Day Eighteen

Each month there are a few days where I feel particularly sluggish. This is usually due to, ahem, a drop in my iron levels. Are you following me? Ok, good. I used to make sure I had plenty of beef on the menu during those weeks, but since I'm cutting out a lot of animal based foods, I decided to go for plant based iron this month. Iron from plants is not as readily absorbed by our bodies as iron from meat sources. However, this does not mean this iron is inferior. I happen to believe that any nutrient that we can get from plant based foods is far superior than that same nutrient from animal based foods.
In order to make the iron from plant based foods easier to absorb by our bodies a little food combining is necessary. Vitamin C is what's needed to get this ball movin'. I woke up feeling uber sluggish, our dog got out of the yard and we had to chase him down (only to come home an hour later to find him sitting in our driveway) and my day has otherwise just not started well. I made this iron rich smoothie and I have so far today done the dishes, decluttered and wiped down the counters, folded and put away one load of laundry, started another load and made some healthy cupcakes for the kids. All of this was before noon. I'd say the iron smoothie was just what I needed to beat my monthly blahs! Here we go:

• 1 c OJ
• 1 tsp powdered wheat grass (I don't have a wheat grass plant yet)
• 2 big handfuls of spinach
• 1 handful frozen pineapple
• 1 handful frozen mango
• 2 bananas
• 1 cup water
• 3 whole dates, pitted

DELISH!! Also, we reached 100 fans on facebook in just EIGHTEEN DAYS!!! WooHoo! Stick around for a fun giveaway!