my sister Piedad because I first had a dish like this at her home.  I loved it so much and my son loved it so much that I decided to give it a try at home.  It has become a regular dish in our household because it is delicious and so fast to make.  It easily makes a quick dinner and if I have more time, I make a shrimp thai soup to go along with it and some thai spring rolls.  So you can make it fancy if you have time, or just keep it simple for a quick dinner.

This was the perfect post game dinner again, because we got home late, we were hungry and needed something that cooks really fast.  This dish can be done in 20 minutes.

1 1/4 pound of ground turkey breast
1/4 cup of green onions, chopped
3 TBS gluten free soy sauce (or coconut aminos to substitute the soy sauce).
2 TBS fish sauce
2 tsp chili paste
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS lemon grass
3 TBS cilantro
1-2 heads of butter lettuce


1. Sauté the ground turkey with a spray of olive oil and about 1 TBS of sesame oil in a non stick skillet.
2. Add all the other ingredients and continue to sauté a bit more until it is fragrant and fully cooked.
3. Serve on pieces of butter lettuce using the butter lettuce as "taco" shells.

This is about 4 WW points per serving. 

White Hot Chocolate

It was a cold day today!  I thought we were done with hot chocolate season, but apparently not.  Atzin finally had his first baseball game of the season and it was almost unbearably cold out there.  I'm so glad I had my parka, hat, and gloves.  I still wimped out and sat in the car for most of the game.  Atzin and Rolando were outside the whole time.  So, the perfect post game drink for Atzin was the white hot chocolate that he absolutely loves.

1 cup of water
1 1/4 cups of coconut milk
1 1/2 ounces raw cacao butter (the first time I made this I used an organic raw cacao butter from nuts.com - and it was divine but oh so expensive.  Now, I purchased a different non-organic kind which was less money and is still good, but really nothing compares to the organic raw from nuts.com).
1 TBS honey
8 drops of vanilla creme stevia
pinch of sea salt

1. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients.
2. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
3. Continue simmering until cacao butter is melted.
4. Blend in a vitamix or other blender.
5. Serve and enjoy!!

Ackee and Salt Fish: The National Dish of Jamaica

I am now a proud madrina of a Jamaixican little boy.  Given that my Godson is half Jamaican, I figured that I better learn how to cook Jamaican food.  So, my comadre, introduced me to Ackee - a fruit I had never heard of before.  One day she also made the Ackee and Saltfish and I had the opportunity to taste it.  This is definitely NOT Paleo given the salt content of the "saltfish."  So, just a warning for those who need to or want to reduce their salt intake.

Typically this dish is served with roast breadfruit, fried dumplings, bread, boiled yam, and boiled green bananas.  I do intend to try the boiled green bananas and also plan to make a gluten free Jamaican bread.  My comadre also says that many people just eat it with something like flour tortillas Mexicans use.  I have made this twice and so far, I just eat it over a bed of greens and love it this way.  Atzin really likes it this way as well.  He is not too crazy about fish, but he does like this dish.

1 can of Ackee or 12 pods of fresh ackee.
(Good luck finding fresh ackee unless you live in Jamaica.  You will probably have to use the canned.  I found two places in Chicago where you can get it.

Jamaican Market on the South Side

Old World Market on the North Side

You can always get it online four double the price because of shipping:
Ackee on Amazon

1/2 pound of Salftish (codfish) also called bacalao (this is fairly common and I was able to find it at my local market).
Spray of olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 stalks of scallion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 tsp Scotch bonnet pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp black pepper

1. Soak saltfish in cold water for about 1 hour.
2. If you are using fresh ackees, boil in water for about 15-20 minutes.  If you are using canned, don't worry about this step.
3. Drain water from soaked saltfish, add fresh water and cook for 10 minutes.  Drain thoroughly.
4. Drain water from cooked ackee throughly
5. De-bone and flake saltfish and remove scales where necessary.  (I just bought it already scaled and de-boned so I didn't have to do this).
6. In a saucepan, spray the olive oil and saute onion, garlic, scallion, tomato, scotch bonnet pepper, and bell pepper.
7. Add flaked saltfish to sauteed seasoning and cook on low flame for 3 minutes.  Toss lightly.
8. Add drained ackee.
9. Sprinkle with black pepper.
10. Toss all ingredients lightly, cover and allow to stand over low heat for about 2-3 minutes.

Kiwi Asparagus Smoothie

Well, I have a series of green smoothies that I make.  Usually made with kale or spinach.  Last week, I bought a big bag of Asparagus at Costco.  When, I do this, then I figure out all the ways I can incorporate that vegetable into my meals.  So, here was one way to use the asparagus.

