Green Smoothie

I was talking with a friend today about celery. This friend expressed complete abhorrence for the stuff. I laughed, because I remember hating it myself...until I tried organic celery for the first time. I swear it tastes totally different from the conventional stuff, and I haven't ever gone back.

Celery flushes out excess bodily fluids and has anti-inflammatory properties-so it's another great food if you struggle with inflammation.

Hippocrates stated that celery helps with stress. What? Okay, let me explain. It has a high concentration of alkaline minerals, which means that our bodies don't have to work as hard to lower the acidic state that we inflict upon it by so many of the foods that we eat. Celery contains calcium, magnesium and potassium, and helps lower blood pressure. It relaxes the muscles around the arteries and aids in the elimination of toxins from the body. Plus on top of all of that (and more!) they are high in B vitamins, folate, iron and amino acids.

So...what do I say to this friend who can't stand even the texture of celery? Throw some in a smoothie. Problem solved.

My New Favorite Green Smoothie That I Drink EVERY DAY!
1 1/2 c filtered water
1 head of romaine lettuce, rinsed and coarsely chopped
2-3 handfuls organic spinach, rinsed
2 stalks celery, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 apple, cored
1 banana
juice from 1/2 lemon
frozen fruit of your choice (my favorite lately has been pineapple and strawberries)

In a high-powered, blender, blend the water, greens, and celery until very smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, fresh fruit first followed by frozen. Blend until smooth. Store in fridge. Drink within 48 hours.

Bee Pollen

I ordered this book a little over a month ago, and I really enjoyed Kimberly's second installment. I've relearned a lot about different foods, as well as learned a lot of information of new information! I definitely recommend reading. It will inspire you to nourish every cell in your beautiful body. Take it a day at a time, and keep it as simple as you can. Spend time and energy on the things that matter most.

Okay, on to something that I've never even heard of as a food source: bee pollen! Here is a picture:

 
Looks interesting, huh? Bee pollen is filled with most B vitamins, so it provides stress relief, improves digestion and balances your hormones. Side note-it doesn't take much to throw your hormones out of whack: pregnancy, monthly cycle, breastfeeding, trauma, stress, etc. I've had many indications that my hormones are out of whack, so bee pollen is my new best friend.

Bee pollen is also a complete protein, contains all essential amino acids, essential fatty acids and nucleic acids. It helps control hunger and protects the nervous system against radiation. It also protects vitamins C & E, which helps protect and repair your skin. How awesome is that?!?!

I throw it in smoothies and eat it straight, only about 1/2 teaspoon. You can find it at your local health food store, from www.mountainroseherbs.com or from a local beekeeper.

Have you ever had bee pollen before?

Quick Protein Smoothie

I love this on days that I'm doing a really tough workout. High in protein and energizing. Avoid using whey and soy protein powders. These are dairy based and therefore acid-forming and difficult to digest. Instead, use organic hemp, brown rice, sprouts or split pea proteins. These are plant-based, easy to digest and used efficiently.

2 c unsweetened almond milk, water or a combination of the two.
2-3 T hemp protein (or your preferred protein powder)
1-2 T chia seeds
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 banana
1/2-3/4 c frozen mixed berries
opt: dash or two of stevia

Blend and enjoy!

Hot Pink Breakfast Smoothie

I love this! My children LOVE this! It's just sweet and flavorful and wonderful!  The kids ask for it at least once a week, and get super jealous when I make it for me. AND IT'S SO GOOD FOR YOU! Raw beets are an excellent blood purifier. Coconut liquid is packed with minerals and electrolytes. Strawberries are high in vitamin C.

1 1⁄2 c coconut liquid  from young Thai coconut (best raw, or use coconut water. I buy them by the case at Costco) 
1 large carrot, cleaned and cut into 3 pieces (or 6 baby carrots)
1⁄4 of a medium beet, raw, peeled (we grow these in our garden and peel them, cut them into quarters and throw into the freezer)
1⁄4 c cashews
1⁄4 c chopped dates 
2 t vanilla
12 frozen strawberries
optional: 1 t flax seeds or 1 t chia seeds
Pureé all ingredients except the strawberries in your high-power blender for 90 seconds. Add the strawberries and pureé on high until smooth. 

My little guy? He skips the jealousy part and goes straight to, "Momma, a moo-ee peeeeeeeeeeeze?" How can I resist those baby blues?

Orange Ginger Smoothie

kale
1 1/2 c filtered water
2 oranges
1/2 inch ginger
2 dates, soaked for 3-4 hours
1/2 c frozen pineapple
1 banana
1 c mixed berries
Fill blender jar to top with kale. Add water and banana. Blend. Add remaining ingredients and blend again. Mmmm!

