Re: Kale in smoothies/My morning's problem

[Guest guest]

I started with Lee Ann's Emerald Ecstasy this week. (Lee Ann, if you have a

green drink monthly challenge for April, I'm in!) and used just spinach

until this morning and all went well.

This morning I added Kate, with stems, and found that the VM stopped mixing

everything and the noise changed, which I didn't like at all. Stopped it and

sort of stirred this up manually, and tried again same thing happened. Added

some liquid and it did pretty well for a bit but then stopped mixing. So I

quit and we drank as it was -- slushy, but not yet creamy, but newby here

was afraid.

What was I doing wrong? It was filled to the brim too. Too full? not enough

liquid?

W

On 3/28/12 2:23 PM Lea Ann Savage wrote:

> About the Kale - in my experience, the stems are more bitter than the leaves,

> and I don't think we need THAT much extra fiber :-) I prefer to de-stem my

> kale.

[Guest guest]

Hello ,Hard to diagnose without being there, but it sounds to me like an air pocket formed, and nothing was circulating through the blades. Was it a high pitched whining sound? The solution is to use your tamper liberally which pushes the food down into the blades and pops air bubbles. I use my tamper all of the time!

Blessings,Lea Ann SavageSatellite Beach, FL(321) 773-7088 (home)(321-961-9219 (cell)))><'>www.VitamixLady.comwww..com<))><

On Mar 28, 2012, at 4:48 PM, son wrote:

I started with Lee Ann's Emerald Ecstasy this week. (Lee Ann, if you have a

green drink monthly challenge for April, I'm in!) and used just spinach

until this morning and all went well.

This morning I added Kate, with stems, and found that the VM stopped mixing

everything and the noise changed, which I didn't like at all. Stopped it and

sort of stirred this up manually, and tried again same thing happened. Added

some liquid and it did pretty well for a bit but then stopped mixing. So I

quit and we drank as it was -- slushy, but not yet creamy, but newby here

was afraid.

What was I doing wrong? It was filled to the brim too. Too full? not enough

liquid?

W

On 3/28/12 2:23 PM Lea Ann Savage wrote:

> About the Kale - in my experience, the stems are more bitter than the leaves,

> and I don't think we need THAT much extra fiber :-) I prefer to de-stem my

> kale.

[Guest guest]

Great, thank you so much Lea Ann.

On 3/28/12 2:53 PM Lea Ann Savage wrote:

> Hard to diagnose without being there, but it sounds to me like an air pocket

> formed, and nothing was circulating through the blades. Was it a high pitched

> whining sound?

>

> The solution is to use your tamper liberally which pushes the food down into

> the blades and pops air bubbles. I use my tamper all of the time!

[Guest guest]

Aloha?

Poor Kate!!! I hope you meant to type in that you added kale, not Kate, to your

smoothie!

If you meant kale, no, the stems are not edible. Cut them off.

Stems, however, in chard (Swiss chard, rainbow chard, red chard, etc) are edible

and taste a bit like celery. Those you can add in.

Spinach stems blend up in a smoothie, especially in a vitamix and are edible,

too.

But please, for Kate's sake, leave her out of your smoothie.

Aloha,

mirthfullady

>

> > About the Kale - in my experience, the stems are more bitter than the

leaves,

> > and I don't think we need THAT much extra fiber :-) I prefer to de-stem my

> > kale.

>

[Guest guest]

I'm confused about the kale stems. My husband used to juice the stems I pulled

out of the kale that went into my smoothies, but lately I've been leaving them

in.

When you say that they are not edible, do you mean that you don't like how they

taste, or do you mean that they aren't good for one to eat?

> >

> > > About the Kale - in my experience, the stems are more bitter than the

leaves,

> > > and I don't think we need THAT much extra fiber :-) I prefer to de-stem

my

> > > kale.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I'm not mirthfullady, but will toss in my .2They are "edible", but they aren't very tasty. Kale has such little juice, that when juicing, a person might as well get as much juice as is possible so most people who juice Kale include the stems, and there is some juice in them.In a Vitamix, I find Kale stems to be more "bitter" than the leaves, and too fibrous for my taste :-)

Blessings,Lea Ann SavageSatellite Beach, FL(321) 773-7088 (home)(321-961-9219 (cell)))><'>www.VitamixLady.comwww..com<))><

On Mar 29, 2012, at 4:02 PM, p15u7 wrote:

I'm confused about the kale stems. My husband used to juice the stems I pulled out of the kale that went into my smoothies, but lately I've been leaving them in.

