Category — How To

Even here in Northern California are we starting to feel the chill of fall and no longer do I crave watermelon juice, but rather am seeking warming food to offer nourishment and comfort during cooler weather. This leads me to one of the most frequently asked questions about the raw food diet: How do you stay warm?

First off I’d like to say that you don’t necessarily need to use food to stay warm; that’s what sweaters and blankets are for:) But, there are a few things you can do to winterize your raw food diet.

Eat Seasonally

The vegetables that are in season in the fall and winter are usually the ones that take the longest to grow and are also the most warming. Some examples: most root vegetables (parsnips, turnips, carrots), sweet potatoes, winter squash, onion, garlic, and most nuts.

Most people don’t realize that they can eat squash, parsnips, turnips, and sweet potatoes raw. The trick is to process them in the food processor with the S-blade to achieve a rice like consistency or to process them longer for a smooth consistency. For example: parsnips or carrots make a nice rice substitute and sweet potato and pumpkin can be food processed to make a raw holiday pie. Another way to use these winter vegetables is to blend them in the blender to make a soup such as a creamy butternut squash soup using a nut milk as the base. If you have a Vitamix you can blend your soup long enough to warm it up and that helps too.

Use Spices

In both Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine there are spices that are considered warming. Some of them are: cinnamon, cayenne, curry, cloves, ginger, tumeric, cardamon, nutmeg, mustard, and black pepper. Both cinnamon and cardamom taste great in a fruit smoothie and a good curry powder tastes great in a blended soup.

Warm Things Up

If you would like to warm things up, but not damage enzymes you can gently warm raw soups, and nut milks on your stove. The moment it feels warm to the touch, it is ready to eat. Another trick is to make a warm miso soup out of dehydrated vegetables. Chop and dehydrate all your vegetable scraps in the dehydrator, like tomatoes, bell pepper, kale, green onion . . . and then rehydrate them with some warm or hot water and a spoonful of miso (I prefer chickpea miso) and you have an instant soup.

Drink Tea

Most (not all) raw foodists I know drink tea. I love herbal tea and believe that it’s beneficial. Many herbs are nutritious and have healing properties. Some of the herbal teas that I use on a regular basis are Licorice, Pao de Arco, Nettle, Horsetail, Red Clover, Lemon Verbana, Chamomile, Mullein, Elderberry, Schizandra, Herbal Chai,  and Ginger to name a few. My favorite tea to warm up with I got from Café Gratitude They call it “I Am Cozy” and it has fresh lemon & ginger juice, honey, and cayenne in hot water. I make it at home with a few slices of ginger, a slice of lemon, a pinch of cayenne, a spoonful of honey, and a few drops stevia liquid. This tea warms me up like no other! Also, you can also make a Chai style tea and then add some nut milk to make a Chai Latte, just make sure your tea has cooled down a bit or the nut milk will curdle.

Make Broth

Like tea this is not a raw option, but I believe that it’s a healthy option. If you have compromised digestion a good vegetable broth is a great way to get minerals easily into your system. Drinking the mineral broth warms and nourishes your whole being. To make a good mineral broth you need a variety of vegetables, herbs, and seaweed. Here are some of the ingredients that I like to use to make veggie broth:

Kale and Kale stems
Chard and Chard stems
Parsley
Celery with leaves
Carrots
Leeks
Onions
Zucchini
Broccoli stems
Bell pepper
Tomato
Rosemary
Thyme
Bay leaves
Kombu
Wakame

Basically I just look in my refrigerator for all the vegetables that need to be used. I usually have a lot of stems left over from making green smoothies. Rough chop the vegetables and put them in a large pot of water. Add a few sprigs of herbs, a few bay leaves, and at least 3-5 good sized pieces of seaweed. Kombu and Wakame work best, but any seaweed will do. Let the pot come to a boil and then simmer on low for at least 3 hours. You can then strain the broth and add a sprinkle of salt if desired. For a really clear broth you can use a cotton sprout bag to strain it. Sip the hot broth like tea or use it as a base to make cooked soups and grain dishes. You can discard the broth veggies, eat them, or blend them up in a blender (minus the bay leaves) and use it for another soup recipe.