Healthy Alternatives For Great Immunity

I came across an article with ideas for great immunity, which many of you are very interested in this time of year! I have chosen to not do flu vaccines this year for me or my children. I believe that we can fight off any illness by properly caring for our bodies. I also believe that much of what we take in during the winter months is just dead food: food that has been killed to the point where we aren't able to enjoy the enzymes, vitamins and minerals. We do this by cooking things for long periods of time (soups, chilis and stews that cook for hours and hours on the stove).
I have a love/hate relationship with green smoothies when the weather turns cold, because let's face it, who wants to drink something cold when they are already....well, cold? :) So, on soup night, which is a must at our house, we have a nice cup to a cup and a half of green smoothie cram-packed with nutrients before we indulge in savory vegetable, lentil or quinoa soups. So far, it's working nicely and we all feel really good.

Anyway, here is the article, the detox immunity tea and the link to the Glowing Green Smoothie.

Pear-adise

This recipe is for my son who said, "Mom, you need to call this 'Pear-a-dise'". Cute, huh?

Lots of spinach crammed into blender jar
1 1/2 c water
1 banana
2 fresh ripe pears
fill the rest with frozen strawberries

Blend blend blend!

This has a mild but sweet flavor. Very yummy!

A few smoothie recipes

...for those of you who exercise or just need a little bit more energy:

-5 stalks organic celery, chopped into chunks
-1 1/2 c water
-1 apple
-4-5 frozen bananas, broken into chunks

Blend Blend Blend! This tastes so creamy, and is almost treat-like. :)


-3 stalks organic celery, chopped into chunks
-2 bananas
-1 c frozen mixed berries
-1 c water

Blend Blend Blend! This is so simple and so energizing!


For either of the above smoothies, add a couple of handfuls of your favorite greens to help boost the vitamins and minerals!

Peach-Banana Smoothie

I've been MIA for a bit, and I don't have a ton to share, but here's a quick recipe and a quick question:


So, we just got our bulk foods order, 2 boxes of FABULOUSLY JUICY, drip-down-your-chin beautiful peaches. I've frozen about 6 huge ziploc bags of them for smoothies, but here's what we did with some of the fresh ones last night:

Pack your spinach or swiss chard into your blender jar with 1-1 1/2 cups of filtered water. Add 3-4 fresh peaches, cut into quarters. Fill it up the rest of the way with frozen bananas broken into quarters and blend for a deliciously sweet smoothie.

Sorry, no picture because it was gone within minutes. No kidding.

So, the quick question. Have you ever wanted to do something you've never done before, but been afraid to make the commitment? I have been doubly inspired this summer by wonderful people. I have never run long distances before because I had knee surgery 4 years ago. My surgeon said not to do any marathons or even half-marathons, so I've kind of been afraid to do ANYTHING!

Well, my kids enjoy running races from time to time--and with a supportive school to assist in training early in the morning before school starts, it's something they take a lot of pride in. One of the races that they ran is one that takes place the weekend before Halloween called the Grey Ghost. It's a 5K for adults and a 1K for kiddos. Well, I kinda sorta want to do it this year. Just to say that I did it. I'm in horrible shape right now. The pro would be I would have a commitment that would force me to get into better shape, set a great example for my kids and have some me-time to boot! The con? Fear that I'll give up. :(  My husband has said, "Ya know, even if you aren't able to run it all, you can totally walk it!" Yeah, he's right.

Can ANYONE out there relate? And have you overcome your fear? How did you do it?

Orange-Pine-Strawberry Smoothie

I won, I won, I won! I won again! :) I love being able to introduce kids to drinking fruits and veggies, and hearing them thank me for it. Our good friends were going out of town today, and I decided to have the kiddos over while Mom packed for the trip. Total of 10 kids running/crawling around my house, and we had a blast! At lunch, I served green smoothies, and those kids were slurping them down so fast, and didn't even want the rest of the lunch, just smoothie. :)

I mowed today. It was 96 degrees. I was bushed by the time I finished, so we had a very simple dinner. Instead of making salad for our predinner enzyme consumption pleasure, I tried this smoothie, and once again, it was slurped down, with folks asking for more more more!

8 leaves swiss chard (from my garden!!!) :)
8 leaves beet greens (from my garden!!!!)
1 T flax seed oil
juice from 2 oranges
1/2 c water

Blend blend blend, and then add:
1 1/2 cups fresh organic blueberries
1 cup frozen pineapple
fill the rest of the blender with frozen strawberries

Blend until smooth, pour, serve with a straw! :)

Enjoy!!

Smoothie Recipes

Here are a few new ones that I've come across.
To go with those nummy fresh strawberries (thanks, dear Faye for the yummy berries!):
1 pint fresh strawberries
3 medium bananas, frozen
2 big handfuls of spinach
water, as necessary, about a cup

Blend in your high power blender
If you have a high power blender, you can leave the tops on the strawberries, especially if they are organic. (Strawberries are some of the dirty dozen--lots of toxins in those bad boys!)

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2 frozen bananas
2 cups grapes
1 apple, cored and frozen in chunks
3 cups fresh spinach
some water

Blend in your high power blender, greens first, please!
This one is so yummy, the kids LOVE it!!

