Day Ninety

Ninety? Really? Phew!! It seems like just yesterday that I cooked up this crazy blog idea. Today I went to a friend's house for a playdate and I took my blender with me. Yes, you read that right. "Have blender, will travel."

• 1 apple (Fuji is my fave)
• 1 banana
• bunch o' spinach
• frozen peaches
• frozen strawberries
• water

YUM! I love the strawberry & peach combo!!

Day Eighty Nine

Oh. My. Gawd. I've sent my mom back home, I've sent my husband packing (just temporarily) and the boys and I are all healthy. Phew! Its good to be back! I didn't get to my smoothie today until after dinner. And it shows. Do not, under any circumstances, go to the grocery store while you are hungry and utterly toxic from a weekend od'ing on birthday cake when you HAVEN'T HAD YOUR SMOOTHIE YET! I'm just sayin'. It sounds like it might not go well.

• 2 c OJ
• 3 enormous handfuls of spinach (gotta detox that birthday cake)
• some leftover mixed berries that were sitting in the fridge (about a cup or so)
• frozen mango

This is delish! I poured myself a cup and my youngest drank it all. I poured myself another cup and my oldest drank that one. I had to pry it out of their sticky little fingers just to get a sip. But I let them have it. Goodness knows I'd never actually prevent them from voluntarily drinking a smoothie!!!

Day Eighty Eight.

My out of town guest is heading to the airport. I love having my mom in town, but its also nice to get back to our daily routines. Mr. Smoothie leaves for a trip tomorrow night and then its back to the daily grind around here. So what does my week look like? Its spring break ~ lots of quilting, knitting, play dating & green smoothieing! Today's smoothie was:

• 2 c OJ
• 3 big handfuls of spinach
• 2 bananas
• 2 c mixed fresh berries

YUM-O!

Day Eighty Seven

Well hello! All of the birthdays are now behind us. The next one is in Sept, so I think its safe to say we are done with birthday cakes for a while.....oh wait, my friend's daughter is next week. Ok, THEN we're done until Sept. Phew! Even though my boy's birthday was Wed, today was his party and I let him decide the smoothie. He chose his all time favorite smoothie.

• 2 c OJ
• 2 bananas
• 1 lb frozen pineapple
• 3 big handfuls spinach

This one is really really citrusy. Just like the boy likes it : )

Day Eighty Six

We had a birthday party to go to today for my son's friend and tomorrow is my older son's party. Mr. Smoothie and I went to our monthly card party night with some friends, so needless to say my weekend is filled with lots and lots of junk food!! I think I'll be drinking some extra smoothies on Monday! Today's smoothie was quick and easy!

• 2 c water
• 2 bananas
• 2 handfuls frozen mixed fruit
• 3 handfuls spinach

Its yummy! I'm beginning to notice the smoothies taste sweeter to me. I think I may start cutting back on the fruit.

Day Eighty Five

I drank my second smoothie tonight while watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. It was fantastic! I highly recommend it!

• 2 c water
• 2 bananas
• 1 huge handful frozen pineapple
• 1 average handful frozen mango
• 3 handfuls spinach

YUM!

Day Eighty Four

I drank the remainder of yesterday's smoothie this morning and am enjoying my final smoothie now, before bed. I love having my smoothies in the evening. I get a great burst of energy (usually wasted in front of FB, but often used to get some knitting done) and then I drift off to sleep and I sleep so soundly with some greens in my tummy.

• 2 bananas
• handful of frozen strawberries
• handful of frozen mixed fruit
• boatload of spinach
• water

Day Eighty Three

The "Mom of Smoothie" is in town this week. Yes, she is aware of the rules of the house and happily drank her smoothie today. My blogging my be even more sporadic than normal right now, we've got lots of stuff planned during her visit and my computer time will probably be limited severly. Today's smoothie:

• 2 c water
• 1 banana
• 3 handfuls of spinach
• 2 c fresh strawberries
• 1 handful of frozen peaches

My mom said it made her "pucker". I don't know if that's a good thing?

