Green smoothie recipes

 Although I tend to stick to my basic smoothie recipe more often than not, I thought I would share a few simple recipes that I found here and there, and had tucked away.

**There are so many sites online that talk about the magic of green smoothies and offer a huge variety of blending ideas. In place of a green in any given recipe you can certainly replace it with whatever leafy green you choose or have on hand. I always buy organic produce when it comes to my green smoothie ingredients. According to Victoria Boutenko, it's not only the fact that non organic has pesticides but it also lacks nutritional value. I never knew this!  It's a bit more expensive but considering that optimum health is my goal, I only buy what's best for my body. The most important thing is getting the greens into your body  ~ so use whatever fruit combo you prefer or create your own ~ the magic begins as soon as you get your greens on :) 

mix it up ~ have fun with them ~ ENJOY :)

My Personal Favorite

1 granny smith apple

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 large peeled cucumber

1 bunch of kale   ( you can use 1/2 if you're new to this)

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

1 cup water 

Carrot Apple Ginger Smoothie

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium apple, cored

2 large handfuls of raw baby spinach

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger root

1 cup water

Pineapple-Mango Smoothie
1 cup pineapple
1 large mango
2 cups fresh baby spinach 
1/2 – 1 cup water

Ginger Carrot Pineapple Smoothie

1 cup fresh pineapple, cubed

2 medium carrots

1 banana, peeled

1 inch of fresh ginger

6 ounces almond milk

 Mango-Carrot Smoothie

1 mango, peeled and pitted

2 small carrots or 1 cup, grated

2 bananas, peeled

6 ounces almond milk or water

Cucumber-Pear Smoothie
1 cucumber
2 pears
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup of water

Strawberry Pear Smoothie

1 cup whole strawberries

2 pears

2 cups baby spinach leaves

1 carrot
1 cup water

Cucumber Melon
1 cucumber
2 cups or 1/2 ripe honeydew melon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup water

Cucumber Cantaloupe
1 cucumber
2 cups or 1/2 ripe cantaloupe
1 cup watermelon
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 cups baby spinach 

1/2 cup water

Apple Blueberry smoothie
1 apple
1 cup blueberries
2 cups baby spinach
1/4 avocado
1/2 cup water

pear apple banana smoothie
1 pear
1 apple
1 banana
1 stalk celery
2 cups spinach
1 cup water
  
** I tend to copy and paste recipes regularly for my own sake on a regular basis. I will always try to give credit for where I found them when possible.Unfortunately many have been sitting in my mail folders and I can't give credit to where they originated. I may have altered them to suit my taste when I saved them!

I believe many of these recipes are from http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/smoothie-recipes/ ~ a great online source of green smoothie information.

What are you blending up? I'd love to hear what favorites everyone is blending up! 

                  Sharing is such a gift ~ Everyone benefits!
If everyone that sends me messages and posts on Facebook shared just one favorite green smoothie recipe here ~ wow ~ we'd have a lot of great recipes all in one place :)

Health & Happiness 

What a fabulous day we've been blessed with today! I dusted off my bike and went for a ride down to the water ~ took a little walk on the beach and even soaked up a few rays. This is my kind of weather :)


The history of Green Smoothies


 I was digging around in my folders full of info and found a few wonderful videos that are interesting informative and inspirational. I was so excited to find these!
The first is is Victoria Boutenko telling us just how green smoothies came to be. She's the woman who first found a way to get those glorious greens into our bodies in a tasty way.What an amazing woman! These videos are fantastic and well worth the time to watch if you are interested in adding glorious green smoothies into your life! 
Thank you Victoria :)

Not sure about which greens to choose when shopping for your green smoothie ingredients? Here's a great video by the Boutenko family explaining lots of different greens that can be used in a smoothie. It's important that you rotate your greens if you are drinking smoothies regularly. Leafy greens have a tiny amount of alkaloids in them that act as a defense mechanism for themselves in nature. If ingested regularly for long amounts of time they can act as a poison in your body ~ not enough to be concerned about! But  it's best for your immune system and  health to rotate them weekly, even if it's just between kale and spinach. But as you'll see in the video there are plenty of glorious greens to choose from!