When you say that they are not edible, do you mean that you don't like how they taste, or do you mean that they aren't good for one to eat?

> >

> > > About the Kale - in my experience, the stems are more bitter than the leaves,

> > > and I don't think we need THAT much extra fiber :-) I prefer to de-stem my

> > > kale.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Aloha,

I was fairly certain kale stems are not to be eaten. However, since you

questioned me, I looked on the web.

According to several websites I've never heard of before, you can eat kale stems

IF and only if you take off the outer stem. However, you can use an entire kale

stem for soup stock (where, again, you don't eat the actual stem.)

Juicing it, I imagine, is similar to taking off the outer stem, so it's probably

okay.

Aloha,

mirthfullady

> > >

> > > > About the Kale - in my experience, the stems are more bitter than the

leaves,

> > > > and I don't think we need THAT much extra fiber :-) I prefer to de-stem

my

> > > > kale.

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

You had me worried, as I've been including the whole thing, so I google searched

(http://www.google.com/search?client=opera & rls=en & q=are+kale+stems+edible & source\

id=opera & ie=utf-8 & oe=utf-8 & channel=suggest) and it seems that they all say the

stems are fine to eat.

I remember back a few months ago when I first tossed them in, that it was too

bitter. But when juicing, I figured out a bit of lemon tossed in erased the

bitterness. So when I went back to smoothies, I started out just adding in the

top, thin stems, then slowly made my way down the stalk. Now I can toss the

whole thing in without adding any lemon and I don't notice any bitterness.

One of my favorite smoothies is 3 stalks of red curly kale, 2 stalks of lacinato

kale, some fennel, a large handful of fresh basil, a frozen pear (in quarters),

one cup of water, and some ice. Oh, and some chia for better texture. I like it

especially because I can make it one handed without any chopping, since I froze

my pears in quarters.

> > > >

> > > > > About the Kale - in my experience, the stems are more bitter than the

leaves,

> > > > > and I don't think we need THAT much extra fiber :-) I prefer to

de-stem my

> > > > > kale.

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Aloha,

Isn't that interesting. I did the same search and came up with completely

different websites. I've also emailed my doctors office to see what they say.

However, one of the websites you found said you can also eat broccoli leaves,

which I had wondered about. your website search said the stems take longer

to cook, which makes sense since they're soo much denser. Have you eaten the

stems cooked?

Well, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've always heard that American

drains are the healthiest in the world (people throw out the water they cooked

veggies in which is full of nutrients, etc) and I'm careful about eating

healthy, local, and organic when possible. Kale is local, so I get a lot every

week in my farm share. Good to have another option with it!

Do you cut up the stems before putting them in your smoothies or just use them

like a tamper? They are so thick that I imagine any blender that wasn't as

powerful as a vitamix would have the fibers tie it up -- if it got that far.

Aloha,

mirthfullady

> > > > >

> > > > > > About the Kale - in my experience, the stems are more bitter than

the leaves,

> > > > > > and I don't think we need THAT much extra fiber :-) I prefer to

de-stem my

> > > > > > kale.

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Broccoli stems raw are lovely and make a wonderful alternative to crackers

with a dip.

W

On 3/30/12 8:58 AM mirthfullady wrote:

> Have you eaten the stems cooked?

[Guest guest]

The stems are my favorite part of broccoli. The flowers are rather a waste of

time flavor wise. IMO. I like them steamed or raw. They make nice cole slaw too.

If I put them in smoothies I'd just put them all in raw or cooked, what ever I

had. I love broccoli very much so I rarely want the flavor hidden in a smoothie.

Terry

Sent from my iPadHD

On Mar 30, 2012, at 10:58 AM, " mirthfullady " <mirthfullady@...> wrote:

>

> Aloha,

>

> Isn't that interesting. I did the same search and came up with completely

different websites. I've also emailed my doctors office to see what they say.

However, one of the websites you found said you can also eat broccoli leaves,

which I had wondered about. your website search said the stems take longer

to cook, which makes sense since they're soo much denser. Have you eaten the

stems cooked?

