Kale Lemonade Recipe

Kale!

It's the new food trend these days.

And why not? With not only 33 calories per cup of chopped kale, it has an INCREDIBLE amount of vitamins and minerals and all that healthy stuff, it pretty much seems like a great investment for your health! Per cup, chopped (67g)

Calories 33 % Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.6 g 0%

Saturated fat 0.1 g 0%

Polyunsaturated fat 0.2 g

Monounsaturated fat 0 g

Cholesterol 0 mg 0%

Sodium 25 mg 1%

Potassium 329 mg 9%

Total Carbohydrate 6 g 2%

Protein 2.9 g 5%

Vitamin A 133%

Vitamin C 134%

Calcium 10%

Iron 5%

Vitamin D 0%

Vitamin B-6 10%

Vitamin B-12 0%

Magnesium 7%

(^^straight up stolen from Google)

So, yeah, pretty healthy. And also pretty delcious. I used to think it was pretty gross, but apparently, de-stem your kale and it's instantly appetizing.

With me experiencing major cabin fever with this epic snowstorm, I've been fiddling around with the ingredients in my fridge. I bought a bunch of kale to add to Squeaky's corn muffins with his birdy vitamin mix, but alas! I couldn't find Jiffy's Cornbread mix, so I had to think of a plan B with this bunch of Kale. A friend was telling me of her experiences with kale smoothies. She loves them. She is a huge advocate. But with the exception of melon and cherries in my house, I don't have a lot of fruit that would go well with kale. And then... I had a craving for lemonade. This led to the lightbulb idea of adding kale to my lemonade! Lemon not only brings out the flavors of the kale, but it adds more vitamin C, which is needed to absorb plant-based iron. The idea of lemonade also allows me to use my much-loved locally farmed raw honey, which is also full of yummy, healthy things to boost immunity since it has anti-microbal, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory properties, as well as contains pollen (disclaimer: be warned that it is not pastuerized, so eat at your own risk). I honestly just think it tastes better. I'm not a fan of what they call in the UK "runny honey". So, without further ado...

Homemade Kale Lemonade

serves 1

NOTE: To make the kale puée, put 1 bunch of kale with apple juice (I used a Minute Maid 100% Juice kid-sized juice box which is 4.2oz) into a blender and blend until smooth. You can also use water. 4 fl. oz. Kale purée

1 fl. oz. lemon juice

1/2 tbsp raw honey

8 fl. oz. water

Just mix together! You may have to zap the raw honey in the microwave for about 5 seconds to get it liquified enough to mix in.

aaaaaaaaand... it's only 63 calories per serving!

PS: It has lots of pulp (aka FIBER!), but if you don't like pulp, just put your kale through a fine seive after you've liquified it in your blender!

It's pretty easy to make and pretty tasty, so go for it! If you put other things in it... let me know! I'm interested in everyone's variations!