If you're looking for a little inspiration you have to watch Clent's video!
 Clent lost 226 lbs and reversed diabetes by eating a raw food diet and drinking green smoothies. The green smoothies were an important tool in his weight loss and to finding his healthy happiness!

 Introducing green smoothies into my diet has changed my life...
I've found great health and happiness & have never felt better! 
Nutritious & Delicious ~ Get your greens on today   :)

I'm sitting out in the warm sunshine this afternoon while I write this post ~ what a treat!

The forsythia is in full bloom and the daffodils all around the yard are beautiful :)

 I had a lovely Easter yesterday with my family and a few friends. My sisters and I don't see each other nearly as often as we used to, so it's always really special when we get together. We are each at different places in our lives and on our quests for good health & happiness. This is wonderful because no one thing is right for everyone ~ we are each finding our own paths and sharing our successes along the way. We are all eating a little differently right now so it was fun to contribute to the buffet this year ~ each of us brought our own little something to the table.

Here are some pictures of a wonderful salad I enjoyed and the raw desserts that I brought this year. 

Most everyone tried them ~ I thought that was really great!  Since I'm not eating processed foods, 

I wanted to bring something that was pretty, delicious and of course nutritious. 

The recipe for the cacao maca balls and chocolate chia pudding are below. Both are super easy to make!

The chia pudding was a bit of an experiment, I didn't stick to the recipe like I should have! 

 I'll tell you what I did below ~ in the end I think it came out pretty good :) 

Chia is really easy to work with ~ experiment , have fun with it and let me know what chocolate delight you come up with...

Maca cacao balls

In a food processor combine:

1 cup hemp seeds

8 pitted dates

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tbsp maca powder

3 tbsp cacao powder

Blend for about 3 - 5 minutes, stopping to scrape from the sides now and then

pour the mix into a large bowl

taking about a tbsp worth at a time ~ squeeze it with your fingers until it forms a firm little ball

continue until you have as many as it makes

dampen each one under lightly running water and roll in unsweetened coconut flakes

Delish :)

My Chocolate Chia Pudding 

2 cups hemp milk or almond milk   (I used hemp milk ~ you'll find the recipe in an earlier post)

4 tbsp chia seeds

3 tbsp cacao powder

1/2 tsp honey 

mix well on and off for 15 minutes ~ until it thickens

** you could stop right here and have a fabulous dessert ~ my next step wasn't necessary, but I'll tell you what I did **

I mixed this in the blender for a minute  ~ to make it a little creamier

set in a bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes

it was a little thin, so I stirred in another tbsp of chia seeds to thicken it some more

mixed well ~ let sit 15 minutes 

topped with sliced  fresh strawberries

Voila!!

If you make these or any variations ~ I would love to hear about it!

 Feel free to post any questions,comments or share your own recipes....

Enjoy :)

Hello everyone :)

I'm planning on taking the weekends off from blogging, but since I missed a few days this week due to technical issues ~ here are some rainy Saturday afternoon thoughts...

 I have to say that I have aspirations to eat a 100% raw diet, and maybe I will at some point. The foods are so vibrant and colorful ~ fresh and alive! But for now I enjoy the few cooked foods I eat and it's certainly done me well ~ so I'll see what the summer and warmer weather has to bring.

 I feel fabulous ~ healthy and happy and that's most important to me and should be for all of us! Whatever path feels right. I've learned that listening to my body and honoring how it feels after I eat certain foods is key. For me, introducing fresh greens into my body through green smoothies has dramatically improved my health and well being and set me on the path to choosing only foods that are highly nutritious and beneficial for me.

I don't think there's a need for labels on how we eat as long as the foods provide optimum health and well being. I'm sure I'll be touching on this more as I continue my journey of health & happiness!

Here's a little picture video of dinner last night :)

Quinoa with scallions and sun dried tomatoes

I soaked the sun dried tomatoes in water for a few minutes, chopped them up and added them along with sliced scallions into the prepared quinoa ~ delicious!

Fresh spring green salad ~ isn't it pretty?

Spring greens from Sport Hill Farm

tomatoes

cukes

orange pepper

lots of sprouts

scallions

walnuts

raisins ~ fresh from a California produce stand ~ amazing!

