Going Green (Smoothie)

With my desire to start being healthy, I have started to look at the raw foods world, at least for the summer months.  One thing that I noticed is the whole green smoothie "revolution".  Ok, so maybe not a revolution, but it;s certainly a popular concept.  A few years ago, my husband and I started to make green smoothies.  We bought a book by Victoria Boutenko, who has been promoting green smoothies.  Basically, it is a much easier and tastier way to get in your fruits and veggies, almost like a V8 fruit drink but better and probably better for you since you make it yourself.  Green smoothies basically consist of fruit, a green leafy veggie, and maybe some water and protein powder if you wish ( we've used protein powder in the past but I have used it recently).  I like my greens, but there are only so many I can eat at a time.  I can drink these smoothies and feel like I am being healthy and getting in my fruits and veggies.  Most recently, I have been adding in my homemade kefir with some stevia to sweeten the kefir.  I had some last night for a snack and even when my husband wanted ice cream, I was a little more able to hold off and not be persuaded as easily as I usually am.  I am hoping that one positive impact for me will be relieving me from my cravings.  I don't see it or expect that it will happen overnight, but I am hoping that these small changes I am making will help me with my overall health and in time I'll be able to listen to my bosy and really trust what it is telling me.

Last night, as I was researching green smoothies, I went to a blog I have been following for some time now, www.choosingraw.  One of the things that I read, which totally resonated with me was making small changes.  For along time now, and with many things, I often feel like I have to be perfect right away or else it is a failed attempt.  I am slowly realizing, I can make small changes to my diet that over time will accumulate to large very positive changes.  I am also realizing that it really isn't an all or nothing idea.  I can have some meat even though I want mostly to be a vegan.  I can have dairy even though I don't want to have it every day.  The healthier I get, the more I can listen to my body and the more I can trust it to tell me what it needs..com

Earlier in this post, I mentioned that I have been making homemade kefir.  I am making both milk and water kefir and am loving both.  I love water kefir.  It is fermented water that has some small bubbles in it.  Often I will drink it in a champagne flute or a wine glass just for the fun of it.  I love drinking out of fancy glasses even if it is just water.  I haven't really experimented with flavors yet, but I plan to do that soon.  I haven't really been drinking the milk kefir, but I have been using it in mainly my pancake recipes and have made butter out of it also.  I have strained the kefir and made "kefir cheese" and then used the whey in my pancake batter.  I have started (just yesterday) to add kefir to my green smoothie.  I really enjoyed it though I did need to flavor it with stevia, since straight plain kefir, like plain yogurt, is a little too tart for my taste.  I'm loving my kefir grains!

Green Smoothie Recipe #2

1 apple
1/2 C frozen blueberries
1/2 C frozen berries
1C frozen mixed fruit
1/2 C sunflower seeds (magnesium)
1 head of green leaf lettuce (from my neighbor's CSA share)
water to blend to consistency of your liking
1/2 C kefir/yogurt (optional)
stevia to taste (optional)
 (for the first smoothie of the day, I added the kefir at the end and just stirred it in with about 7-8 drops of liquid stevia.  Later that night, I re-blended a glass of the smoothie with some kefir and stevia and I think blending it made it more amalgamated and I really enjoyed it much more)

I usually blend the fruit and water and then add the greens.  You really can use any leafy greens you want.  My husband is lacking in the magnesium arena so I added the sunflower seeds to help increase the magnesium for him.  Blend to your favorite consistency and enjoy.

I am looking forward to trying more combinations as well as using veggies from our garden.  I will post more recipes as I make them.  I am hoping that, in time, these green smoothies with help me get my health back and as I've said, I can start trusting my body!

Have you had green smoothies?  Do you have favorite recipe?

Amy

Thought Provoking

As I've written, I am looking to make some huge changes in my lifestyle.  This includes many things, but one of the biggest areas I am looking to change is my diet.  For a few years, I have been wanting to eat a more vegan diet, but I never thought I could give up meat.  Then my husband's doctor recommended that he start eating a more plant based diet so we did.  I am amazed at how much I don't have the desire for steak.  Don't get me wrong, I still eat meat more than I want to, but I am eating way more beans and grains than I ever have.  I started adding in a green smoothie every morning and am feeling so much better now that I am not carb loading my body from the start.  Again, I still need to make major changes in my eating habits, but slow and steady wins the race, right? 

I just finished reading a post at http://sweetlyraw.com/ about how the author is no longer 100% raw vegan.  I was very impressed with her blog and very impressed with most of the comments.  Many people commented on her bravery for coming out and saying that she is no longer 100% raw vegan and that they are so happy that she is listening to her body.  I too want to commend her for listening to her body and eating what she feels her body needs.  One of my biggest goals with my diet is to get my body into a state where I can trust it to tell me waht it needs.  I think that I have too many allergies/intolerances right now as well as some food addictions (which probably play right into the allergy piece) to trust my bosy to tell me what it needs.  I have msotly eliminated dairy from my diet and I think it really has helped.  I know that it has helped my children, and I don't know that i want to try them back on dairy, especially my older son who seemed to have some fairly significant breathing issues from it.  I now want to eliminate the other foods that I seem to react to and see how I feel.  I think once I get into a healthy state, I will be able to listen to my body to tell me what it needs, and I will then feed it the food that it craves because I believe at that point I wll be able to trust it!  I think that I need to not be too hard on myself with my eating.  I know that I need to give myself credit for the chnages that i have made no matter how small.  I also know that I need to continue to work on finding the right diet for me, as I also believe tht no one diet fits everyone!

Amy