purslane in smoothies question

[blueberries]

Ok, sorry but I have another raw newbie question... I watched the "Greens can save your life" dvds the other day and was excited to learn that I could use the weeds, er... greens that are growing so well in my garden! :D I have plenty of purslane and want to use it my green smoothie right now but wondered if it is ok to use the stem too? I assume it is but I want to make sure. I remember as a kid my mother used to serve us purslane (yes it was cooked) and I just loved it but I cant remember how she did it but since I am considering a raw diet I guess that doesnt matter ;) Near as I can recall it was both the stem and leaves.

Thanks in advance for the insite :)

[Veganforlife]

Both leaves and stems - look!

Not only does purslane have leaves in Omega-3 fatty acid, but it also has stems high in vitamin C. Omega-3 fatty acids are instrumental in regulating our metabolism. Purslane contains one of the highest known concentrations of Omega-3 fatty acids -- five times the concentration in spinach.

[blueberries]

awesome! ooh I mean rawsome!

Going to vitamix to make our green smoothie now.

Thanks!

[kristi7mark]

A friend of mine gave me some purslane from her garden and I have fallen in love with it! It is so tender and sweet! mmmmmm!

I put it in my green smoothies and just eat it right out of the bag when I have a hankerin'.

[raven]

Another purslane lover here! I add it to juices, smoothies and soups.

Suzy

[blueberries]

ok, I tried it and I liked it.

This is what I had today:
1 apple
2 handfuls blueberries
1 banana
handful of purslane
cup water
some ice

I thought it was good. Only problem I had was my 3 year old wouldnt drink hers! :( She just loves fruit smoothies so I thought green smoothies were going to be easy to transition. ha! I have tried to get her to drink several green ones now and she says she doesnt like them. ugh! I guess I must have spoiled her with the other fruit smoothies I made before I learned about the green smoothies as she said she likes the "pink" ones! LOL and without the greens they usually were pink due to the strawberries, red raspberries or cherries, whatever I had available at the time.

So what do others here do to get their little ones to eat them?? (I will do a seperate post asking this as well, since it could get lost here) I dont think it is possible to make a green smoothie that isnt green LOL Although I did get some wheatgrass powder that I have mixed into the "pink" ones and she would eat that but somehow I just feel like that is the same as fresh greens.

Thanks

[kristi7mark]

I have put the green smoothie in a non-see-through cup with a brightly colored straw. I have teens, but they will drink the smoothies if they don't have to look at the color.

Here is a recipe for a beautiful bright green smoothie. You could name it something exciting for your daughter, maybe a Shrek smoothie, depending what she enjoys.

1 c fresh squeezed OJ
1 c mango( I use mine frozen)
1 frozen banana
a handful or two of spinach
a lil water if needed to keep the blender moving

This is a slush-y smoothie and one that everyone here loves.

[kristi7mark]

I was thinking about the green smoothies and your lil one. I have found creativity works wonders with kids. If she, for now, only likes "pink smoothies" how about trying a game of trying "rainbow smoothies?"

I just made myself a mango,lemon,lime smoothie and it was a beautiful orange-y peach color and was my inspiration.

Use all different colored fruits to make different colored smoothies, then she would be more used to trying different colors. Just a thought..............

[Mary]

Hi guys!

I think I have purslane in my garden, but I want to be absolutely sure before I eat it so I don't accidentally ingest something toxic or poisonous!

Can you tell me how to identify purslane? I saw a picture online, so I'm 99% sure it's purslane, but want to be sure.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

Mary

[Veganforlife]

I call my green smoothies "Shrek Shakes" AND I did before McSpit's came up with it! So nanny, nanny boo boo on McBarf's!!!
sorry

[blueberries]

Hi guys!

I think I have purslane in my garden, but I want to be absolutely sure before I eat it so I don't accidentally ingest something toxic or poisonous!

Can you tell me how to identify purslane? I saw a picture online, so I'm 99% sure it's purslane, but want to be sure.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

Mary


Mary, can you post a picture of it here? I am new here but thought I saw pics in other posts.

[KatK]

Here are some photos (http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=purslane&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8)

[blueberries]

Thanks kristi7mark, I will try finding some container made for a straw with a bright color. good idea

I will try the smoothie you posted. I dont have frozen mangos right now, I have some fresh ones here I thought I would try for the first time since I see it was listed in a couple of Victoria's green smoothies, but my goodness, they are a pain in the well, you know what, to get away from the pit. I didnt end up with much mango on the first one I tried. I guess it wasnt ripe enough? Although it was pretty soft so I dont know.

[Pierre]

They sell purslane at the local grocery, but call it only by its Spanish name, verdolaga. (The words are cognates. It's portulaca in Latin; I'm not sure exactly it turned into purslane.) The leaves are obovate (is that right? or they obhastate?), about 30 mm long and 10 mm wide, with no petiole to speak of, but with the narrow pointy end at the stem.

Don't eat the wilted leaves. They taste like rotten spinach.

Miner's lettuce, mentioned in Raw Family, is in the purslane family, but I don't know what it looks like.

[blueberries]

Sorry to bump this thread back up that I started on purslane but I had a surprise when I went to my garden this morning... most of my purslane now has pretty yellow flowers on it!! So, just wondering if it is still good to eat or not and also is the flower edible? I am just barely beginning to learn about greens and I remember reading some plants arent much good once they start to blossom or bolt and yet others are fine and you can eat the blossom as well.

Thanks once again for the insite!

[SmilingRawDancer]

If the kids like the smoothies pink or red or blue, just use all berries, frozen or fresh, with the greens.
I use:
2 cups frozen mixed berries (from Costco)
1-2 cups Fresh Blueberries
3 handfulls or more baby spinach
Stevia to taste
1 tbsp. Coconut oil.

It doesn't look green, or even grey. It's just a deep berry color.

[RawVee]

Purslane is a fantastic source of DHA and it tastes amazing. I want to grow some and just graze on it. :)

It reminds me a little of jade plants or other succulents.

[Eilene]

RawVee...where do you get your Purslane?

[RawVee]

RawVee...where do you get your Purslane?

Eilene,

I've only had it out of people's gardens, but you can find seeds online. :)

[Raw Bunny]

I just discovered that I have a bunch of purslane growing in my backyard. Until I saw this thread, I thought it was another weed I needed to pull.

I love RFT. I am always learning amazing new things!