For more information about making vegetable broth go here:
Stay Healthy with Magic Mineral Broth

 Juice with Caution

I love my vegetable juices but in the fall and winter I only do a green juice (celery, cucumber, greens, apple, lemon or lime) if I know I’m going to jump into a hot shower right away because of its cooling properties. In the winter I add carrot and ginger to my vegetable juices and I’m fine as long as I’m in a warm building. Word to the wise: Don’t drink a green juice and then walk outside into the cold, trust me, you’ll be freezing.

 I hope these few tips have helped you stay warm on the raw food diet.

♥,
C

To some it might sound trite, but I’ve come to believe that the thoughts that you feed your body are just as important as the food that you feed it. Just as much as I am passionate about healthy food, I’m passionate about having the knowledge and ability to consciously create your life how you want it. I am an eternal student of the Law of Attraction and I wanted to share some of my thoughts about the importance of self love and self worth in our lives, especially as woman.

 If you believe in the Law of Attraction then you believe that the universe matches your vibration and your reality directly correlates to the vibrational signal you are sending out. Then imagine what would happen if you really started loving and adoring yourself, imagine the change in your vibration, and imagine what the universe would bring. Imagine how your body would feel if you showered it with love and praise on a daily basis. Imagine how your relationships would change. If you love you, others will mirror you, and treat you based on your feelings of self worth. What I have learned is that the more you love yourself the more open you are to the abundance of the universe because you truly believe that you deserve all the good things that this life has to offer. Also, you’re more apt to make decisions that are the best for you, that honor your body and enrich your life.

I don’t consider myself a master by any means, but I have learned a few techniques about increasing your self love and sense of self worth that I wanted to share with you:

• You don’t need to work for or to keep someone’s love for you. The people that matter in your life will love you, simply for being you.

For example: In my twenties I chose partners that I didn’t feel I was good enough for, so I went out of my way to please them so they would “love me” and I would loose myself along the way. It wasn’t until my thirties that I was comfortable with being myself and being loved for who I am faults and all.

Now that I’ve found truly a special person who loves me unconditionally,  a fear I have had is that I might not be good enough to keep his love. One of the things that has really helped me is the realization that my husband loves me for my heart, my energy, and the love I give. I finally realized that he loves my presence and my being and there is no action that I have to take, all I have to do is be myself. This does not mean that I don’t take action in our relationship, but for me it has meant that I don’t have to live in fear and that I can just relax and receive his love. I also realized that everyone in my life who loves me feels the same, they love my presence and I don’t need to work for anyone’s love.

• Notice your thoughts and self talk. Are you being nice to yourself? Be your own friend by being encouraging and forgiving to yourself everyday.
• Make a list everyday of things to praise yourself about. Celebrate small accomplishments.
• Don’t compare yourself others. Do YOUR personal best.

For example: I finally realized how hard I am on myself about my accomplishments or lack there of. I always used to compare myself to others, and berate myself for not being smarter, savier, and more productive. Just recently I realized I was in a negative self talk mode at least 6-8 hrs. a day!

What has helped me is to really notice my thoughts. Every hour I would take an inventory of what I was thinking and feeling. Once I realized that I was putting myself down often, I decided to change. First, I started by making a list of at least 10 things that I was really proud of myself for accomplishing before I went to bed. Even if they were small, like that fact that I stayed positive most of the day. Then I lowered my expectations for myself by not comparing myself to others. Of course I still want to constantly improve, but I had unrealistic expectations by comparing myself to others. What I realized is that the only person I need to compare myself to is me and I need to try to achieve my personal best, not someone else’s.

• Write down or talk about your dreams, there are no dreams too small or too silly. Know that you deserve them all.

When my mother committed suicide it influenced how I felt about myself. I somehow felt less special for not having a mother around like the other kids, and that maybe that I wasn’t good enough for her to stay.

