I had an undocumented apple while running errands mid-morning and then tried to hit the books and blogs for work stuff.
Today’s lunch was my same-o big salad with a sandwich on the side.
Since I have a bunch of ripe avocados, I used that for “spread” instead of my usual hummus.
The only thing that beats a ripe avocado is a free ripe avocado. I’m very grateful that my mom’s trees are so generous this year 
I made another swap at snack time too! I’m pretty much obsessed with green monster protein shakes, and there are many times when they miss being posted here. But, I always make them with spinach.
Today I busted out the kale instead!
Everything else was still the same: ice, protein powder, almond milk…
I feel like I used less kale than spinach, but I still tasted it a tiny bit. I normally do not taste the spinach at all. Maybe it was just in my head? I don’t know. I’ll try it again tomorrow and see.
Paired with a Vitatop for happiness and a handful of cashews for crunch. 
Now I have some cooking to do – Mexican Meatless Monday is coming right up!
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I got out of the habit of buying kale. I should start again because it’s so good for you. Although, as much as I like spinach green monsters, the whole kale in a smoothie thing kind of throws me off.
I really want to try massaged kale.
A vitatop and cashews sounds great. My sister in law likes to snack on cashews and chocolate milk. Love that salty/sweet combo.
That ripe avocado is taunting me!!! I love me some avocado!! I have never tried kale in smoothies, it kind of scares me.
I’ve been using Kale in my protein shakes for awhile now. Love it. Love how I feel after drinking one of those!
We have some free avocados too but they’re taking forever to ripen! Such a tease
I dont think it was in your head, I always can taste kale when I add it to smoothies.
Putting avocados in a paper bag with an apple helps them ripen faster
I spotted Vitatops at Target this weekend and had to try a box. They are really good! I was impressed with their fiber content, and the other nutritional stats. Not perfect, but definitely better than some of the normal snacks I resort to.
Yeah, they’re not a “health food”, but they are better than other 100 calorie packs.
Ooh, I want free ripe avocados! When I grow up, I want a whole yard of avocado trees lol!
I have to get back into Green Smoothies! I can’t do kale, though. I’m still working on trying to like it!
So cool that your Mom has an avocado tree!
Vitatops are the best – I have been eating so many of them lately! Have you ever tried the cornbread flavor? It is so good in soup
I have tried the corn and wasn’t really in love with it. I have been eating Vitas for so long I think it’s set in my mind that they’re sweet.
I definitely taste Kale in my smoothies. I actually can’t drink it because I can’t get over the texture of kale when its liquified.
You know I’ve made a GM with kale before and I HATED it. It was so gritty I could barely choke it down! Ick.
I can taste kale in smoothies, and it never blends as well. Never again!
I too tried to sub kale for spinach. You’re not imagining things, it definitely stands out, and not in a good kind of way. I decided to stick with spinach in my Monsters and leave the kale chips to the oven.
Yeah, once I tasted the kale I thought, “I wasted some perfectly good kale chips in this smoothie…”
I haven’t tried kale in place of spinach, but I’ve heard that it can be bitter in a smoothie. Gorgeous avocado! We’re having meatless Mexican dinner here, too. Black beans tacos and a lot of guacamole.
I tried using kale instead of spinach once. Horrible mistake! Ugh, it tasted awful. I couldn’t do anything to cover that awful kale taste.
Man, I wish every avocado I got was that pretty inside! They are one of my favorite additions to green monsters. Makes them super creamy.
I just bought a bunch of pre-washed, cut up kale at Whole Foods since I figure it would make me more likely to use it. Mistake? I’m not sure. I am going to put it in my Green Monster tomorrow morning and see how it goes. I don’t think I like kale, but I know its good for me. I’m hoping chocolate Amazing Grass will help out!
What I wouldn’t give for an avocado tree . . .
I wonder if I can grow one in NJ.
Probably not
I can taste the Kale when I use it in GMs too. Not in a “yuck” way …just in a “oh…I can taste this and I usually can’t” way!
i have yet to use kale instead of spinach in my green monsters