Day Thirty One

WOOHOO!! We've made it a month! What have you noticed? Do you have more energy? Does your skin look younger? Are you overall less bloated, less fatigued? Are you able to focus and concentrate better? I want to hear the changes you've experienced by adding green smoothies into your diet. Today's smoothie is not my favorite, but its not bad. Its very thick and very satisfying. I'm not sure I'll be able to drink a whole pint at a time. Here we go:

• 1 avocado *
• 3 mango spears (pre cut, bought at Costco)
• 1 lb bag frozen pineapple
• 2 bananas
• 2 clementine oranges, peeled
• 3 cups water
• 3-4 basil leaves
• boatload of spinach
• ICE

*yes, a whole avocado. yes, its a lot of fat. yes, its a good fat. yes, it will help you ~lose~ fat.

Day Thirty

Oh Green Smoothie, take me AWAY!!!!! Its a rainy, muddy mess here in the Pacific Northwest. Living here for over six years now you'd think I'd be used to it. But sometimes it still takes me by surprise. This morning the dogs were outside wrestling around in the mud, which they always do and I went about my morning and making my green smoothie. I realized I needed some ingredients that were out in the (detached) garage. I opened up the side door and the dogs immediately attacked me. Within 1.7 seconds I was covered in mud. Did I mention I'd already showered? In an attempt to get away from their "affection" I tried to run back into the house. But the dogs are faster than I am. And they ran straight through the door, pushing me to the side. Muddy paw prints are the new decor of my kitchen floor. It took three of us (myself, hubby and oldest son) to get the wet, soppy muddy dogs into their crates and I went about making the green smoothies, heading back out to the garage in peace. I got said smoothies made, and poured and handed out to all of the members of our family. I went to put the leftover smoothie into the fridge and yesterday's smoothie decided it had had enough and wanted to end it all. The (glass) pitcher jumped of the shelf, taking down a brand new bag of spinach with it, and another (glass) pitcher of extra smoothie. So, on top of the muddy paw prints there was now a beautiful swirl of green and deep purple, littered with spinach leaves on top. Oh, and the pitcher smacked into my shin on the way down. Thankfully neither of the pitchers broke and the mess was somewhat contained to right in front of the fridge. Its cleaned up now and I think, after I finish this smoothie in front of me, I may go take another shower. Oh, did I mention we're having company this afternoon? Fun times.

Ok, into the vita-mix:

• 1 cameo apple, chopped
• 2 bananas
• OJ
• frozen pineapple (ingredient that prompted the canine attack)
• kale
• spinach
• ICE

Its been brought up that Kale has a fairly strong flavor and I was asked how I'm able to mask it in my smoothies. I only use 3-4 leaves per smoothie and lots of spinach. I also like to pair it with fairly strong flavored fruit, such as pineapple & banana. I hope this helps! Keep the questions and comments comin'! I love getting feedback from you guys!

Day Twenty Nine

My husband is training for a marathon and was heading out the door this morning for a 14 mile run (yes, I do believe he's insane! Actually, I envy him). He wanted a little bit of smoothie before his run, so I whipped this up for him before he took off. I have to admit, its pretty yummy : )

• 2 cups water
• ~ 1/3 lb frozen blackberries
• 1 granny smith apple cored and chopped
• 1 banana
• 4 kale leaves
• 3 big handfuls spinach
• juice of one lemon (~ 1/4 cup)
• small piece of lemon rind
• squirt of agave
• ICE!!

Enjoy!!

Day Twenty Eight

After drinking so much smoothie so late last night I acutally slept very well and woke up not very hungry. I had a handful of nuts in the morning and that held me over until around noon when I made my smoothie. I don't do "diets" and I refuse to let myself go hungry because I'm counting points, calories, fat, carbs or anything else. I just wasn't hungry this morning. Nor was I craving anything. But after I worked out I knew I'd need something soon so I decided to fire up the vita-mix.

• 2 c water
• 1 granny smith apple
• 1 10oz bag of frozen dark sweet cherries
• 1 banana
• squirt of agave
• 3 kale leaves
• spinach
• flax oil
• ICE

I love cherries. This smoothie is not too sweet, but not too bland either. I think it might be one of my favorites. I'll put it under my "faves" as Cherry Apple. Enjoy!

Day Twenty seven

Phew, better late than never, eh? At 8:45 tonight I still hadn't had one drop of smoothie. And I could tell. It was just a busy day and I wasn't really hungry for most of it, so I just never got around to making one. But my energy levels were in the dumps. Anyway, I made the smoothie and drank the entire quart at one time. I feel like I could float away.....