For example; I didn’t want anyone to make a fuss over me getting married, I wanted to elope and get it over with. It wasn’t until I got a reading from a medical intuitive, that she said that my mother wanted me to feel special and like a princess on my wedding day and that I didn’t need to feel less than because of the stigma of her death. This gave me the encouragement to have a really fun and special day.

This is still a tough one for me, but a fun exercise I have been doing lately to break my limitations about my own self worth and I what I deserve is by making fun dream lists. You can write them down, make a vision board, or talk about them with a loved one. Last night I told my husband a list of what I thought were really fun dreams; they got me giggling and they got me dreaming about all the wonderful things in my life that I deserve to have. 

Here are some of them:

1. I want a princess ballgown and tiara (for no reason, but just to feel special)I want to visit every island on this earth (for research purposes, of course:)
2. I want to sleep under the stars in a tropical location in one of those fancy mesh cabins ( I think I got that from the T.V. show the bachelor)
3. I want to go dress shopping and dancing in S.F. and eat at a fancy vegan 5 star restaurant and stay at a nice 5 star hotel. ( Millennium  here I come! )
4. I want my husband to repropose to me where I always dreamed of being proposed to as a little girl. (He was like, why didn’t you tell me in the first place?)
5. I want to go to the Academy of Sciences Planetarium in Golden Gate Park ( I used to do that as a little girl)
6. I want to go swim in some hot springs (need I say more?)
7. Get in touch with my femininity by taking some sensual dance classes (I’ve said too much!)

Most of the time when I talk about my goals they are so serious: make this much money by this time, bla, bla, bla. This exercise was different because my dream list was fun, maybe even a little silly and focused solely on pleasure.

• Put yourself first, even if it means letting others down. The best thing you could do for anyone is to be happy.
• Learn to feel good about yourself even if other’s around you aren’t pleased with you. Don’t let anyone determine how you should feel about yourself.

For example: I’ve had to quit stressful jobs that were draining my energy and making me sick even though it let down a few people.

Honoring yourself might mean at times that you have to put yourself first and let other people down, so don’t be afraid to be selfish. I’d rather be known as a happy healthy flake than a sick unhappy dependable person. Just be aware, that by putting yourself first there are other’s who will not be happy with you.

My first reaction when someone was not pleased with me was to automatically make it better and do anything to get back into their good graces, even if pleasing them meant demeaning myself. One thing that has helped me is to step back and meditate on the situation, and what I realized is that when someone doesn’t like me, I don’t die. Actually once I meditated and centered myself I forgot about the whole thing and chances are the person who was not pleased with me will get over it pretty quickly. If we let other’s determine our self worth then we are the whim of someone’s ever changing thoughts, like a puppet on a string. Peoples opinions of you will come and go, but your attitude about yourself can be a constant if you choose it to be.

• When you look in the mirror only notice the positive and shower yourself with self love.
• Adorn yourself with clothes and accessories that make you feel beautiful.
• Give yourself some pampering once and awhile; you deserve it. 

According to Abraham:

“Since every perspective or thought that you have flows through the lens of your physical body, your attitude on virtually every subject is influenced by the way you feel about your physical body” 

From : Money, and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness

For example: For years whenever I looked in the mirror I would point out what I perceived to be all my physical shortcomings.

One of things that has helped me is to look in the mirror and smile at myself and compliment myself for how I look. Looking in the mirror after I use the restroom is now the time in my life where I shower myself with love and gratitude. I think things like: wow you look good for 32, or that my eyes look happy and bright, my hair is shinny, . . (etc.) I try to focus on the positive.

Another thing that has helped me is to find clothes, lingerie, that flatter my figure so that I feel beautiful and sexy. Every woman deserves to feel beautiful. It also helps to adorn yourself with beautiful jewelry, flowers in your hair, and any other little accessory that makes you feel like a woman. It is part of our unique feminine energy to adorn ourselves with treasures.

Another way of loving ourselves is to treat ourselves once an awhile. It could be as simple as scheduling a massage, buying a new sweater, making a delicious meal, or something big like scheduling a vacation. Just know that you deserve to be happy.