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1/2 cup-1 cup water
2 T chopped dates (rinsed and soaked for a few hours prior to making)
4 pears, cored (I would freeze 2-3 of these to ensure the nice cold smoothie consistency)
2 cups fresh spinach
2 ribs celery, chopped into big chunks
1/2 c frozen mango

Blend in your high power blender, greens first, please!

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1 fresh mango
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
lots of greens (I used half kale and half spinach)
2 pears, cored
2-3 frozen bananas

Blend in your high power blender.


****If you have a high power blender, it's best to blend the greens and water for a cycle, then add fresh fruit, followed by frozen. I usually don't measure except the water. Usually I stuff the blender jar full of green, then pour water up to the 8-12 oz line, then blend. Then I add fresh fruit, followed by frozen, and press the whole juice button.
I've heard that if you don't have a high power blender, that it's best to do fruit first followed by green, very slowly. Anyone have suggestions for if you don't have a high power blender?

Celery Blueberry Smoothie

So.....I have sore toes today. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you. I did Zumba yesterday, via the Wii. No, that's not why my toes are sore, keep reading. ;) Afterwards, I thought, huh...I'm NOT going to let these yummy endorphins go to waste. I'm going to mow the lawn! (My husband and I have a deal this summer: I mow if he weedeats...he is so busy that he can't keep up with it all anymore. But I HATE weedeating, so there ya have it). So, I decided to not do the self propeller thing on the mower for when I go uphill, and so I was pushing with my toes. Well, this morning, it felt like someone had dropped something heavy on my toes. :) My mom reminded me that muscle burns more calories, even if they are my toe muscles. :) Ha!

Okay, onward...my cleanse has been mainly a green smoothie cleanse. I no longer feel the need to use any form of sweetener for my smoothies. Zip. Yahoo! I've also found that using organic celery really helps to replenish my body after a workout (or working outside in the heat). I've slowly started introducing me (and the kiddos) to celery in our smoothies. I had 2 kiddos who had Field Day yesterday and they were dragging when they got home from school....til they have "the best smoothie ever" according to them...with 2 stalks of organic celery, organic spinach, pineapple, banana and frozen blueberries. They were good to go until dinner, and were so energetic!

Why organic celery? Well, celery is one of the "dirty dozen", in fact it is the top member of produce that carries toxins from field to store. Organic is best. I found organic on sale at our Super Target for $1.47 a bag! So, we are using a lot of celery this week.

Happy Slurping!

Green Smoothies!!

Some of our symptoms so far: difficulty sleeping, sluggish, major cravings!!!, grumpiness. I got up early and made green smoothies. The kids reported feeling great after drinking them, and actually didn't fight on the way to school this morning. My cravings have lessened since I drank mine this morning.
 
We make ours with a BlendTec which really gives it a nice smoothie consistency:
Stuff handfuls of spinach (organic if you can afford it! Regular spinach carries more toxins then many other fruits/veggies) in your BlendTec. (You can also use kale or swiss chard-both are milder greens. We usually mix the greens up, but spinach is definitely our staple!)
Put filtered water into the blender, up to the 2 cup line. Blend until it is a lovely green looking water. Next add the following:
1/4 of a lemon-including the peel-don't get me started on the benefits of lemon peel!
1-2 bananas
Some frozen berries-this turns the smoothie purple
Agave nectar or stevia as desired
any other frozen fruit (peaches, pineapple, strawberries, mango, melon, whatever!)
Press the Whole Juice button and watch it go! The younger kids especially love to watch it change colors--"like magic!"

This keeps in the fridge for up to 48 hours, just make sure you shake it up before you drink it.

**you can add lots of different things. Here are some ideas: hemp protein powder, nuts, flax seed or flax seed oil, sprouts, get creative! I promise you that you can't taste the greens...all you taste is fruit fruit fruit! 

Things I've learned-spinach is over 40% protein! Spinach is all things fantastic-calcium, B vitamins, fiber, ENZYME CITY!!, the list goes on!  Chlorophyll neutralizes internal body odors and bad breath, and it mops up free radicals that cause cancer and all degenerative disease. Greens are a powerhouse of enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. They are, ounce for ounce, the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet.If you don't know why you need enzymes, just ask my chillens. Okay, well, I'll tell you too: Enzymes are catalysts in all bodily functions, including digestion. Digestive enzymes break down food for storage in the liver of muscles. And while your body’s organs can produce the needed digestive enzymes, those organs typically become exhausted in the body of anyone eating a typical Western diet of dead, processed foods. According to most estimates, you have at best about 30 years’ worth of enzyme production capacity. Eating raw foods, particularly greens that have intact enzymes (heating above 116° destroys enzymes), gives you energy that does not deplete your limited enzymatic capacity. Drinking a quart of green smoothie daily will go a long way in providing your body the enzymes it needs to digest other cooked food.

The last picture was taken around St. Patrick's Day. The kids thought that greeeeeeeeen smoothies were perfect for that!