Day Eighty Two

I'm still playing catch up from having my entire family sick for two months and once again I've run out of spinach. WTH?? How does this keep happening?!?! But never fear my trusty green friends, I had picked up a bag of collard greens the other day! I've never before had a smoothie with just collard greens, but I thought "what the hey"! I was either that or haul my behind to the store. And if you could see how I'm dressed right now you would totally understand the choice I made. So.....

• 2 bananas
• a whole bunch of fresh strawberries
• a whole bunch of collard greens
• a whole bunch of frozen pineapple
• water

Don't you love my precise measurements? I cook the same way. It drives my husband crazy because I can never recreate the same recipe. He thinks I do it just to annoy him. He might be right. Oh, and when I opened the fridge to put the smoothie inside, to what should my wandering eyes should appear? The rest of yesterday's smoothie. Totally forgot I had any left. DOH!

Tuesday's Thoughts

It seems all anyone is talking about today is the healthcare deal that President Obama signed into law this morning. No, I’m not bringing politics into the blog. If you are my Facebook friend, you know where I stand on the issue. But I thought this topic warranted a few musings.

My first thought is that it makes me weep that our country, our society, has come to the point where a health care crisis of this magnitude must even be dealt with. Our health costs are spiraling out of control in large part due to our overwhelming dependence on pharmaceuticals. Its somehow, somewhere become the normal school of thought that we can do what we please to our bodies, fuel them with whatever is handy, sit them sedentary for hours upon hours each day and then expect a miracle when we visit the doctor to have him prescribe us the latest, trendy miracle pill.

What would become of the healthcare debate if our President and First Lady challenged everyone to take charge of their own destiny? What if there was a nationwide call for everyone to put nutrition at the top of the debate instead of big pharma? Why don’t we focus on preventative measures instead of reactive treatments?

What if we chose to line the pockets of local farmers with our hard earned dollars instead of bankrolling the bottom line of the large corporations of big pharma and the insurance industry?

High blood pressure runs in my family, so does heart disease and diabetes. I’m choosing to reject that fate. I will not be a victim to my genes. I will not sit idly by and wait for my body to turn on me. I’m in control and it feels amazing. I’ve learned to trust my body. I know that as long as I give it the nutrition that it needs, it has the power to keep things running smoothly. Why would I settle for man made synthetic chemicals to make me “healthy” when everything designed to keep me running at optimal health is provided right here in nature? As God intended?

So, Mr. President, I offer you this challenge: rather than handing everyone a shiny new insurance card, why not start with handing everyone a blender, some beautiful leafy greens and the directions to their local farmer’s market? Let’s see what these beautiful bodies are really capable of!

***** By the Way, my blood pressure is 104/70 *****

***disclaimer: before I am publicly flogged, I realize that the healthcare debate is much more complicated than my simplistic approach above illustrates. I was simply trying to offer some lighthearted fun commentary on this otherwise toxic and explosive issue. I believe that some people do not need a magic pill, some people just need to change some habits. I also recognize that this is not true of everyone using pharmaceutical therapies***

Day Eighty One

...or alternately titled "The Monday with no Musings". I spent the better part of today at the doctor's office. My family has been sick for two months and I'm just sick of it! I've felt like crap off and on for over two weeks and after the week I had last week, I knew something had to be done. So now I'm on antibiotics. I'm not a big fan of the drug industry, but sometimes pharmaceutical intervention is a necessary evil. This is one of those times. So, I beg your forgiveness for not offering any Monday Musings today, but I will be sure to give you some Tuesday's Thoughts tomorrow.

I'd like to welcome all of the new followers that found their way here via No Time For Flashcards. Feel free to click around a bit, make yourself at home and let me know if you have any questions. I looooove comments and feedback. It makes me feel like I'm not out here in blogland talking to myself.