I hope some of my suggestions have been useful.  Increasing my feeling of self worth has definitely been a never ending learning process. Just when I’m feeling really good about myself, an experience in my life will trigger a painful thought and I’ll uncover another layer that is ready for healing. So don’t be discouraged, every little step in the right direction can build a delicious momentum.

I leave you with a poem I wrote a few years ago when I was going through a difficult time and I find it still rings true today.

A Woman Who Knows Her Worth

A woman who knows her worth
knows it is not defined
by what anyone thinks of her or tells her
Not by money, material possessions, external beauty, and least not
by the size of her waist
It runs much much deeper than that
Her worth is in inherent
in every breath that she takes
Every cell in her body
a diamond
ringing , singing, vibrating in a glorious mantra
I AM WORTHY

A woman who knows her worth
knows she is enough
simply because
she was born
A seed planted of divine light
whose only job
IS TO BLOOM

 A woman who knows her worth
knows that her beauty
her enthusiasm for life
is glowing from the inside
and that people will flock from miles around
to watch her passion burn
Inflaming the world
WITH HER PRESENCE

A woman who knows her worth
never harms herself or puts herself in harms way
She never lets anyone make her feel less
than she is
All the lies that were told to her
and that she told herself about herself
are a thing of the past
She only sees herself through God’s eyes now
She finally sees the light about who she truly is
MAGNIFICENT BEYOND WONDER

 A woman who knows her worth
cultivates that great love in herself
for herself
everyday
She nurtures herself
by the things she does
the things she says
and the way she looks
at herself
in the mirror
She has learned
how not to give it
ALL AWAY

 A woman who knows her worth
sources her strength
from that
deep
inner
well
of conviction
She has the will to fight for what she believes in
And this time
what she believes in
happens to be
HERSELF

A woman who knows her worth
knows she deserves
all the love
and all the good things that this world has to offer
She owns them
She receives them with open arms
because she knows
in the very deep core of her being
she
IS WORTH IT

Links for further reading:

The Lefkoe Method
This is a belief eliminating program that you can use to get rid of self limiting beliefs like, “I’m Not Worthy”
Try it for Free Here:
http://www.recreateyourlife.com/free/

Confident-Vision-Living
 A free information website designed to help others connect with their power so they can make their life dreams come true.
http://www.confident-vision-living.com/

Question of the Day:
How do you to increase your feelings of  self worth and self love?

♥,
C

I know that in most of the U.S. the weather has cooled and people are gearing up for the cold winter ahead. Here in Northern California we usually have an Indian summer and just last weekend watermelons became in season at my local farm, hence the timing of this article!

 How to Pick a Watermelon

I have to admit that I never knew how to pick out a watermelon, which is strange considering my husband considers me an expert at picking out the ripest most sweet fruits whenever we go shopping. I have to say that at my local farm they were all good, but there is a trick to picking a sweet one that I finally mastered.

• The best advice I can give you is to buy them from a local farm or farmer’s market where they pick them when they are ripe.
• Then you want to make sure they have a yellow or light spot on them.  This spot develops from the watermelons sitting on the ground as they ripen. If a watermelon doesn’t have the spot it was likely picked too soon.
• Then you want to tap the watermelon and what you a listening for is a high pitched tone,  that my husband described as “springy” because the sound feels like it bounces back at you like you are tapping something that is hollow.
• The sound should NOT be low, flat, or dull. 
• If you follow this advice you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the quality of your watermelons.

Nutrition Info

I did a little research on watermelon and as it turns out they have a lot more nutrition in them than I realized. They are an excellent source of vitamin A, C, vitamin B1, and B6. In addition, watermelon is a good source of thiamin, potassium and magnesium. It is also a good source of beta carotene and red watermelon is a great source of the antioxidant, Lycopene.

Source:
The World’s Healthiest Foods

I couldn’t fine much information on the rind since most people in our country don’t eat the rind except for in the South. In the South and in some cultures they pickle it. What I did find though, is that it contains the amino acid known as citrulline. Our bodies use citrulline to make another amino acid, arginine, which helps cells to divide, wounds to heal, and has the ability to relax blood vessels among other important functions in our bodies.

