There are so many free weeds for making great smoothies - even with all our snow and cold weather last week. Adding acorns and frozen homegrown fruit makes for a tasty and filling smoothie!
It's a #FruitandVeggiesMonday and time to #makeithealthy! :D
We had 3 inches of snow last week. And temperatures got down to 21F! But weeds are tough! Here are some late winter and early spring weeds that you may already know. They are common in many parts of the world.
I like having some protein in my smoothie, too. For this smoothie, I made a protein powder out of acorns.
I have lots of wild blackberries in my freezer, that I foraged in the summer. And so many frozen Japanese persimmons, too, from a tree in my yard. Both fruits are so easy to preserve -- just put them in a bag in the freezer.
1. Acorn meal. 2. Purple deadnettle. 3. Cleavers. 4. Spearmint. 5. Dandelion greens. 6. Wild arugula. 7. Hop shoots. 8. Chickweed. 9. Fuyu Japanese Persimmons. 10. Wild Himalayan Blackberries. Here are 5 more ways to eat hop shoots.
It looks purple, but it's a green smoothie at heart! I could taste the arugula and chickweed the most, with a clear spearmint finish.
What a great smoothie! Thanks, little plants, for being so hardy in the cold and snow!
Do you have any wild plants around you to use in your smoothies?
Thanks to @lenasveganliving for her FruitandVeggiesMonday, and @woman-onthe-wing for her MakeItHealthy Project. Thanks for @gringalicious, @progressivechef, and @englishtcherivy for their sponsorship.
1 JB Jenkins. 2015. Are Acorns a Superfood? University of Utah and USDA National Nutrient database
Plant List
- English Oak Quercus robur acorns
- Purple deadnettle - Lamium purpureum leaves fall through early spring
- Cleavers Galium aparine leaves fall through spring
- Spearmint Mentha spicata leaves
- Dandelion – Taraxacum officinale – tender leaves
- Wild arugula Diplotaxis tenuifolia leaves
- Hops – Humulus lupulus tender spring stems and leaves
- Chickweed - Stellaria media from fall through spring
- Japanese persimmon Diospyros kaki
- Himalayan blackberries Rubus armeniacus
You are so inspiring! I love the clear pictures. I need to be on the lookout for some of those greens. I never knew what that "tag me" plant was called, or that it was edible!
Thanks, @allforthegood! It's amazing how many common names some plants have. "Tag me" is a new one for my list, for the Cleavers. When they are young and tender, they are good. I eat a lot of them. But they are better mixed in -- chopped fine in a salad, or in cooked greens, or in smoothies -- than on a plate all by themselves, with their little hairs. They do have a nice, mild taste. And like so many weeds, the plants growing in the shade or tall grass are usually better eating than the ones in stressed conditions.
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Oh yes! This is a healthy smoothie! And delicious too!
Thanks, @pusteblume!
💝
Love this. Our ground still has permafrost, and about a foot and a half of snow maybe in a month I can get back to my plantaine. Thanks. I also store acorns.
Thanks, @gardengirlcanada! I'm always happy to know another acorn eater! I wonder what kind of acorns you find in your area? Wow -- that's a lot of snow, still. We had snow here last week, finally. So now I have a bunch of snowballs in my freezer for drinks. With all your snow, at least you don't have to do that, lol!
I bet this smoothie tastes so delicious and healthy.
Hey, good to see you back, @hanamana! I remember all your jokes! I hope you've been well.
I figured that I wouldn't have any of these weeds in my yard, but I think I do! especially the chickweed! I have never thought to use them in a smoothie...looks like im going to do some experimenting. I know people eat dandelions even though ive never tried them before :)
Chickweed grows in so many places. It's a good plant to mix in with others. I think most of the weeds taste better in a mix, where one flavor doesn't dominate. Except good quality dandelion greens. I like plain salads just of their leaves. But there's a world of difference between a good quality plant with lush, tender leaves, and plants that are stressed and scraggly! I hope you can get to know your local edible plants! :D
Most of the wild plants you've used grow in my area but I did not know they were edible! I should try it too! 🙂
So many of these weeds grow in many places around the world. The European settlers brought them to North America as food plants. So they are real food for regular people. But they are not so economical to harvest and sell in markets - and people lost touch with these plants. It is worth getting to know these plants, for sure!
That looks delicious! sad to say I don't have any plants to try something like this out, I'd have to go to a supermarket and it just wouldn't taste the same.
You are right that fresh-picked plants do taste better than many in the supermarkets! I would have a hard time not being around wild plants. They are kind of like old friends that I see whenever I take a walk outdoors.
We have everything covered with a thick layer of snow and very cold, then you will not find anything edible in the forest.
Not yet, I guess. Maybe snowballs to use for drinks. Stay warm and think of spring, @yetaras! It's good that you have mushrooms from the autumn!
So, we have dried, pickled and even frozen mushrooms. Yesterday my mother cooked Shepard pie with mushrooms, it was very tasty!