Today's smoothie was a bit sweet for me, but it had a higher than usual ratio of fruits. It was my day to be snack mom at preschool and I sent in a big bowl of fresh fruit, I took what was left and threw it in the blender with some bananas and spinach.

• 2 bananas
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• mixture of pineapple, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew & grapes.
• ICE

Its yummy, but sweet. My boys didn't care for it much.

Day Eighty (again)

Well, '80 was a good year, so let's do it all over again, right? So, I made a more palatable smoothie to take the place of that Gawd awful thing I made earlier. I went simple and stuck to tried and true ingredients. I'm not sure Mr. Smoothie will ever let me experiment again.

• handful of frozen pineapple
• handful of frozen mixed fruit (peaches, strawberries, grapes & pineapple)
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 2 bananas
• water ~ lots and lots of water

Aaaahhhh, much better!

Day Eighty

In an attempt to commemorate yesterday's junior high indulgence, I thought making a Bloody Mary. My one and only smoothie with Mustard Greens (inedible) was so peppery that I thought to myself "Hhhmm, that would make one kick @$$ Bloody Mary." Except here's the kicker: I'm not normally a big fan of Bloody Marys so I'm not so sure how, in my mind, this was a good idea. I've had one really really good Bloody Mary in my life. ONE. That was probably about 15 years ago or so. What in the name of Henry made me believe I could recreate it? So today I tried:

• 3 roma tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 mustard greens leaves
• 1 handful of spinach
• 5 large strawberries
• 1 apple
• water
• ICE

It was bad. Like not just "oh, well that's not very good." More like, "Oh Holy mother of Greg, what the hell WAS that?" Just in case it was just me, I took a cup to my husband and said "here try this before I dump it out." He took one sip and made me swear on our marriage that I'd never do that to him again. I guess he didn't like it. In fact, he wouldn't even talk to me until I took the cup out of the room and brought him something to "wash that awful taste" out of his mouth. So, we're drinking the rest of yesterday's smoothie and I'll make up another one later tonight. Live and learn. : )

Its an honor....

The amazingly talented Allie of No Time For Flashcards fame is not only a blogger that I follow religiously, but a real life friend as well. We actually "met" online through our blogs and then through some of her pictures (newspapers, grocery bags, etc..) we realized we live in the same small town and we're now part of the same Moms group. What's funny is I run into her at the grocery store at least once a month, usually more! And its almost always in the produce section. She's been sneaking spinach into her little guy's smoothies since long before I came around, and I'm completely honored to be her Sunday Spotlight this week. Thank you, Allie.

Mr. Smoothie took the boys out today for breakfast and a guy's day. So I have an entire Sunday to the house by myself. I'm planning to use my time wisely and get a jump start on my Spring Cleaning since my grand plans for this week fell victim to a head full of snot. I'll start the day with the remainder of yesterday's smoothie, but I'll be back this afternoon to post a new one. I have an out of this world idea, but I need to head to the grocery store first. Maybe I'll run into Allie. : )

Day Seventy Nine

Tonight I drank my green smoothie and drooled over some teenaged werewolves and vampires. It was a great night. Hi, my name is Jessica and I'm a Twilight Mom. (ok, seriously, until I just googled that looking for a link, I had NO idea there were so many web pages out there dedicated to the phenomenon of 30 - 40 something women swooning over this masterpiece of literature. Its sad. Truly, truly sad.)

• 2 c pineapple
• 2 c watermelon
• 1 banana
• agave
• bunches o' spinach
• ICE

If I had been a little more creative, I would have made a blood red one to drink while indulging in inner giggly teenager. But I'm not creative like that.

Day Seventy Eight

Phew! This week sure was a dosey! I'm still not completely back to the land of the living, but I do feel tremendously better than I did on Monday. Now if only I get air through both nostrils. I'd be in business!!

• water
• 2 bananas
• 2 c watermelon
• 2 c pineapple
• spinach
• ICE

= YUM!!!

