Lately I have been hearing a lot about “Buy One Get One Free” deals on cantaloupe and honeydew at our local grocery stores. Depending on where you live this will differ, but being in the South– we have melons growing everywhere! (I can’t help but giggle when I write that.) So for the sake of humor, anytime you see the word melon in this post, know that I mean cantaloupe or honeydew melon. 🙂 Read on for today’s YUM recipe: Melon-Kale Smoothie.
Many of you know that I don’t eat a lot of fruit in my smoothies, mainly because of the large amount of sugar. Cancer survives off of sugar, so if you want to starve it you have to keep the sweet stuff to a minimum. So what does that leave us? Veggies. But do we really have to have a green smoothie to have a veggie smoothie? No way! Check out today’s great veggie starter smoothie for a nice break from the fruity-ness.
Summer is HOT! So what better way to refresh ourselves than with a tropical green smoothie?! This recipe was originally part of our 14 Day Summer Cleanse, but it is so good and a great beginner’s smoothie that I wanted to feature it here! Read on for the recipe!
It’s so good to be back! It has been a busy May full of of end of the year activites at school and a broken laptop at home, but now I am back with plenty of new ideas, MUCH more freedom, and a functional computer. Perhaps one of the greatest perks of being a teacher is SUMMER!!!!
The next 9 or so weeks will be full of fabulous blog posts on suggested topics such as holistic beauty regimen, raw food detox, overcoming anxious thinking, new smoothie ideas, juicing, how to save $$$ on fruits and veggies, the HcG cancer test, and much more!
Today I’m going back to my roots and talking green smoothie again. This smoothie recipe came about after my mother-in-law left some grapes in our fridge. Grapes are not usually part of our diet since they are difficult to find organic and affordable. We were in desperate need of going to the Farmer’s Market so the other items with smoothie potential were: an avocado, 1 crown broccoli, cooked lentils, and a few carrots. So I combined them and came up with a pretty decent smoothie!
Grape Avocado Smoothie
1 cup grapes
1 avocado, pitted
1 crown of broccoli, chopped
2 carrots
1/2 cup cooked lentils
Add 3-4 cups water or more as needed for desired consistency. Blend in Vitamix until smooth.
“Mom, these would be a lot easier to eat if you smoothied them!”
It is time for us to STEP UP. Treating our bodies as if they are replaceable can only go on for so long. Eventually your body will get your attention. You might be 26 (like I was) or you might be 80. It might be cancer (like me) or arthritis, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or chronic headaches, or Type 2 diabetes, or skin issues, or aches and pains, or infertility or…………..
Instead of having a green beer tonight, why not have a green smoothie! OR have both! Maybe after a beer a REALLY green smoothie will go down easier? Maybe if it’s your “first time” experience with a green smoothie, a green beer would help relax you? How about having a green smoothie this morning and a green beer tonight? Or, you can do like me and have a green smoothie for lunch and a green salad tonight. Jason’s Deli has an excellent salad bar!
(This is part of an ongoing series called Foods YOU Need!)
Aren’t you happy to see something yummy on this list of Foods YOU Need? Finally we have something to eat that we are more likely to eat for enjoyment rather than health!
With warmer weather approaching, I have been put in a springy mood. Although I don’t drink fruit smoothies very often, this one is a delicious vacation from my green veggie smoothies (you can find my veggie smoothies under the “recipes” tab.) Yum!
Oh how I love the weekend! This smoothie is an easy green fruit smoothie for a relaxed weekend morning. I like to keep it simple when possible. I remember when I would read smoothie recipes before I was a “smoothie person.” This started when my husband bought me a Vitamix for my 26th birthday. I had the desire to want to be healthier, but didn’t know how to do it. At the time the idea of putting greens in my fruit smoothie was challenging. Little did I know what I’d be eating 2 months later after the cancer diagnosis!
So here is the “Simple Saturday Smoothie” to ease into your green smoothie consumption:
Simple Saturday Smoothie
1 banana
3/4 cup blueberries
handful of ice (or use frozen blueberries instead)
3/4 – 1 cup almond milk or liquid of choice
1 tbsp raw almond butter
1 cup spinach, kale, or chard
honey to taste (optional- I do not use)
Now, one tip for your “green drink psychology” is to not give up trying a recipe just because you don’t have all of the perfect ingredients! For instance, if you don’t have blueberries, try another kind of berry. If you’re missing almond butter or almond milk, try peanut butter or regular milk if that’s what you prefer. I will see everyone back on Monday!
Ok, let’s get real. Some Green Smoothie can taste pretty gross. I want to go over the psychology of drinking a green smoothie everyday. For me it’s a no-brainer. There are simply more pros than cons. See below.
Pros:
It is ridiculously healthy.
It helps prevent cancer from happening and even fights it!
It contains all kinds of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.
It is about 14 servings of vegetables!!!
It is much faster than eating a very large salad.
It cleans out my colon on its way….out.
It can increase fertility.
It can clear up your skin!
It fills your belly up for hours.
Cons:
It MAY not taste so yummy.
So there you go. It’s a sacrifice of taste for health that I make everyday. When you feel its benefits, it just doesn’t matter what it tastes like. And it’s only ONE meal out of your day. It’s like the Slim Fast diet when you replace a meal with a shake, but with WAAAY healthier ingredients!
Here are some tips to get you started: