Acai Purple Smoothie

Good morning! I'm LOVING the smoothie I made this morning and knew I had to share this little piece of joy with you guys.

1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon flax seeds
2 tablespoons fresh pomegranate seeds
1 handful purple grapes, frozen
2 large handfuls spinach, frozen
1 handful blueberries, frozen
2 large strawberries, frozen
1 acai smoothie pack, semi-frozen (I buy the Sambazon brand, which comes with 4 packs.)
1 scoop Lepterra protein powder, chocolate flavor

Add all of the ingredients to the blender in approximately this order and blend. If some of these ingredients, like the spinach or grapes, aren't frozen, lessen the amount of water so you have your preferred consistency. Before I add the acai to the blender, I soak it for a minute or so while still in it's package in some room temperature water so I can break it up with my hands. Then I cut the package open and adding the acai chunks to the blender. Enjoy!

Blueberry Banana Smoothie w/ Lime

Plus some other ingredients that didn't fit in the title. Like an orange. Some spinach. And some flax seed. Here're the basic proportions I blended up for breakfast this morning. I'm loving the kick of lime!

1 cup water
1 teaspoon flax seeds
1 orange, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup blueberries, frozen
1/4 large banana, frozen
3 handfuls spinach, frozen
1 tablespoon (give or take) fresh lime juice
1 scoop Lepterra chocolate protein powder
8 ice cubes (which I added after I'd blended all the other ingredients—I just kept adding ice cubes till the consistency was how I like it.)

What do you put in a green smoothie?

One of the main questions a lot of friends ask me is, "What do you eat if you don't eat dairy, gluten, meat, or processed foods?" A typical breakfast always includes a green smoothie, and then I'll maybe eat some sprouted Ezekiel bread with coconut oil & honey or almond butter & fresh raspberries on top. Or I'll sauté some garlic, veggies, spinach, etc., in coconut oil and then add a couple eggs. Then friends usually want to know what I put in all those green smoothies. To be honest I don't usually go by recipes, I just follow my heart and throw in whatever I'm in the mood for or whatever happens to be in my freezer or fridge.

Here's what I'm drinking this morning. Today I was in the mood for orange and yellow fruits. These measurements are approximations, so feel free to add more or less of any of these ingredients. The most important thing when creating your own smoothies is to balance the liquids with the frozens to keep your blender working.

(Makes 3–4 cups)
1 cup water
1 teaspoon flax seeds
1 orange, peeled and quartered
3 handfuls fresh spinach, frozen
1 cup sliced peaches, frozen
3 cubes of fresh pineapple, frozen
1 cup fresh sliced mango, frozen
1/4 large banana, frozen

As you can tell I like to freeze the fruit and greens that I buy. That way I can buy fruit in bulk and in the season (e.g., a case of fresh raspberries from a local roadside stand), freeze most of it, and then enjoy it for months at a time. Summer months are especially great for buying fresh fruit, so most of my freezer is stocked with fresh peaches, pears, asian pears, and raspberries, as well as fresh papaya, mango, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and black berries. I usually buy my greens on a weekly basis, so I like to freeze them too so that they aren't wilted and yellow by the end of the week. I buy spinach and a variety of kales, chards. It's always fun to experiment with a new green to mix it up a bit and find your favorites. Typically my favorites are the most mild-tasting ones and the less chunky ones!

Green smoothies are the best way I've found to get the daily energy I need from all-natural, out-of-the-ground means. You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel after adding a green smoothie to your day, and there are always ways to get creative and add new and interesting ingredients to the mix*. Have fun drinking green!

*Some other ingredients I'll often add to my smoothies are chia seeds, coconut oil, and protein powder, specifically a sugar-free powder that is made from plant protein (usually brown rice and pea protein), not whey or soy proteins, for the best health benefits. For my body I've found that Lepterra protein powder is the best, but I'm sure there are other great ones out there. I was using a Nikken's Kenzen Body Balance for a while—it tasted great, but when I took it to my homeopathic doctor Barbara, her computer showed that it just wasn't working for my body. She looked over the ingredient list, which looked great at first, but then she noticed that the powder didn't contain any digestive enzymes. Apparently those are important! So even though I'm not an expert, this at least has been my experience with protein powders.

Kale by Candlelight

Sometimes I like to eat dinner by candlelight. Sometimes I like to do anything by candlelight. Hey, it's 2012, my year of JOY, so I'm looking for every opportunity to love each moment of my life.

Tonight's salad was going to be pretty typical—spinach, kale, carrots, purple cabbage—but then I decided to try a new dressing I just bought. Organic Ville's Miso Ginger Organic Vinaigrette. Usually I go the simple route and drizzle my salad with olive oil and sea salt with maybe a quick splash of rice vinegar. Well the vinaigrette was a little too savory for my taste, so I had a brilliant idea to add pomegranate seeds to the salad to sweeten things up a bit. Love it! I think it was the kale that inspired me. Tonight I'm eating Lacinato Kale (also known as dinosaur kale), which is dark green with flat leaves bumpy leaves, and a beautiful purple kale called Borecole Redbor, which has a bright purple filtering through the curly leaves and stem. I usually eat kale raw in a salad or a smoothie, but I am open to any other suggestions you guys have. Anyone prefer it steamed?

Kale is a rockstar of a leafy green that should find a place on anyone's plate or blender. I love kale for its anti-inflammatory benefits as well as cancer-fighting properties. Only 1 cup of raw kale gives you more vitamin K than any other food and 684% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA). To read more about the health benefits of kale, click here and here.

Asian Sesame Slaw

I originally got the framework for this recipe from The 28-Day Cleansing Program cookbook and then did some tweaking to come up with what you see below. Feel free to do more of your own tweaking to personalize it to your taste buds.

1/2 head cabbage, sliced thin

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil

3 teaspoons gluten-free tamari (or replace with soy sauce)

1 teaspoon agave

3 tablespoons almond butter
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds

Combine cabbage, carrots, and onion in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl combine all other ingredients except sesame seeds and sunflower seeds, and stir well. Pour mixture onto veggie mixture and stir well. Add seeds and stir.

Carrot and Beet Salad

1 pound carrots, chopped
1/4 cup currants or raisins, diced
1/8 cup toasted pine nuts
2 scallions, chopped
Olive oil
1–2 medium-size beets, chopped
1 navel orange, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons mint or basil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Sea salt

You may chop your veggies however you choose—with a food processor, a turbo blender, or a good old-fashioned knife. (I chose to put the carrots and beets in a food processor and chop the scallions by hand.) Then mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Allow mixture to sit for a few hours in the fridge so that the vegetables can absorb the flavors. This recipe makes a ton of salad, so I recommend first quartering or halfing the recipe if it's for just you and a few friends. As you can see by the picture, it's a very bright and cheery dish, and the perfect combo of colors to add pizzazz to any plate.