Day Seventy Six

What the hell happened to day Seventy Six? It was there, on the blog. I saw it with my own eyes. I went to shut down the computer and then it was gone. I think I'm losing it. Nah, its my computer. Yea, I'll blame it on my computer! Ok....yesterday's smoothie was:

• water
• 2 bananas
• fresh pineapple
• fresh spinach
• fresh strawberries
• Ice

Day Seventy Seven

Aaannd, here's today's post. Do you know what I did? Its so embarrassing. I can't believe it myself. It will just go to show how truly sick I was this week. I let spinach wilt and go bad. *hanging head in shame* Approximately 3 lbs of spinach must be thrown away. I stocked up for my cleanse and then I got so sick. I knew it was going bad and I just didn't care. It wasn't important enough for me to drag my sorry @$$ out of bed and bad it up and put it in the freezer. *snif snif*
Today's smoothie has the spinach that I was able to salvage in it, but it amounted to about one big handful. Maybe 1/3 of what I normally use. Let the public flogging begin.

• water
• banana
• watermelon (about 1 c)
• fresh blueberries (about 2 c)
• frozen peaches
• about 1 handful of spinach

Day Seventy Five

We were without power today for about 9 hours. Its typical, here in the Northwest. Today's outage was fairly minor. We've been out for days before. Oh, and Mr. Green Smoothie has never been in town for an outage lasting longer than a few hours. Typical. Anyway, I'm so glad I made my smoothie early this morning. But I had put it in the fridge and I don't open the fridge during outages because I want to keep the cold air in. Thankfully the power came back on and I was able to drink the rest of my daily quota. I was so afraid I might fail today. So, here we go:

• 1 apple, cored & chopped
• 3 c water
• 4 big handfuls of spinach
• frozen peaches
• frozen strawberries

Its delish! This afternoon I felt really really bad, but I think it was the stress of the power outage. I'm feeling much better right now. Not 100% yet, but still much better. Its probably why I'm wide awake and can't get to sleep.....

So far today....

....I have taken two naps (and am getting ready to go back to bed), had one mug of herbal tea, one bagel, one baked potato and one cup of green smoothie.

The bagel and potato were to help calm my stomach when dealing with my post nasal drip (gross, I know. Sorry). I'm hoping that all of my sleep and rest today will kick this and I can start fresh with the green smoothie cleanse tomorrow.

Monday Musings

*cough cough* Well, there are three people sick in my house again and this time I'm one of them. We have what my son's pediatrician described as a "viral version of bronchitis". I'm glad its viral as we've had so many courses of antibiotics in our home lately. A little too much phramaceutical therapy for my liking.

So, I'm going to stick to the green smoothie cleanse as much as I can, but I also have to respect my body and listen to what its calling for. Right now all my throat wants is herbal tea and chicken broth. I make my own broth, so neither of those options are overly processed and I'm comfortable allowing them in my cleanse. I'm just not sure how much smoothie I'll actually get in today. It simply doesn't sound good on my throat. But I'll at least get my committed quart in.

I'll keep you updated throughout the day. Thanks for playing along! Let me know how you guys are doing! I'll start a discussion on the FB page.

Day Seventy Three

I just couldn't stomach yesterday's smoothie today, so I poured it all out. It was bad. Really really bad. I ate like crap this weekend and have felt like crap this weekend ~ go figure. Once I finally got home this evening, I made (and drank) my smoothie quota and feel ssoooo much better!

• 2 c frozen blueberries
• 10 frozen strawberries
• 5 slices frozen peaches
• 2 big handfuls of spinach
• water

Oh, it was ssooo much better! Don't forget, tomorrow is the start of our green smoothie cleanse!

Day Seventy Two

I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat and now I'm sitting in a hotel in downtown Seattle trying my best not to talk because its so painful. I guess after four cases of strep in my house it was bound to get me sooner or later. My green cleanse can't come soon enough! I made a double batch of smoothie today and brought enough with me to have one for breakfast tomorrow morning.

