Dehydrating kale, collard greens, and other greens are the easiest way to preserve your harvest. Learn how HERE. Once your kale and other greens are dehydrated, you might be wondering–what do you do you do with them? Turn them into powder to add to your smoothies, eggs, muffins, soup, and more! Learn how below. (Be sure to watch the video!)
Why Take the Time to Make Kale Powder?
Kale is a superfood. It is easy to grow and the more you harvest, the more growth appears. Just make sure you use row covers to protect it from pests such as cabbage loopers; otherwise, you will hate that you grew the greens. The bugs will devour your greens.
If growing kale and other greens are not your thing, stock up on your organic greens at your local farmers’ market.
Why?
According to Drew Ramsey, M.D., psychiatrist, author, farmer Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University
“Kale tops the charts of nutrient density, possesses incredible culinary flexibility, and is easy to grow almost anywhere. My ultimate measure of a food is its power to support brain health, and it is clear that more kale in your diet means a happier, healthier, sexier you — all the basic signs that your brain is running well.”
Cheaper to Make Than Buy
For years, I have added green powders to my smoothies. Buying fresh greens for my smoothies can get rather expensive. Plus, if I buy too much, they go bad.
So, alternatively, I have purchased green powders to add to my smoothies. Although green powders are cheaper than fresh greens, the powders are still expensive. For example a raw organic green powder by Greens Organics costs $21.15 for 8.46 ounces. Garden of Life’s product costs $39.97 for 481 grams (which is almost 17 ounces.)
Making your own green powder is far cheaper. Plus, you know exactly what is in your green powder.
How to Make Kale Powder.
Be sure to watch the below video on how to grind up the dehydrated kale. It is quite simple and so rewarding.
Instructions:
Once you have dehydrated the kale, follow these simple steps.
1. Place dried kale in a high speed blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec. (I have a Blendtec and absolutely love it. You can buy one HERE.)
2. Fill the entire container. Be sure to push the greens down into the container.
3. If you are using a Blendtec, turn the speed up to 9 or 10 and let the machine grind up the kale into a fine powder.
4. Store in an air tight container.
As I mentioned above, use the kale powder for your smoothies, eggs, or hide some in your meatloaf, hamburgers, and other dishes.
Join the Conversation:
Do you make your own green powder? And if so, what type of food do you add your greens too?
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karen says
October 10, 2014 at 4:57 pmI just made hot chili pepper powder to use in our annual kimchi making. It’s amazing how ‘little’ the whole harvest yielded! But you are right; it’s so rewarding to make something that you grew. I will have to try growing kale next year to make the powder. We use it for smoothies too!
Anna@Green Talk says
October 12, 2014 at 9:16 pmKaren, kale is so easy to grow. It doesn’t care about heat. It’s only problem is those darn moths. Anna
Lori Popkewitz Alper says
October 11, 2014 at 9:52 amI add green powder to every smoothie. I never thought to make it myself! Thanks for the info Anna. I love finding more uses for my Bledtec.
Anna@Green Talk says
October 12, 2014 at 9:15 pmLori, I love using my Blendtec too. The green powder should last me until next season! Anna
lindsay says
October 11, 2014 at 1:56 pmThis is really cool, I have never tried making my own kale powder. I like doing simple healthy DIY activities but never thought of doing this. Thanks for the inspiration Anna!
Anna@Green Talk says
October 12, 2014 at 9:14 pmLindsay, sometimes out of desperation comes inspiration! Glad you like the idea. Anna
rachel says
October 14, 2014 at 11:09 amGreen powder is $40 at my local health food store! This is a great option. Now I just have to find a dehydrator. Oh, and learn how to not kill the plants in my garden. 🙂
Anna@Green Talk says
October 14, 2014 at 1:58 pmRachel, you can just pick up kale at your farmer’s market and make the powder. $40 is crazy! Anna
Phillip Williams says
October 25, 2014 at 8:57 amI have been making and using/selling pepper flakes and chili powders for several years. It is as simple as you suggest and as long as your produce is truly dry, it is hard to fail. I noted that you mentioned the issue with toxic chemicals. I have been confused about how to determine which ones are really toxic and which ones are OK. Could you write about this question and help us better understand?
Anna@Green Talk says
October 25, 2014 at 9:16 amPhillip, toxic chemicals surrounding what? Personal care products, building products, gardening?
That is very cool that you sell chili powder. I was thinking about that too. I grew chili’s one year and dried them. Anna
deborah Davis says
October 30, 2014 at 3:44 pmHi Anna,
What a wise and frugal way to make our own kale powder. Most of those packaged powders are very expensive and we don’t really know what the quality of the powder really is. By dehydrating our own organic kale, we know what we are using. Thanks for sharing this super green and healthy tip! All the best, Deborah