4 medium kiwis
4 asparagus spears (remove tough end)
1 cup honeydew melon
1 TBS flax seed (this is optional, but I like to add a source of fat to all my smoothies to aid in absorption of all the wonderful vitamins and minerals you are getting from your raw fruits and veggies).
1 cup almond milk unsweetened
5-6 ice cubes

As it is above, it makes 2 tall glasses of smoothie.

6 WW points per serving

(Variations: you can add water instead of almond milk, but I had this as my morning smoothie, so I wanted the extra nutrition and texture of the almond milk).

German Chocolate Cake

Source: Elana's Pantry

"Mindfulness has to do above all with attention and awareness, which are universal human qualities....Mediation is the process by which we go about deepening our attention and awareness, refining them, and putting them into practice in our lives" (Kabat Zinn, 1994, p. xvii).

Baking for me today was a mindfulness practice.  Every step of the process, I was aware of me, my breathing, how my belly feels; I was in my body and I was very focused on each step of making this cake.  The result shows that I was definitely rewarded for remembering to breath, be in the moment, and enjoy this process.  When I cook or bake, I am often rushing, trying to just get things done, taking shortcuts, not practicing awareness.  That's why I typically bake cookies or muffins.  They are easy, fast, and really hard to mess up.  When you bake a cake though, you can't really do that; not if you want to have a beautiful, perfect cake.  You have to have the patience to wait for each step to take place; let the frosting sit for the full 45 minutes in the freezer, let the cake completely cool, etc. etc.  So, obviously even though I love making cakes, I don't do it often.  This time, I let each step sort of unfold.  Well, I just wanted to share what an amazing, peaceful process my cake making was today.  Now I will share the recipe.

This week I am exploring cake making.  Later this week I plan to start experimenting with some raw and vegan recipes and I have a raw vegan carrot cake in the plan.  Today, I made the German Chocolate Cake for Rolando's belated birthday.  I told him, now you better say that this cake is better than ANY cake ANY other woman, including your mother, has made for you.

Cake
3/4 cup flour, sifted
1/2 cup cacao powder
1 tsp celtic sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
10 eggs
1 cup grapeseed oil
1 1/2 cups agave
1 TBS vanilla extract

1.  In a small bowl, combine flour, cacao, salt, and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, blend eggs, oil, agave, and vanilla
3. Add dry ingredients into large bowl and continue to blend
4. Oil 2 9 inch round cake pans and dust with coconut flour
5. Pour batter into pans and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes (This is what the recipe says, but I baked it at 325 for about 45 minutes.  I find that when I use coconut flour 350 degrees tends to burn the outside of the cake while the middle is not fully cooked.  So, I use a slightly longer time with a slightly lower temperature.  You will have to see what works in your oven.  I'm not sure if it's particular to my oven or if this is just what happens with coconut flour.  I just want you to be aware and watch closely the first time you make something with coconut flour.  If you notice that the edges are getting too brown while the middle is still really gooey, try a lower temperature for a longer time.)
6. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely then remove from pans.

Coconut Pecan Filling
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup agave nectar
pinch celtic sea salt
5 tsp arrowroot powder
1 TBS water
1 1/4 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped

1. In a medium saucepan, heat coconut milk, agave, and salt, simmer for 10 minutes
2. In a small bowl, combine arrowroot and water to form a smooth paste
3. Pour arrowroot mixture into saucepan
4. Whisk the contents of saucepan vigorously and bring to a boil, briefly
5. Remove pot from heat and very gradually blend in coconut oil
6. Place pot in freezer for 30-40 minutes, until frosting solidifies and turns white
7. Remove from freezer and blend again, until fluffy, then stir in shredded coconut and pecans.
8. Spread frosting over cake and serve

Vegan Chocolate Frosting
1 cup chocolate chunks
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
2 TBS agave nectar
1 TBS vanilla extract
pince of celtic sea salt

1. In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and grapeseed oil
2. Sit in agave, vanilla and salt
3. Place frosting in freezer for 15 minutes to cool
4. Remove from freezer and whip frosting with a hand blender until it is thick and fluffy

Assembly
1. After the cakes have cooked completely, remove them from the pans and place one on a pretty serving plate or platter
2. Spread the Coconut Pecan Filling on top of the first layer cake
3. Place the second cake on top of the first
4. Spread the top and side of Chocolate Frosting
5. Cover the top of the cake with the remaining Pecan Coconut Filling
6. Serve

Serves 12

Here is the completed cake.