Raw cucumber dressing ~  a simpler version of a few recipes I've seen, I just threw it together in the kitchen blender

1 cucumber

1 avocado

1 clove garlic

abt 1/4 tsp raw honey

abt 1/3 cup olive oil

delicious ~ nutritious & ooh so satisfying  :)

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter

Health & Happiness

 From the beginning I carefully chose the ingredients in my smoothies for their enormous nutritional benefits.Also one thing they all have in common are their cleansing properties. I wanted to rid my body of the toxins that had built up over the years, start clean and get healthy.

After much research I learned that certain greens, fruits & veggies were best suited for these purposes. Although I now add in other ingredients to compliment these base choices ~ I still include all of these.

Apples ~ carrots ~ cucumber ~ celery and leafy greens such as kale and spinach.

 All leafy greens are wonderful for cleansing your body of everyday toxins that build up due to our diet and environment.

Besides the numerous health benefits of both celery and cucumbers , they also have diuretic properties that  help to keep the body flushed and clean of excess fluids.

One of the major benefits of carrots is, yes it's cleansing properties.

Apples also successfully help to flush out your kidney and liver besides their many health benefits.

Besides their cleansing properties, all of these things have amazing health benefits way beyond what I was aware of. 

Amongst other things, spinach is packed with anti oxidants that slow down the aging process and helps to give your skin a healthy glow.

Low in calories and high in vitamins, spinach is one of the most nutrient-dense foods in existence. It improves the cardiovascular system and improves brain functions.

Kale has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, promotes regular digestion, prevents constipation, lowers blood sugar and curbs overeating.

Cucumbers are wonderful for the skin,and is beneficial for arthritis,balancing low and high blood pressure and keeps your kidney,liver and pancreas healthy.

Celery strengthens your immune system, has anti-inflammatory properties, reduces blood pressure and promotes cardiovascular health.

Apples provide natural energy, restore vigor and vitality, improve brain functions and lower cholesterol.They also prevent heart, liver and kidney disease.

How amazing is mother nature!! ALL these benefits and so much more ~ packed into these simple foods that are at our fingertips every day!

Every day I experience what I like to call the "Ahhh factor" every time I drink my green smoothie. I think my body is letting me know it's happy that it's getting all the green goodness nature has to offer.....

 Health & Happiness :)

 

 Good Morning :)

 There are lot's of new people interested in green smoothies so I decided to post the information from last month about making them in a kitchen blender again.

Time to make a green smoothie!

Anyone can do it  :)

It's easy ~ have FUN with it ~ you can be creative ~ The main thing is to enjoy your green smoothie & get those greens in!!

There are so many different recipes for green smoothies out there ~ so many lovely choices of fruits and greens to pick from. Let's start with the one I began with and is still one of my favorites today. It's really simple to whip up. 

It's rich in nutrients ~ low in calories ~ extremely filling and really delicious!

                      You are going to need a blender.

I use a Vitamix , which is a high speed blender, but I didn't start with one in the beginning. It's not necessary to have the Vitamix! Your smoothie will just have a creamier consistency and you don't have to chop up your fruit. Using a regular kitchen blender is fine. You should chop up any firm fruits in smaller  pieces if you are using your kitchen blender.

I'm going to use a regular kitchen blender for this since that's what most people have...

Ingredients:

  1 apple

  2 bananas   

  2 carrots 

 1 celery stalk

 1 peeled cucumber

 2 handfuls of spinach 

 1 1/2  cup of water

Wash everything really well  ~  slice your apple and carrots,cukes and celery to blend easily 

Directions ~ it's important not to add all ingredients at once ~ they won't blend properly

blend approx. 30 seconds each time

add 1 cup of water

all spinach .... Blend for about 30 seconds 

add carrots & blend 

add rest of water & blend

add apple slices & blend

add celery & blend    

add cucumber slices & blend

add bananas & blend until creamy   

ENJOY!!

 

 ** if you aren't a fan of bananas, pears are a nice subtle sweet fruit to substitute

** you can add a little raw honey as another way to sweeten it up

 

Feel free to add more fruit ~ any fruits ~ if you prefer it sweeter to start ~ your taste buds will ask for less and less fruit as you continue drinking them ~ I PROMISE!!!

***THANKS for all the wonderful feedback :) 

I'm passionate about the magic of green smoothies ~ It's so exciting to hear from everyone who's started enjoying them & reaping all the amazing benefits!!