Sources:
Want Citrulline? Try Watermelon
Watermelon May Have Viagra-effect

I also suspect there are other nutrients in the rind and, at the very least, they are a good source of chlorophyll.

 Juicing The Rind

One of the things that I’ve been doing lately is adding the rind along with the fruit to my green juices instead of cucumber or celery and I’ve gotten great results. Juicing the rind is a great way not to waste the rind and it cuts the sweetness of the watermelon juice. Not only do I feel great when I drink them, but I notice they keep me full for longer than I expected. I don’t feel a sugar rush and even though I know you aren’t supposed to combine watermelon with any other food for proper digestion, I found they digested fine. 

My tricks for watermelon for digesting well:

• Only eat ripe and sweet watermelon
• I always eat it alone or blended with greens or I juice it with greens and some other water rich fruit
• Always eat watermelon or watermelon drinks on an empty stomach
• Eat or drink watermelon very slowly
• Never overeat on watermelon! If you overeat on watermelon you will get a bad stomach ache that I affectionately call, watermelon tummy, but it really hurts!

 Watermelon Green Juice

1-2 small apples
3 crescent slices of watermelon with the fruit and rind
( about 3 cups chopped )
1 bunch parsley, cilantro, OR spinach
1 cup water

Chop all ingredients and blend in a high speed blender and squeeze through a sprout bag. If you want to make it less sweet you can substitute one of the apples for a small cucumber. Enjoy!

Please drink these juices on an empty stomach and slowly. Stop drinking them if you notice any stomach discomfort at all. I didn’t notice any discomfort but everyone is different.

If you live in Northern California I hope you can add this healing green juice to your routine, if not I hope you can enjoy it next summer!

♥,
C

In Northern California it’s cactus pear season right now. You might have seen these colorful little spiny cactus fruits around, but weren’t sure how to eat them. Well here is a little guide to these delicious and nutritious prickly pear fruits and their stems, also known as nopales.

The fruit of the nopal cactus are commonly called prickly pear fruit, cactus figs, cactus pears, Indian figs, or tuna. I have seen them in many color variations including a bright deep magenta, light yellow, light orange, and light green. They are available in California in early fall and are generally available only in the western hemipshere, such as the West of the United States, Mexico, Southern Europe, and South Africa. Tunas grow mostly in desert, semi-desert, grasslands, and Mexico has the most species. They are very hardy plants and in some places they grow like weeds. In California I have seen them growing wildly, in neighbor’s yards, at my local farmer’s market, and Mexican Super Markets.

• Besides tasting lovely, both the fruits and pads of the prickly pear cactus are rich in slowly absorbed soluble fibers that supposedly help keep blood sugar stable and the fruit contain a high amount of antioxidants.

It is really important that you purchase them de-spined; if you do pick them yourself be extremely careful. And never ever eat the skin! If you cut them in half they have some really great fruit inside that you can easily scoop out. The fruit inside is full of super hard seeds that you can swallow, but I prefer to blend the cactus fruit and then strain out the seeds with a fine mesh strainer or sprout bag.

•  The fruit tastes like a cross between a pear and a melon with the consistency of a mealy watermelon. It makes for a great drink like the one below:

This is a great non alcoholic drink, super light, refreshing, and delicious!

Tunarita

2 cactus pears fruits (sliced in half with the fruit scooped out)
1 cup young coconut water
squeeze of lime

Make sure to scoop out the fruit from the cactus pear. Do not eat the skins! Blend the nopal cactus pear meat and the coconut water in a blender for 10-20 seconds and then squeeze the mixture through a sprout bag to strain out the seeds. Top with a squeeze of lime if desired. Makes about 16 ounces.

Click here to learn how to open a coconut

Nopales: The Stem of The Cactus Pear

Nopales, also known as prickly pear cactus or paddle cactus are actually the stems of the cactus pears. They have a slight tart flavor and a crisp yet mucilaginous consistency. In traditional Mexican cuisine they are usually cooked, but I have found them a nice addition to smoothies and blended soups. Just make sure you remove the spines first!

