Matcha Mint Smoothie Bags with special guest Jacki Welch from The Green Cat
Intro: Courtney…Courtney Uncooked. I’m Courtney Uncooked cause that’s how I like my food. The vitamins and the minerals, you know they all get through. Absorbed into the body so that nothing gets lost when you start eating raw of your health you’ll be the boss. Raw vegan for my health and you know that health is wealth. To help you stay your best, we will welcome special guests. So let’s go make a recipe and have lots of fun, your healthy living journey has just begun cause I’m Courtney…Courtney Uncooked. Courtney… Courtney Uncooked.
Courtney: Hi, I’m Courtney Uncooked, and this is my dear lovely, beautiful friend, Jacki Welch, who also happens to own my favorite restaurant of all time, The Green Cat. And if you’ve ever been to the Green Cat, it’s a complete reflection of exactly how Jackie is.
Jacki: Oh, wow.
Courtney: It’s a very healthy, I say, a healthy Cracker Barrel with a beautiful gift shop with things that Jacki has brought back from all around the world, and then a juice bar, smoothies, juices, smoothie bowls, delicious salads I mean, it is amazing. So, I’m so glad to have you here today and she sells really cool things like these kimonos that she brought back from Japan, and our recipe today is also something that she created last year when she went to Japan. So, I’m just so excited to have you here today, Jacki, and I know, you know, these are crazy times and, you know, I just want to know, like, how are you surviving? What are you doing to take care of yourself? And what advice do you have?
Jacki: I’m saying just stay calm.
Courtney: Stay calm, okay.
Jacki: Stay focused.
Courtney: Okay.
Jacki: Stay centered.
Courtney: Okay. So, how are you staying centered?
Jacki: Well, taking deep breaths.
Courtney: Okay.
Jacki: And this matcha is also great. Monks drink the matcha.
Courtney: Yeah.
Jacki: It actually helps them to stay calm and to focus so…
Courtney: Well, who doesn’t want to be more monk-like today? So, we’re going to make some matcha mint smoothies with this matcha that Jacki actually brought back from Japan and she sells this in her store. I mean, how beautiful is that? And tell us, you know, some people might not know what matcha is Jacki, want to let us know?
Jacki: Yes.
Courtney: Since you’re the expert.
Jacki: I would be glad. So, I was so fortunate to go on this Tea Tour last year…
Courtney: Yes, you were.
Jacki: And it was an organic tea farm. And I love the way they were watering the plants and the pesticides they use was just actually high-pressured water to kill the bugs or to get the bugs off the…
Courtney: Oh, water as a pesticide.
Jacki: Instead of using chemicals.
Courtney: Wow. Okay.
Jacki: But matcha tea is actually ground up green tea that has been grown…
Courtney: Yeah, like the tea leaves.
Jacki: It’s been grown in the shade.
Courtney: Oh.
Jacki: So, growing it in the shade for three to six weeks helps to intensify…
Courtney: How does something grow in the shade?
Jacki: They take these tarps…
Courtney: Okay.
Jacki: And they put it over the fields.
Courtney: Okay.
Jacki: Section by section.
Courtney: That’s so cool. Oh, I remember seeing your pictures…
Jacki: Yeah.
Courtney: In the tea fields.
Jacki: Yeah. So, it intensifies the caffeine…
Courtney: Okay.
Jacki: And some of the other antioxidants. So, it makes it a lot more potent.
Courtney: It’s delicious. And you’re selling this now.
Jacki: Yes.
Courtney: And a little jar of this, which it looks like a little jar, but this will last forever because this is super fine. What are you selling these little jars for?
Jacki: That is $35.
Courtney: $35 for ceremonial grade…
Jacki: Tea, yeah.
Courtney: Matcha from Japan is not bad because I know it’s like over a hundred dollars a pound.
Jacki: It could be right up there.
Courtney: For this stuff.
Jacki: Yeah.
Courtney: Cool. I can’t wait to go get some. All right, so we’re going to make this smoothie that tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream. And you’re going to show us how you make smoothies at the Green Cat.
Jacki: So, what we like to do with the Green Cat is take our fruit and vegetables and pre-measure and freeze. So, instead of using ice, we are going to use these frozen bananas.
Courtney: And so what I thought this was really cool because you can use this for healthy meal planning and, you know, on a Sunday, you know, take the whole day and make your smoothie bags for a week. So, you know, I never would’ve thought about making something with fresh fruit a week ahead, but I mean, you can make this a month ahead. So…
Jacki: And the bananas that are spotted and brown…
Courtney: Yes, bananas…
Jacki: They are the sweetest…
Courtney: Yes.