  Feel free to ask any questions, share your thoughts or share your own green smoothie recipes ~ let's have some fun with this  :)

 The magic of Green Smoothies!!


I've received lots of great feedback on Facebook and email from friends that have begun adding green smoothies into their diet since I started this blog and I am THRILLED to hear how wonderful everyone's feeling   :)
I am passionate about spreading the joy I feel and the message about the benefits of nurturing yourself with real foods.. Nourishing my body with nutritious greens, fruits and vegetables has been the kindest thing I've ever done for myself and the benefits have been enormous ~ life changing!! 
I've now lost 111 lbs, have lots of energy  and have never felt better :)
Adding green smoothies to  my lifestyle was easy and delicious and the wonderful changes occurred almost immediately. I want everyone to reap the enormous benefits that come from these simple changes ~ the rest comes naturally...


Here are some of the exciting comments I've received lately...


 "Green smoothies. Almost as weird and awesome as chia seeds. I'm definitely going to have to play with the recipe. I lost my ginger, much to my chagrin, so I didn't put that in and I have agave nectar rather than honey. i think I'd rather use honey. It smells heavenly, like rolling around in a meadow right after a rain storm in June. The texture is frothy, delightful and light, but slightly gritty. I think I need to add an extra banana and blend a little longer. It was definitely worth drinking. I think they'll be making a daily appearances in my life. ;o) So exciting"


"Well today marks one full week and I just wanted to thank you so much for all you are doing. I am down 7 pounds which is unheard of for me. I have a thyroid condition and as you know the auto immune disease so I can gain weight like a sumo but I have never been able to lose more then a pound or two at the very most. I have tired Jennie Craig for one year 6 lbs, Nutri system for 6 months 2 pounds, Weight watchers for 10 months 4 pounds, and I even tired the lap band I lost 5 lbs and then gained 55. Who would of thunk it that these mossy green smoothies would get me going! I am not a warm fuzzy person but lady, I would so hug you right now. Thank you for being such a font of information and taking the time and energy to share you wealth of knowledge them all of us."






"So, my typical grocery run before this past week consisted of a few fruits and vegetables, which inevitably got thrown out because I didn't eat them fast enough..this week, I had quite a full fridge of fruits and veggies...time to stock up again, because most of it is gone! And the likes of Quinoa, Wheat Berries, Almonds, Walnuts and Raisins my new staple snack food? Who'da thunk it! Feeling good (thanks, Kathy ♥)"

"Hi Kathy! Spring is here and I'm attempting to trim off winter's fat. I went green 10 days ago and lost 6 lbs.! I'd been going to the Y, but unless you change your diet, the weight loss is much slower ... all that processed food and starches, yuck. I want to give you credit for jump starting my brain in the right direction" "the weight that we are dropping by just adding green smoothies.... so satisfying and filling...Kathy is right, those cravings for sugary things are a thing of the past...lovin' it!" "this is not work doing this; its amazing how your body just responds when it's receiving all the right stuff..." Huge thanks to everyone for sharing their enthusiasm and successes with me! It means the world to me to know I'm making a little difference by keeping up this blog!   let's keep these good green vibes flowing ~ perhaps pass them on to someone you love  :) Health & Happiness

 It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~ Mark Twain


 I've got all kinds of fun things to look forward to as the summer months get closer and I feel most alive! I really thrive on warmth and sunshine :)
 Today I'm taking a class on sustainable square foot gardening. I'm really, really excited about this ~ it's the official start to my new gardening adventures. This will be my first attempt at growing some of my own organic greens and veggies! After looking at several options, trying to decide what would work best with the little space and so-so dirt I have to work with ~ this is just perfect!!
After today's class I'll have enough info to begin my own little garden  :)


 Square foot gardening is a simple method of gardening that's easy for anyone to do. It's a natural organic method of gardening designed by Mel Bartholomew .You use above ground boxes that are 4X4.  The squares are filled with a special soil mix, so the quality of existing dirt is not an issue. The class is being taught by Amie Guyette Hall ~ director of From Your Inside Out and being held at Sport Hill Farm in Easton ~ hosted by Patti Popp.
Both are local women I have just recently had the pleasure of meeting  and I am so happy for that!
 I absolutely love their enthusiasm for spreading the word of health, wellness and nutrition in their own special ways.