• Nopales are very rich in insoluble and especially soluble dietary fiber.
• They are also rich in vitamins (especially vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K, but also riboflavin and vitamin B6) and minerals (especially magnesium, potassium, and manganese, but also iron and copper). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nopal

 They are more widely available than the cactus pears, and you can find them at almost any supermarket in California and especially in Mexican Markets. Sometimes you can find them with the spines already removed and in little bags already chopped up for you. Just be aware that you must use the cacti without spines very quickly as they are vulnerable to bacteria.

If you do buy them with the spines, it is easy to take the spines off with a good sharp chef’s knife. I like to first cut my cactus in half and chop of the top, bottom, and sides to remove the spines. Then I lay the knife flat against the cactus and remove the top layer of skin along with the spines.

 This is what it should look like after the spines are removed:

Then I chop them up and use them in a smoothie. Here is a good one:

 Cantaloupe Cactus Cooler

1 Nopal Cactus Leaf (spines removed)
2 cups coconut water
2 cups chopped Cantaloupe
2-4 drops liquid Stevia
squeeze lime

Carefully remove spines from the nopal cactus and chop into pieces. Add all ingredients into the blender except for the lime. Taste for desired sweetness and top off with a squeeze of lime. Makes about 32 ounces.

 I had this for breakfast the other day, mmmmmm! The melon seemed to digest well with the cactus for me.

 I hope I’ve encouraged you to not be scared of the prickly pear cactus and maybe even try your hand at eating one soon:)

♥,
C

More Reading:
Tasty cactus pears keep fans a-prickle
Wikipedia/Opuntia

The words green juice get thrown around a lot in the raw food arena and through my raw food phone consultations I get many questions about what a green juice actually is and how it differs from a green smoothie and a green soup.

Both a green smoothies, a green  juice, and a green soups are super important nutritious health promoting drinks.  If all you did was add either a green juice, a green smoothie, or a green soup to your diet, and change nothing else, you would notice a difference in your health.  (If you added all three, wow!)

It’s almost common knowledge that we should be consuming large amounts of green leafy vegetables, about 3-5 servings a day to be exact. This is due to their high vitamin and mineral content.

Green juices, smoothies, and soups are important because they allow us to easily absorb the nutrients from green leafy vegetables that are otherwise tough to break down and digest. Juicing and blending will help you to “pre-digest” the vegetables so you will receive most of their nutrition.  You would literally have to chew your green leafy vegetables into a creamy paste to get the same benefits as a green juice, smoothie, or soup.

Some of the many benefits of green leafy vegetables:

• Trace minerals: including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium and vitamins, including vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins
  (I’ve never been anemic since being vegan and I attribute this to my daily intake of green drinks)
• Good Source of Vegetable Protein
  (Some green vegetables have more protein per pound than meat!)
• Alkalizing abilities
• Not to mention Enzymes, Chlorophyl, and a host of Antioxidants including Beta-Carotene, Lutein, and Zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage.
• Dark green leaves even contain small amounts of Omega-3 fats.

What is a Green Juice?

A green juice is usually a non sweet juice (it usually does not contain much fruit, if any) that is usually composed of:

Celery
Cucumber
and your choice of leafy greens such as:
Spinach
Chard
Kale
Collards
Parsley
Cilantro
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sprouts. . . (etc.)

Some extras to add to the green juice if desired:

Lemon
Lime
Fennel
Jicama
Zucchini
and pretty much any non starchy veggie of choice

For extra sweetness it is permissible to add small quantities of:
apples
carrots
beets
or pretty much any starchy vegetable of choice

Some people even like to add stevia leaves to their juice for added sweetness.

A green juice differs from a green smoothie because the fiber is taken out through juicing with a juicer or with a high speed blender or a sprout bag .

This removes most of the plant cellulose and makes the juice very easy to digest.  Juicing is great for people with compromised digestive systems. Green juices don’t typically have a lot of calories or fiber so they are not meant as a meal replacement but rather as a fresh raw drinkable multivitamin!