• 1 whole pineapple (cored & skin removed)
• 1 whole mango (diced)
• 1 whole papaya (seeds & all)
• 4 ginormous handfuls of spinach
• water
• ICE

It made two blenders full and it was......not good. Its spicy. I'm not sure if that's just papaya or if that's the seeds. I drank my quart today, but I'm not sure I'll be able to stomach any more of it tomorrow. Thankfully I'll be home tomorrow evening, so I can make myself a new batch. I will not miss a day simply because the only smoothie I have available is gross. I'll just put my big girl panties on and bottoms up ~ if need be. Thankfully it should not need be!

Day Seventy One

Phew, I'm so looking forward to this cleanse next week! How are you all doing getting all stocked up and ready to go? Who's joining in the fun? Do you have a blog? Let me know and I'll link to everyone's blog that is participating so we can visit one another and cheer each other on!!

• water
• frozen peaches (lots)
• frozen strawberries
• 2 banans
• 3 big handfuls spinach

YUM-O! Finishing off the rest of it as I type!

Day Seventy

Hello there! Today it's official. We've had four diagnosed cases of strep throat in our house in the last four weeks. I was out with a sore throat last week but never went to the dr, so I'm not counting that. My oldest has had it twice (one time it escalated into Scarlet Fever), my youngest once (also escalated) and now my husband has it. Spring can't come soon enough 'round these parts!!

• 2 c water
• 1 whole mango, diced
• 2 large bananas
• 15 frozen strawberries
• handful of frozen granny smith apples (that I found at the bottom of my freezer)
• 4 huge handfuls of spinach (extra greens for this lot of sickos!)

Blend until beautiful!

Day Sixty Nine

As much as the giggling highschool girl in me wants to, I'm going to refrain from making a comment about the number of today's smoothie ; )

Today's smoothie is sweet & simple, just like me!

• 2 bananas
• 1 apple
• lots o' spinach
• 2 handfuls of frozen strawberries
• water

And its really really yummy!!

Day Sixty Eight

Whatever germs invaded my home last week seem to be rebounding on my husband. I feel great and so do the kids, but he's back in bed. I'm staying far away from that man : )

• 1 ginormous apple!
• handful of fresh pineapple
• 6 oz bag of spinach (going to Costco today to restock!)
• handful of frozen peaches
• handful of frozen strawberries
• water

I ran out of spinach over the weekend (gasp!) and had to run to the grocery store and buy three little bags of it. I spent TWICE as much on those little bags than I do for 10 days worth at Costco. OUCH!

Day Sixty Seven

I made the smoothie earlier in the afternoon, am just now sitting down to the computer to get this typed up. Our Mondays are always hectic, but today was extra special as my oldest son earned his yellow belt in Aikido. We're so very proud of him. But now I have to watch what I say because he can hurt me ; )

• 2 c water
• 2 bananas
• about 2 cups fresh pineapple
• 6 oz spinach
• frozen peaches
• frozen strawberries

It was DELISH!! I'm loving the frozen peaches I picked up. I can't wait until I find them fresh!

Monday Musings ~ Detox

Ok, I've decided to go ahead with this green smoothie detox. I've gotten a lot of feedback from you guys asking about the rules of the detox, people letting me know they may not be able to last all three days, etc.

One thing I have realized during my journey toward a more healthy life is that the only rule when it comes to nourishing our bodies is that we listen to them. We feed them what they need. We ignore our brains and their constant requests for what they want. This green smoothie detox has no rules. We will each set up our own guidelines. No one is here to judge. Make this what you need it to be. The rest of us will do the same.

Let's plan to start on Monday, March 15. That will give us all time to prepare and to stock up on lots of greens and other fresh, exciting ingredients. Some people have mentioned that they get hungry while only drinking smoothies. I've often found that I'm not exactly hungry, but I do wish for something to chew on. I will allow myself some raw carrot sticks or apple slices if I encounter this. If its something I'd throw into my smoothie, I consider it acceptable to eat for a quick "chew fix" :-)

So, my personal guidelines will be:

• I will continue with my daily milkshake (raw milk, raw egg yolk, raw agave, cacao powder)
• I will have green smoothies the rest of the day
• Each evening, I will do a cup of juice with a daily cleanse & detox powder that I got from this shop. (my husband's aunt & uncle). This particular product does not seem to be available any more. I will call them to see if they still have any if anyone is interested
• I will do this for three days.