 Here is the first layer with the pecan coconut filling.

Indian Lamb Stew

Source: Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple.

This was sooooo good.  This is the first time I made this.  I needed a change and had not made anything lamb for months.  This will also make a lot of leftovers.  So we will probably have a few meals with this and assorted vegetables.  My plan was to make Paleo rice to go along with this with Indian spices, but I didn't have time, so I just steamed some asparagus to go along with this as a side dish.  It was perfect.

2 cinnamon sticks, whole
4 lbs of boneless leg of lamb (I bought this at Costco.  They are supposed to have the grass fed, but I couldn't find it).
1 medium onion, chopped
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 TBS cumin
1 TBS coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBS fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp dried ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced

1. Place the cinnamon sticks on the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Place the lamb in the slow cooker on top of the cinnamon sticks (I cut the fat off the top as much as I could.  I sliced the leg of lamb into about 3-4 oz chops.  This worked well, then I spread them in two layers in the slow cooker on top of the cinnamon sticks).

3. chop the onion and carrots, and place them on top of the lamb in the slow cooker.

4. Mince the garlic and ginger, and add them to slow cooker.  I sprinkled them on top of the lamb chops.

5. Add the remaining spices.

6. Cover and cook on low for eight hours or on high for 4 hours.

I loved this!  It was easy and delicious.

This has 4 WW points per serving (based on a 4 oz serving).

Paleo Meatloaf

This is one of my favorite EASY recipes.  It was nice to have this after the tedious tamale making.  This morning, I put this together and left it in the fridge so that all Atzin has to do when he gets home is put it in the oven to bake.

2 lb. of the Trader Joe's extra lean ground beef (96% lean)
2 medium onions
4 garlic cloves
1 bag of Trader Joe's frozen roasted peppers
1/2 cup of cilantro
1/2 cup parsley
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
3 large eggs
2 TBS olive oil

Now note this is not truly Paleo because I am not using grass fed beef and I am adding 1 tsp of salt - but hey, if we wanted to truly be Paleo we would have to go out there and cook on a fire and start our fire by rubbing sticks together or something.  Anyway, this is a great recipe if you are a beef eater.  And it is only 2 WW pts per serving.  How can you beat that if you are trying to lose weight.

Mince the onion and garlic.  Combine everything in a large mixing bowl.  Then, transfer it to a baking dish.  I lightly spray the baking dish with olive oil spray.  Put it in the oven at 375 degrees or so. It bakes in like 45 minutes.

This is a great recipe.  Even people that do not like meatloaf like this recipe.

Spicy Pumpkin Chai Delight

This smoothie is adapted from 31 Perfect Fitness Smoothies.  This is intended to be an energy booster, so a good morning or pre-workout smoothie.

I made this one for Atzin this morning and the ABC Smoothie for me and Rolando.  This turned out delicious and I think I will make it for him several times this week.  I was a bit skeptical about how the combination of spices would taste and whether it would be "too much."  But it was delicious and he gave it a thumbs up!

1 scoop of Vanilla protein powder
1 cup brewed chai tea
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 TBS of agave or honey depending on desired sweetness
5-7 ice cubes.

This made a very generous serving.  His protein shake container was filled to rim.

ABC Smoothie

This smoothie is from a book called "Crazy About Kale."  I love to prepare this for Atzin in the morning.  The first time I made it though, I worried he wouldn't like it because it is not sweet and I added a sweetener - Don't do that!! The sweetener ruins the flavor.  This is a green smoothie and is delicious and NOT intended to be sweet.  I suppose if you do want it a bit more sweet, you might consider adding a banana.  I added Stevia that time and the flavor doesn't work.  Actually, I have doubled the amount of banana and it does turn out really good.  I think that makes just sweet enough for those who want a sweeter taste.  Atzin though told me he doesn't need his smoothies to be sweet, so that was good news to me.

1 cup fresh spinach
1/2 cup kale (I use the big bag of frozen Kale from Costco that I keep in the fridge for kale smoothies.  I also do use fresh kale).
1/4 of an avocado
1/2 large banana
1/2 cup water (A variation I use here is adding more almond milk instead of water.  That's up to you).
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 - 1 cup of ice cubes or more depending on how you like it.

I have also added a bit of protein powder in the past.  This morning, I just made it like this.

This makes one large glass of smoothie.  You can make it and split it with someone for a smaller glass or have the whole thing to your self!

About 5 WW points for the full glass.