Blendtec

Hey Rebekahy! Sorry I’m just now seeing your question! We have tried kale in smoothies and did not enjoy it. It imparts a very bitter flavor that even I was not able to handle nor was I able to cover it up with copious amounts of strawberries, coconut milk, and stevia. I hear it’s all the rage in green smoothies, but not so much for us. I hope you try some of our other recipes and let me know how they turn out for you! I tend to agree with NT re:cooking the kale. I haven’t found Sally Fallon to be wrong on any of her other advice so I trust her as a source for this kind of info. I guess if you used it once or twice a week, you could get by with it raw; but that doesn’t solve the bitterness issue. We like kale in Zuppa Toscana and as kale chips–both cooked.

As for the original question about the Blendtec…I have one and love it. I use it daily and for more than smoothies. I have not ground grain in it because I did not want to scratch up the sides and because I have a small grain mill. I chose the Blendtec over the Vitamix because it has more specific settings whereas the Vitamix has a knob that you manually adjust speed. I have not second-guessed my choice once!

The stems of kale are bitter when blended, we remove the stems and just blend the leaves. Also, I found Kale tastes better in some fruit combos vs. other. To me, pears and grapes are a good compliment to the kale taste in smoothies. I add a sliver of lemon to my kale/fruit smoothies as well. At Costco, I buy their frozen fruit mix bag ( pineapple, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, etc….). This tastes good to us with kale, water, a little lemon or lime juice, and sweetener like honey) . The article above was new info to me about not eating greens raw. I searched the Internet on this last night, because from the amateur research I have done prior, I have heard of numerous benefits to eating raw kale, spinach, etc…. (Except for people with certain medical conditions like Rachel mentioned). What I found is that the research advising against raw cruciferous for most people is more limited than the websites claiming benefits of consuming these greens raw. I have read to rotate out the greens vs. using large amounts of the same type all the time. I don’t want to debate the issue as I am not a nutrition expert and my research on the benefits of raw greens is only from various websites and books. It just seems confusing that so many people and nutritionist recommend consuming large amounts of raw greens, but now I read there’s a couple of studies that say doing so can be detrimental to my health.

Rebekah – absolutely eat the kale!  It is super healthy for you and one of the best cancer fighters out there.  If you are concerned with thyroid problems then cook it!  We especially love it in soup or in meatballs. (I can send recipes if you want.)

I have read that cruciferious veggies cause thyroid problems IF there is already a problem and/or IF there is an iodine deficiency.  You will actually find a lot of ‘research’ and ‘opinion’ on both sides of the raw vs. cooked aisle.  We have a lot of thryoid problems in my family (Hashimoto’s, Graves, hypo) but I haven’t had any problems having it raw in my smoothies once a week or so.  I love it cooked though, so that’s how we usually eat it.

I personally consume spinach, broccoli (served with a cultured dip), baby beet greens, and chard both raw and cooked, but only kale and collards (yum) in cooked form. Cabbage in slaw, cooked form or as sauerkraut. I don’t have any thyroid issues (or kidney issues), but I don’t want to contribute to the development of it either; though I try to get iodine foods in and that too should be considered by those who are susceptible to thyroid issues (in additon to eliminating other bad thyroid foods-hello, soy), IMO.

The younger leaves would be the ones I’d use raw and the larger ones for cooking.

There’s also baked kale, Rebekah. Kale isn’t a favorite of mine, but I consume it’s family members.

Another trick I learned when researching for my husband regarding his kidney disease is if you’re going to consuem a food that is high in oxalates, then consume a calcium food with it. They then bind together instead of being released by the kidneys to produce stones when eaten independently. So since my son had stones when he was 5 and then at 7 (my hubby too had them that early inlife), I started doing this and he hasn’t had another. I also encourage my husband to do the same, but he’s not as cooperative; he’ll just avoid everything which isn’t the right answer.