>

> Well, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've always heard that

American drains are the healthiest in the world (people throw out the water they

cooked veggies in which is full of nutrients, etc) and I'm careful about eating

healthy, local, and organic when possible. Kale is local, so I get a lot every

week in my farm share. Good to have another option with it!

>

> Do you cut up the stems before putting them in your smoothies or just use them

like a tamper? They are so thick that I imagine any blender that wasn't as

powerful as a vitamix would have the fibers tie it up -- if it got that far.

>

> Aloha,

> mirthfullady

>

>

>

>>>>

>>>> I'm not mirthfullady, but will toss in my .2

>>>>

[Guest guest]

I prefer broccoli stems too. I chop the florets when putting in a salad. Peel

off the hard outer portion of the stem (a regular vegetable peeler works great)

before eating either raw or cooked. If it's going in the VM, I wouldn't bother

peeling.

> >>>>

> >>>> I'm not mirthfullady, but will toss in my .2

> >>>>

>

[Guest guest]

My preferred way to cook a head of broccoli is to peel the stem, quarter it, and then steam the quarters. It makes a nice presentation on the plate too. Tom From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of sdinfla35Sent: Friday, March 30, 2012 3:15 PM Subject: Re: Kale in smoothies/My morning's problem I prefer broccoli stems too. I chop the florets when putting in a salad. Peel off the hard outer portion of the stem (a regular vegetable peeler works great) before eating either raw or cooked. If it's going in the VM, I wouldn't bother peeling. > >>>> > >>>> I'm not mirthfullady, but will toss in my .2> >>>>>

[Guest guest]

I haven't had them cooked, so I'm no help with that.

For smoothies, I wash the whole pieces, fold them in half, and stick them into

the vitamix. It takes care of everything else.

I don't know if it's nutritionally comparable, but our Costco just started

carrying huge bags of organic " baby kale " , and it has no bitterness at all (or

any hard stems either).

>

>

> Aloha,

>

> Isn't that interesting. I did the same search and came up with completely

different websites. I've also emailed my doctors office to see what they say.

However, one of the websites you found said you can also eat broccoli leaves,

which I had wondered about. your website search said the stems take longer

to cook, which makes sense since they're soo much denser. Have you eaten the

stems cooked?

>

> Well, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've always heard that

American drains are the healthiest in the world (people throw out the water they

cooked veggies in which is full of nutrients, etc) and I'm careful about eating

healthy, local, and organic when possible. Kale is local, so I get a lot every

week in my farm share. Good to have another option with it!

>

> Do you cut up the stems before putting them in your smoothies or just use them

like a tamper? They are so thick that I imagine any blender that wasn't as

powerful as a vitamix would have the fibers tie it up -- if it got that far.

>

> Aloha,

> mirthfullady

>

>

<<<snipped>>>

[Guest guest]

Aloha,

Okay. Sorry. I've been eating broccoli stems for about 30 years. I've never

eaten broccoli leaves before.

Has anyone eaten cooked kale stems?

Maybe I wasn't clear?

I'm exhausted. Have a great weekend everyone!

Aloha,

Mirthfullady

> > >>>>

> > >>>> I'm not mirthfullady, but will toss in my .2

> > >>>>

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I steam all but the toughest end parts of kale stems and eat them. If

cooking the entire kale, I will cut up the stems to put on first then

when they get a head start on steaming I add the rest of the kale so it

all is tender at once. .

Velda

On 3/30/2012 10:30 PM, mirthfullady wrote:

> Aloha,

> Okay. Sorry. I've been eating broccoli stems for about 30 years. I've never

eaten broccoli leaves before.

> Has anyone eaten cooked kale stems?

> Maybe I wasn't clear?

> I'm exhausted. Have a great weekend everyone!

> Aloha,

> Mirthfullady

>

>

>

>>>>>>> I'm not mirthfullady, but will toss in my .2

>>>>>>>

>

>

>

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[Guest guest]

Jealous! My Costco doesn't carry squat organic. I have left comments but it hasn't done any good. There is a website that gives a list of every organic item sold by Costco in stores across the country and I almost fell over when I saw it. We probably get about 5% of what is on the list. Grumble grumble. Also I have never heard of " baby kale " . How interesting...TJ> I don't know if it's nutritionally comparable, >but our Costco just started carrying huge >bags of organic " baby kale " , and it has no >>bitterness at all (or any hard stems either).