Let's have fun with this! I will start some discussions on our facebook page so we can muse about how we're feeling, what our bodies are telling us and what kinds of smoothies we're making.

Day Sixty Six

Good evening internets! I've gotten some good feedback about doing a green smoothie cleanse, so keep an eye out tomorrow. My Monday Musings will include the where, when, hows & who's of the cleanse!
Today's smoothie:

• 2 banans
• 1 10oz bag baby spinach
• handful of fresh pineapple
• handful of frozen strawberries
• water

Have I mentioned that my friend's husband went to Hawaii last week? He brought back a case of pineapples. YUM! Our farmer's market starts next month and I. can't. wait!!!!

Three Day Green Smoothie Cleanse, anyone?

I've been thinking for quite some time that I'd like to do a green smoothie cleanse. I think a 3 day one is all I'm willing to commit to at this point, but it would still be fun. Anyone want to join?

A true cleanse would mean only green smoothies and water for 3 full days. I, however, will be doing a slightly altered version. I will have a morning milkshake (raw milk, egg yolk, cacao powder, raw agave & ice) and then green smoothies the rest of the day.

Anyone, anyone???

Day Sixty Five

I'm finally starting to feel better. The sun is shining, my family is healthy. I have much to be thankful for!
So, I've always been intimidated by fresh mangos. Just wasn't sure how to handle cutting them up. So, like all things in life, when I'm curious about something I turn to YouTube! What? You don't? Don't lie. So, I bit the bullet and bought two fresh mangos this week. And oooooohh, doggie! I'm so glad I did! I used the technique in this video. My mango was a little soft, so my dices weren't quite as pretty as his, but for my first attempt I was very satisfied. I loooooove mango salsa and am so pleased that I can now make my own and not have to rely on processed salsa out of a can!! Today's smoothie:

• 1 mango, diced
• 3 handfuls of spinach
• approx 8-10 large frozen strawberries
• 2 c water
• a few sprays of coconut oil

Let 'er rip! The fresh mango tastes ssooo much better than frozen!!

Day Sixty four

My family seems to be on the mend, but this was my worst day yet. I hope tomorrow will start the upswing. I know that while I'm sick I should be drinking even more green smoothies than normal, but I have zero energy and zero motivation. I took a two and a half hour nap today, I haven't done the dishes in about three days and in order to even make a smoothie today I had to clear a spot on the counter. Things aren't lookin' good in the green house. But never fear, I did make a smoothie today:

• 2 c water
• 1 banana
• coupl'a big handfuls of spinach
• about a cup or so of fresh blueberries
• approx two peaches worth of frozen peach slices
• agave

This might be one of my new favorites. I'll add it to my list of faves on teh left hand side of the blog. Enjoy!

Day Sixty Three

The other day at the mall I bought the kids a fruit smoothie and the inhaled it. It was a peach & strawberry smoothie, so when I spied frozen peaches today while shopping I thought I'd try to recreate a green version at home. It was a hit!

• 2 cups water
• 1 banana
• 3 big handfuls of spinach
• frozen peaches (about the equivalent of 2 peaches)
• 8-10 frozen strawberries
• agave

Its delish and a nice change of pace from what we've been having lately.

Day Sixty Two

Well, oldest son has strep AGAIN, youngest son has a cold, husband is home and just feels "crummy" and my throat hurts. Bleck. Oh, and remember what my dog ate yesterday? All of it came (quite literally) squirting out sometime in the middle of the night. So I've spent the better part of today scrubbing floors & walls and the crate....fun times. Fun times. Green smoothie take me away!!!!