Now you have me all hungry! I like a Shepard pie -- and with mushrooms it would be wonderful! You harvest so many good mushrooms from your forests.
:)) Thanks!
Looks great! Our fresh mint and lemon balm is starting to come back, so I end up using those in my smoothies a lot. Not quite full on foraging, but I suppose "garden" foraging counts? ;)
hoho -- that's nice when the mint and lemon balm are out! And definitely, garden foraging counts -- for easy and good eating! There are so many garden weeds. And then there are the 'garden escape artists' like lemon balm. And even perennial garden plants that take care of themselves. It's amazing how many plants worth eating can be all around us. Happy foraging -- in and out of your garden! :D
It's interesting what you can use that's growing in your backyard when you you know how to.
Didn't know you could use this in a smoothie, also didn't know you could turn acorns into meal.
There are so many good weeds and other wild plants worth eating, all around us. It really is amazing how much real food is out there.
CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU! A WELL-EARNED AWARD!
What a nice surprise! I almost didn't make a post -- but your contest encouraged me to make a quick smoothie. So thank you - twice over! :D
I am glad you did and I hope to see you Monday again my Dear 🌸💖🌸
Nice! This smoothie sounds amazing! I would love to try it. I'm in Bangkok now so I am not too sure about wild edibles. In our garden we have pandan leaves. But they are not wild. They were planted. The only wild edible that I know about here is the Butterfly pea flower. It is a vine that grows like a weed all over the place and it has a flower that is very popular in making an herbal tea that is purple in color.
Thanks, @chefsteve! The tropics have so many different plants. That would be a whole new world for me -- I wouldn't be sure of anything. That butterfly pea flower sounds pretty neat. If a plant is like a weed, I'm definitely in favor of using it! Enjoy your stay in Bangkok!
Hello Friend @haphazard-hstead! I learned a lot from you! I have never consumed dead nettle and acorns in the food! Now I know the wonderful source of omega 3! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, @olga.maslievich! The dead nettle would never be my favorite for eating by itself. But I like it in a mix with other greens. And acorns are so under-used. The leaching process is mostly just letting the acorns sit in water. So it's not hard.
What a great idea ... a foraged for smoothie. I never thought of putting persimmons and acorns in a smoothies but it would be very tasty and nutritious. You have quite the bounty around you. Where do you live?
I am in Oregon's Willamette Valley. I'm fortunate to have plenty of fruit trees and weeds around me! Smoothies are a great way to use wild greens.
We will have many of the same plants ... I am in British Columbia:)
Beautiful country! You have some great mushrooms up there! :D
I wish I knew which ones I could eat without dying or going on a trip ... shall we say:)
haha -- there are mushrooms of all sorts in our part of North America, that's for sure. There are some really distinctive ones that are good for eating. Stay tuned, because I eat wild mushrooms whenever I find some. I've posted about quite a few. Here are some in my 2017 Steemit Iron Chef compilation. And here's a collection of other posts I've made about wild edible mushrooms. You may have seen some of these mushrooms, too.
Oh! It’s good that you planted the Japanese persimmons in your yard. I like this kind of fruits and the wild blackberries as well.
You did great smoothies with many ingredients. (although, it’s too green for me!) I like the way you took the photos with the wild weeds around the glass. Well done! ;)
Maybe you would like my smoothie with just the fruit and the acorns, lol. My Japanese persimmon tree is not very big, but it is very productive! I still have a lot of big persimmons to eat from my freezer. So maybe I should have more smoothies! ; )
Ha ha! You always know me well....... Yeah! Some more smoothies with just the fruits and acorns for me, please...... ;D
Hey I actually recognized the chickweed!!!! Feeling pretty proud of myself LOL!
haha -- you will be out there eating weeds before you know it! :D
First of all I ma happy to see you again @haphazard-hstead and secondly, I am totally blown away by this smoothie.
But the most incredible ingredient is the protein powder form Acorns. Oh my goodness, seriously , you are a magician. We have lots of acorns around here and what squires don't eat goes to waste.
Thank you so much my Dear, I am bookmarking this one too........I will have lots of foraging to do this summer, lol 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
Thanks, @lenasveganliving! Acorns are easy to process, but it takes time to let the acorns sit in the water to leach out the tannins. Long ago, people ate a lot of acorns. They are definitely under-appreciated these days. I get these acorns from a specific tree every year. There are so many, the squirrels can't even keep up! There is so much worth eating out there -- it's a wild supermarket, lol!
oh my gosh how lovely! :) I truly wish I can take steps to live healthier and closer to nature like you! An inspiration!
Thanks, @nickh725! There's a lot of good food out there, just waiting for you! :D
This is awesome! You're so resourceful!
Thanks! It's worth getting to know some of the weeds! :D
Its really nice food photography also this food is very good for health
Thanks for @haphazard-hstead
Good job !
excellent photography dear friend @haphazard-hstead , thank you for sharing with us
dear @haphazard-hstead this is really awsome post
That is one amazing smoothie i will be looking into making that one looks very nutritious :)
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