Jacki: The best ones to use.
Courtney: Yes. So, we’re using… you use 10 ounces of banana in a smoothie at the Green Cat and I wanted to double this because this is so good. I want my own smoothie, Jacki, don’t be trying to get on my smoothie. So, we’ve got double, 20 ounces of bananas here today, but if you’re making one for yourself, you’re going to do just 10 ounces. And then we’ve got a sprig of mint from my tower garden and of course, we’re going to double that for this recipe…fresh mint. One cup of cashew milk. And I’m just being a little dirty devil today because I knew Jackie was coming over. So, instead of just plain old cashew milk, I asked her to bring my favorite drink from the Green Cat, her moon milk, which is, you know, cashew milk, but it has dates and cinnamon and salt, it’s delicious. So, we’re going to use this instead, this is like super-duper cashew milk.
Jacki: Yes.
Courtney: And we’ll just use this whole thing since we’re doubling the recipe.
Jacki: We have this great Japanese…
Courtney: Is that about a teaspoon or heap it up more than that?
Jacki: That’s about a teaspoon.
Courtney: There goes one. And this is going to give us our…
Jacki: Two.
Courtney: Beautiful color.
Jacki: Yes.
Courtney: Beautiful taste, it’s delicious. And then what do we have here?
Jacki: We have the date. We took a Medjool date, make sure you take the pit out. And it really helps to…
Courtney: Oh yeah, I learned that the hard way.
Jacki: It really helps to soak it.
Courtney: Okay.
Jacki: So, put a little bit of water and soak it overnight, it makes the best date syrup.
Courtney: So, we’re going to put the whole date and the date syrup, and about how long does it take to make good date syrup? How long does it take for the date to sit in the water would you say?
Jacki: Well, overnight it would be fine…
Courtney: Okay.
Jacki: But the longer it sits, the thicker the syrup will be.
Courtney: Okay. Alright. And then I think our last ingredient is cacao nibs.
Jacki: Yes, but I suggest you add them…
Courtney: Later, okay. All right.
Jacki: Later, because we want them…
Courtney: We want to keep them crunchy okay.
Jacki: To be like a chip, like a chocolate chip.
Jacki: So, if we put them in too soon, it will make it fine.
Courtney: Okay, cooking with a kimono. Bring it back. There we go. Am I just getting this as smooth as possible?
Jacki: Yeah. We might need to add a little more matcha. What do you think? I think it needs a little more matcha.
Courtney: So, Jackie wants to add some matcha because you want some more green color?
Jacki: I want you to see how beautiful that color is and since we’re doubling the recipe, we need to add a little bit more.
Courtney: Okay. Oh, there we go.
Jacki: Can we get a little bit more inside.
Courtney: That’s it?
Courtney: Okay. Alright, so when we add these chips, how long do we want to do this?
Jacki: I would just pulsate it. I like to actually have chunky chips.
Courtney: Chunky chips.
Jacki: But it’s all up to your preference. Perfect. You can see…
Courtney: I’m notorious for over blending…
Jacki: This is like, definitely just…
Courtney: I just like this machine.
Jacki: My favorite mint chocolate chip.
Courtney: This is so good.
Jacki: And this is matcha…
Courtney: Beautiful.
Jacki: Mint chocolate chip.
Courtney: And this tastes just like mint chocolate chip ice cream…
Jacki: It does.
Courtney: But it’s so healthy and delicious. So, let’s give it a go. Oh, yes, yes, yes. What are we toasting to today Jackie?
Jacki: To our good health and for calmness.
Courtney: All right. So, go visit Jackie at the Green Cat and try her matcha mint chip smoothie bag.
Jacki: Cheers. This is like a superfood packed, smoothie.
Courtney: Jackie.
Jacki: It’s delicious.
Courtney: You’ve outdone yourself, my friend.
Jacki: It’s my best.
Courtney: This is Japan in a jar, right here.
Courtney Rapping: It’s time to get happy, don’t be sad because me and Jacki Welch are making smoothie bags. They’re made with cacao nibs, those healthy chocolate chips. Just drop it in the blender and let her rip. These things are amazing, they’re really a dream. They taste just like mint chocolate chip ice cream. No, you don’t need a stove or an oven to cook, just a blender, dehydrator, and Courtney Uncooked.
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