Green Start Your Morning

I like to jump start my morning with GREENS. I made a wonderful energizing green juice today that gave me the start I needed. This juice is very green, no fruit. I wouldn't try it as a beginner juicer but veteran juicers will love it. The undertone of mint was wonderful and it really blended beautifully with the dandelion and parsley. I love the color, again a smile came to my face. :)

Green Start Your Morning Juice
1 large organic cucumber, skin on!
6 large dandelion greens
Small bunch of parsley, stems included
6-8 small mint leaves
Handful of sunflower sprouts (optional)
+Run all of your greens through the juicer.
Enjoy the raw energy and healing nutrients you are fueling your body with. The dandelion greens give me a sort of natural high. I feel really energized after juicing them or even when I drink them in a green smoothie. I put dandelion greens in the children's green smoothies and they don't detect a thing. I suppose they are so use to greens now, but they don't detect any bitterness like some may report.
Check out this link for the nutritional content of 1 oz of raw dandelion greens.
Just one cup of these greens provides just 25 calories, 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbohydrates, 19 mg Vit. C, 7,700 IU Vit. A, and 103 mg calcium.
I found this interesting info at http://healthrecipes.com/dandelion.htm
"Dandelion is corrupted French for ‘dents de lion’ (tooth of the lion), referring to the jagged edge of the leaf. It is also known as bitterwort, wild endive, Irish daisy and some other names as well. It is universally considered a noxious weed that destroys lawns. It does have its good side. In fact it is actually cultivated as a salad herb. Just because it grows wild in your yard should not dissuade you from taking advantage of this ‘first crop of spring’ as a nice salad.

Most people prefer to eat it ‘wilted’ with vinegar dressing. Dandelion is a member of the sunflower family. Its official name; Taraxacum officinal; is derived from the Greek words, ‘taraxos’ meaning ‘disorder’, and ‘akos’, meaning ‘remedy’, so we understand that dandelion has long been regarded to be a therapeutic herb.
Dandelion leaves and roots are used to treat various ailments by Europeans, Asians, and Native Americans as well. It stimulates the liver and the kidneys and is a general tonic. It stimulates digestion and acts as a mild laxative."
I prefer to eat it raw and just love it in my juices and smoothies. I am partial to my son's recipe that I posted yesterday but here is another combination to try:
 1 handful wild greens (e.g. dandelion), 1 small handful mint leaves, 3 cups honeydew melon.
Enjoy the "greenness"!
+JMJ+Today I am grateful for wild edibles.