• couple handfuls of red grapes
• a few frozen pineapple chunks (to get them out of the freezer)
• a bunch of frozen mixed berries
• collard greens
• spinach
• banana
• agave
• water
• a few basil leaves (wow, a little goes a loooooonngg way)

And there you have it. Enough for one pint for my husband and one quart for me.

Day Twenty six

Have you ever bought a bunch of lettuce with the thought of eating salads everyday? Have you ever opened your refrigerator five days later just to see the lettuce still sitting in the bag, now partially wilted and no longer salad worthy?

Every week I tear up a few heads of lettuce, wash them well and spin them dry. I keep these instant salads in a large rubbermaid container in the fridge. And while I do eat a lot of salad, some weeks I just don't get to all of it before it loses its crispness or starts to oxidize on me (you know, that weird brown color you see in the veins of the lettuce? Oxidation, baby). So, you have this handful of lettuce that's not really appetizing for a salad, but its not exaclty bad yet either. What do you do with it? Care to guess where I'm going with this?

That's right! You throw it in a blender! If there is too much for a single smoothie, place it in a ziploc bag and throw it in the freezer. Trust me, your blender doesn't care if your greens are fresh from the ground or partially wilty and frozen. So, today's smoothie:

• 2 large handfuls of spinach
• 2 large handfuls of mixed lettuce (leaf lettuce & romaine)
• squirt of flax oil
• lots of frozen mixed fruit (a mixture of peaches, strawberries, pineapple & red grapes)
• about 4 cups of water
• 2 bananas

I won't lie, the lettuce has a much greener taste than the spinach. But I'm really enjoying it. Its refreshing & not sickenly sweet. However, if you are new to smoothies in general, you may want to start slow when adding new greens.

I'm being featured!!!

Oh Wow! Oh Wow! OhWowOhWowOhWow!!! There have been several people & blogs out there that inspire me daily on my green quest for better health. I've mentioned The Green Smoothie Girl, I've given away a book by Victoria Boutenko, but there's one inspiration that I look to daily. I haven't mentioned them here before, but their blog is so fun, so refreshing and so full of good, practical advice. The GreenSmoothieQueen (powered by The Raw Divas) is probably one of my favorite blogs. Ever. And I read a lot of blogs. Alot. And I got an email one day. And they wanted me to write something about my challenge. And they put it on their blog. I know, right! Get out of town! How cool is that??? So, head over and read my intro. Oh, and I'm going to sending in monthly updates. Because it really is a green smoothie revolution. We're taking over baby. I have a blender and I'm not afraid to use it!

Day Twenty five

I made myself (and the kids, who drank nearly all of it) a smoothie yesterday evening. I had a little left, so this morning I just drank that. I'll be making my neon pink smoothie this afternoon, at the request of a friend. : )

• a cup of OJ
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• a banana
• 1 wedge pineapple (and some juice from the container)

That's it. Easy peasy. I should mention that my children (even the one that hates smoothies) drank this whole thing. I had to make another one. And they drank half of that one, too. I should also note that I've been buying precut pineapple from Costco. Because I'm lazy. Not in the cans ~ that stuff's not raw. The stuff in the refrigerated section.

Day Twenty four

I've been doing a lot of reading and researching lately looking for our ideal nutrition plan. I know the "right" fats are good and I also know I'm not getting enough of those. So today I set out to put some into my smoothie. Coconut oil is a controversial oil to say the least, but I do believe it can be part of a healthy, whole foods diet. So, here we go:

• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 bananas
• 2-4 fresh mango spears
• 2 fresh pineapple spears
• a little pineapple juice
• 2 handfuls spinach
• 1 handful collard greens
• 3 lime leaves
• 1 T coconut oil melted in 1 cup of warm water*

Let 'er rip. I have to admit, today's smoothie was not my favorite. I could taste and feel the coconut oil. But I drank and feel better knowing I've got some good fats in me today.

*coconut oil is solid at room temp and melts at 76 degrees. In order to not have hunks of solid fat in my smoothie I melted it in warm water first.

***Edited to Add: after this smoothie chilled out in the fridge for a while, it really wasn't as offensive as I first thought.***

We have a WINNER!!!

Comment #4 was our winner. Congratulations to Deanna! She answered:

deanna said...
Hey, my name is Deanna and I found you through Eclipsed a couple of weeks ago. I have had a few green smoothies thanks to you and starting today am making it a daily habit (M-F). I do feel I have more energy when I drink them and I hope they will help me lose some weight. Thanks for the inspirations (I still haven't tried the peanut butter one but plan on it soon)

Deanna, your email addy was not attached to your comment, so I need you to contact me (either on the FB page or by my personal email: mauk.jessica @ gmail.com ~remove spaces) and send me your mailing address! Congrats!!