I usually drink my green juice first thing in the morning and then wait a few hours and then eat my normal breakfast. Juicing can be time consuming, so if I don’t have time during the week I reserve my weekend mornings specifically for juicing.

The best juicers to use with leafy greens are twin gear or single auger models that crush the juice out of the leaves. If you have a centrifugal juicer you can still juice your leafy greens by blending the greens in a blender with water and then pouring the green mixture through the mouth of your centrifugal juicer.

Don’t have a juicer? No problem. My favorite way to make juice is to blend everything in a powerful blender with a little water, and then pour the blended mixture through a sprout bag over a big bowl and voila, fresh juice!

The juice pulp can be made into dehydrated patties, mixed into a salad, mixed into your dog’s food, or composted.

Here is a great green juice recipe that includes some apples for sweetness but you can omit them if you want.

Apple Lemon Green Juice

5 ribs celery
1 large English cucumber
1/2 lemon
5 Swiss Chard Leaves (wash thoroughly)
2 apples (optional)

Put all the ingredients through a juicer. If you don’t have a juicer an alternative would be to chop the cucumber, apple, and celery and place it in a blender (cucumber first) with the Swiss Chard, peeled lemon, and a little water. Blend on high for about thirty seconds and then pour and squeeze the mixture through a sprout bag over a big bowl.

What is a Green Smoothie?

A green smoothie is simply a smoothie with about 60% fresh ripe organic fruit (sweet or non sweet fruit) and 40% fresh organic leafy greens blended in a blender with water. Anne Wigmore and more recently Victoria Boutenko have popularized these nutritious drinks.

Green smoothies are blended instead of juiced, so all the fiber remains intact. Because of the addition of the extra calories from fruit and the fiber in green smoothies, they can be considered a meal. Actually a green smoothie is my breakfast of choice and sometimes my lunch too!

Acoording to www.ehealthmd.com fiber does not raise blood glucose levels and is important for so many things including: preventing colon cancer, heart disease, diabetes, gall bladder and kidney stones, avoiding and relieving constipation, and keeping your weight under control.

Here’s a yummy green smoothie recipe. If you don’t have coconut water just use regular water and a pinch of stevia for extra sweetness.

Apple Strawberry Spinach Green Smoothie

1 cup strawberries
1 apple
1-2 bananas
3-5 ounces of spinach
½ vanilla bean chopped into small pieces
or 1 vanilla bean seeds scooped out
Water from 1 young coconut (about one and half cups)

Blend all ingredients in the blender and enjoy! The sweetness of the fruit masks the taste of the spinach. You will be surprised how delicious it tastes.

What is a Green Soup?

A green soup, sometimes known as energy soup, is blended in a blender like a green smoothie except for it usually does not contain sweet fruit but might contain vegetables, non sweet fruit, and greens. An example of some ingredients in a green soup:  avocado, cucumber, bell pepper, celery, carrot, greens, sprouts, raw unsalted sauerkraut, and other vegetables. It can be seasoned with herbs and spices and is great for those that are limiting their intake of fruit.

Here’s a Simple Green Soup Recipe

Tomato Parsley Basil Green Soup

3 large tomatoes
small bunch parsley (no stems)
handful of basil
handful of dulse seaweed
2 green onions
1/2 small avocado
pinch cayenne
little water to thin

Blend  all ingredients together and eat this as a soup with chopped green onion, avocado, Dulse or seaweed flakes, parsley, and raw unsalted sauerkraut.

Well I hoped this cleared up a few things! Whether you juice or blend your greens you will notice a positive difference in your health and energy. Some of the positie changes I have noticed in my health by regulary consuming green drinks are: increased energy, improved digestion, diminished cravings for unhealthy food, clear and soft skin, and a skin tab I was born with on my forehead shrank considerably! Cool.

For More Green Smoothie Recipes Please Check Out My Green Smoothie Challenge E-Book.

Enjoy Your Greens!

♥,
C