• 2 c water
• 1/2 c pineapple juice
• 2 pineapple spears
• 3 bananas
• 3 big handfuls of spinach
• ICE

My throat is so sore nothing tastes good to me. I'm just chugging the smoothies down because I know they'll help me get better. But what I really want to do is go back to bed.

Monthly Update

Do you guys remember a while back when I was featured on the Green Smoothie Queen's blog? Well, she's featuring updates on my progress each month. Go check out my latest update. She also does regular challenges to help people develop the green habit. Go check her out. She's cool, like me : )

Day Sixty One

Today was HELL. Well, it started out ok, it was just busy. And that's ok, I can handle busy. It wasn't a planned busy so that threw me off a bit. Then we threw in a dr's appt for my oldest (he hasn't had a smoothie in weeks) at 5:15 pm so that really threw me off. Then the strep test came back positive and we waiting for 90 MINUTES at the pharmacy. That make me cranky. When we got home, we found the dog had some how gotten out of his crate (I might have, maybe, sort of, been in a hurry and didn't latch both latches when we left...) and remember those girl scout cookies I mentioned yesterday? Well, I don't have to worry about them tempting me anymore. The damn dog ate them all. One box was saved, because he knocked it under the table. Damn dog.

Anyway, I had lots of smoothie left from yesterday so that's what I'm drinking now. Tomorrow will be a better day. It has to be, right? RIGHT?

Day Sixty

Phew. Monday's are tough around here. I finished off the little bit left of yesterday's smoothie this morning and then didn't even get within five feet of my blender until after 10 pm. I fired up the vitamix and then sat down and watched Jake make the biggest mistake of his life propose to Vienna and let me just tell you, from one pilot's wife to, well, you guys. That girl does not have what it takes to be "sometimes single". She's in for one rude awakening once she moves to Dallas and they enter into what the rest of us know as "the real world." But hey, maybe she'll surprise us all, but I'm not holding my breath ; )

• handful of frozen strawberries
• 1 lb bag of frozen pineapple
• 2 big handfuls of spinach
• 1 quart water
• 1 banana

It was very good, but it didn't go so well with the Thin Mints I was eating. ; )

Do you experience mid day slumps? Does three o’clock hit you like a brick wall nearly every day? I've always been told, “oh, you have young children, you’re supposed to be tired!” Well, I no longer accept that. I now know my mid day (mid morning, mid evening…) slumps were (and sometimes still are) a direct result of the food I put into my body.

Speaking of which, I had some serious motivation issues this weekend; both with my smoothies and with life in general. It still takes me by surprise to realize just how much the food we eat affects the rest of our lives. After the pizza incident, I made fajitas for dinner the following night and I did not serve a salad with it. Two dinners in a row with no raw foods and heavy on the white bread and boy was my body pissed! Friday I got up early and took the kids to the pool in a futile attempt to get in some sort of a workout, but the rest of the day I was useless and cranky, exhausted and lethargic. I didn’t even make my smoothie until after the kids went to bed that evening. I snacked on processed junk all day and just felt like crap. Saturday was more of the same. The boys and I were invited to a friend’s house for dinner and I knew the menu would be lasagna and salad. I took marinated cucumbers and filled my plate to near over flowing with salad and cucumbers and then had just a half a piece of lasagna. I drank water most of the evening and finally Sunday morning I was beginning to feel human again. I nourished my body with lots of healthy, raw foods throughout the day yesterday and spent some time outside at the park to soak up some needed vitamin D from the sun’s rays. By the end of the day I was feeling much better and ready to tackle this hectic chaos that my family calls Monday. I woke up a little, um, puffy this morning but otherwise feeling so much better.

When I’m feeling a little sluggish, I no longer reach for the coffee pot. My vitamix is my new “dealer” and green smoothies are my drug of choice! So the next time you find yourself reaching for a cup o’ joe in the middle of the day, why not reach for a green smoothie instead? If you don’t find your energy rebounding, I’ll buy you your next cup of coffee (j/k, sort of.)