Check out their links on the right...

Happy Thursday :)

  

Yesterday I talked a little about making hemp milk as a creamy base for chia seed pudding or even a delicious drink in itself. You can use both nuts and seeds to make nice healthy milks They are unbelievably easy to make~ it only takes minutes! I love making my own milk ~ it's one of life's simple little pleasures that make me oh so happy :)

Today I want to focus on nut milk. Easy ~  Nutritious ~ Delicious!

Nut milk is an excellent healthy alternative to cow's milk.

It provides numerous health benefits and is packed with nutrients. 

 Nut milk is a great alternative for people who have allergies to dairy or gluten! It doesn't contain lactose and is also gluten-free.

You can use any type of nut!

almond ~ brazil ~ pecan ~ cashew ~ walnut ~ hazelnut you name it!

My favorites are almond or brazil nut milks.

It's best to soak the nuts overnight and then rinse until the water runs clear. This makes the nuts softer so their easier to blend. It also neutralizes the enzyme inhibitors, making them easier to digest.

You can make nut milk in a kitchen blender as well as a vitamix you just have to blend a little longer, until you no longer hear the nuts rattling around.

Here's all you need

Nuts of your choice 

blender

water

something to strain them in...you can use a nut bag that you can buy on Amazon or at many health food stores ~ or you can use cheesecloth.

The ratio of nuts & water I use is 4/1 ratio. 1 cup of nuts to 4 cups of water.

You can always use less water if you prefer a thicker milk.

Recipe

 1 cup of your favorite nuts

 4 cups of water 

 blend them in a blender

 Then strain this through the nut milk bag or cheesecloth

squeeze the bag to get out as much milk as possible

save the nut meat ~ you can add them to all sorts of recipes

You can store this in the fridge 3-4 days. 

be sure to stir or shake up the nut milk before using it because it becomes separated. 

** I love to add a little vanilla, pitted dates & cinnamon to spice it up!! Super delicious!!

ENJOY :)

Making almond milk ~ soak 1 cup raw almonds overnight ~ rinse well after soaked

Put the rinsed almonds in the blender with 4 cups of water

add 2 pitted dates and 1 tsp of vanilla

Blend about 1 minute in a high speed blender ~ about 3 minutes in kitchen blender or until smooth

Here I used a piece of cheesecloth to strain the nut milk. Secure it over a container with a rubber band. Pour the nut milk from the blender through the cheesecloth slowly. Let as much filter through as possible then take off the cheesecloth and squeeze the rest of the milk out.....

Voila

One of life's simple pleasures :)

When I feel like something sweet I have a few super easy recipes that I make again and again... They're really satisfying and full of nutrition!

What's nice about these in particular is there versatility. Like some of the other foods I've mentioned, I can add any extra ingredients I feel like or that I have on hand. 

There are lots of variations of the chia seed pudding ~ I'll give you my basic recipe and below it I'll note some other tasty ways to enjoy it also.

Chia seed pudding

1 cup almond milk  ~  you can use almond milk from your grocer  (or use creamy hemp milk ~ recipe below)

2 Tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp honey

dash cinnamon

stir well ~ continue to stir on & off for about 15 minutes until it gels. 

put in the fridge for about 30 minutes

The chia seeds form a tapioca kind of consistency.  

  

That's it for the basic recipe ~ it doesn't get any easier than that!

 Variations

Chocolate chia pudding !! 

add a tbsp of cacao powder to the recipe above ~ be sure to stir well 

Also you can add  nuts ~ little pieces of any fruit ~ extra cinnamon or cacao nibs ~ whatever you like :)

Creamy easy hemp milk  ~ you can drink this as is for a creamy, frothy drink ~ or use it for the base of the chia pudding for extra added flavor

1 cup hulled hemp seeds 

3 cups water

1 tsp vanilla

2 pitted dates  (or 1 tbsp raw honey)

Blend in high speed blender for 1 minute ~ blend a little longer in kitchen blender

Variation

chocolate hemp milk ~ Add 1-2  Tbsp cacao powder for delicious chocolate hemp milk

** I  buy my Chia seeds ~ Hemp seeds & Cacao powder at Whole Foods... you should be able to get them at your local health food store also.

:

ENJOY!  :)