Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Hhmmm YUMMMY! I made another neat, unique, and awesome smoothie. It’s filled with mostly Caribbean flavors (how fun is that!). It was easy. It was delicious. And, I’m on fire with energy because of the nutrition it’s fueling into my cells. Uumm… I loved the color of it, too. It was pretty with lovely speckles of the colors red, green, and brown (I’m such a girl!). BUT! Before I dive into sharing this scrumptious recipe with you… let me share a few words on why smoothies and shakes friggin’ rock the house of diet and healthy eating goodness!
As you can see from the many smoothie and shake recipes I share on my blog, I’m obviously a raving fan of them. That’s mainly because…
Smoothies and shakes solve a few big problems that people encounter
when dieting or trying to eat healthier:
Lack of time
Lack of nutrition
Lack of diversity / excitement
No more excuses though! Smoothies to the rescue!
Lack of time in your life? No problem!
A fabulous, high energy, and mega nutritious and delicious smoothie (or shake) can be whipped up in less than 5 minutes. (That can include clean up time!) And, you can make enough to enjoy it as a whole meal or make extra to save for a later meal or snack. Smoothies offer a 5-minute meal. Awesome!
Lack of nutrition in your life? No problem!
Fresh smoothies and shakes can be filled with the healthiest nutrition on the planet (all plant-powered, of course!)… from nutrient dense organic ingredients to alkalizing greens to high energy fruits to superhero superfoods to body building proteins. Plus – smoothies are blended which means your giving your body something that is easy to digest. That’s a great thing! Smoothies offer phenomenal nutrition and energy. Whoo hoo!
Bored with dieting or healthy eating? Lacking diversity? No problem!
The variations you can make with smoothies and shakes are literally endless. The flavor combos based on your cravings while you’re shopping, or simply what you have on hand in your kitchen, can vary with every single smoothie – making it an entirely different flavor explosion in your mouth with each creation. That’s exciting! Take the recipe I’m going to share with you below, for example. I thought up the flavors while falling asleep based on what I had in my cupboard and refrigerator. I knew I wanted to use my pineapple and bananas before they went bad… I had a bottle of raw coconut water thawing… I wanted alkalizing greens in it and I had romaine lettuce on hand… I’ve been on a ginger kick lately… goji berries are reputed for supporting healthy eyes… I love the pure raw vanilla powder I’ve been playing with (I bought it Whole Foods Market)… etc… and voila – I enjoyed an awesome smoothie full of unique and fun flavors! Smoothies offer massive variety so it’s impossible to get bored. Booyah!
Jeweled Caribbean-ish Smoothie
Recipe by Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com
Yield 1 quart
1 cup young Thai coconut water
2 bananas, peeled
2 cups pineapple, diced (I include the core)
2 handfuls romaine lettuce
2 heaping tablespoons hemp protein powder
2 tablespoons goji berries
knob of ginger
1/4 teaspoon pure raw vanilla powder
1/4 teaspoon allspice
Blend all of the ingredients and enjoy!
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Saturday, August 8th, 2009
All organic (except the coconut milk, but it’s non-gmo). :)
1 cup raspberries, 1 sliced banana, 1/4 cup coconut milk (not raw)
I started the day with this awesome recipe before heading to the farmers’ market for my weekly CSA of locally grown, organic produce. Yum Yum!!! I’m so proud to support our local farmer. It means the world to me.
1 tablespoon sprouted dehydrated sunflower seeds
These have lots of vitamin E in them… vitamin E is revered as the birth/fertility vitamin.
2 cups dehydrated, seasoned Kale Crispies
I love snacking on these. My mom and I had some in the car, thankfully, while we were running lots of errands this morning. We started at the farmers’ market at 7am. Then, we went to Whole Foods to do some shopping damage for foods we couldn’t find at the farmers’ market, and then we went to Sunflower Market because I refuse to pay $3 each for organic avocado at Whole Foods Market, I refuse to buy apples from across the world in New Zealand when there should be perfectly yummy apples from CA or WA (but Whole Foods doesn’t seem to carry hardly any of these and the very few ones they had were mushy feeling), and the final reason for Sunflower Market was that the coconut milk and coconut milk yogurt I like are much cheaper there! Unfortunately, Sunflower Market didn’t have good avocados so we hit up Trader Joe’s on the way home and found a bag of them there. So, as you can see, we were hitting a few different places and had to snack on something so we didn’t pass out from starvation! ;) Kale Crispies to the rescue!!!
1 quart Cucumber Carrot Vega EFA Green Juice
This was a delightfully refreshing juice made from 2 cucumbers, 4-5 carrots, 1/3 bunch of celery, 6 leaves dandelion, 1 tablespoon Vega EFA oil. I used my Breville to make this lickity-split.
2 Brazil Nuts
20 cherries
Dark Green Pretty Good Smoothie
I’m calling it this because it was pretty good – LOL. The recipe made about 5 cups. I drank 3 cups and gave the other two to my mommy. :) She really liked it. I used my mom’s BlendTec to make it (1 cup water, 1 head Romaine, 1 granny smith apple (cored), 1 lime (peeled), 10 strawberries, 2 large leaves kale)
Quinoa Protein Vegetable Mix (part Raw, part cooked vegan)
I made a big batch of plain red quinoa last night. Today and tomorrow, I’ll use it in a couple of different recipes. As you know, I’m upping my protein and fat a little to help prep my body for getting pregnant and having my next embryo transfer (hopefully later this month!) The recipe isn’t yet finalized. When I have it done, I’ll post it.
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Monday, February 16th, 2009
A Great First Step!
Stay focused on an objective to incorporate more fresh whole fruits and vegetables into your diet every day. Once you start doing this, you automatically reduce some of the not-so-healthy foods. This could mean having two green smoothies every day, or eating a salad before every lunch and dinner, or eating Raw breakfasts and Raw desserts (instead of cooked breakfasts and desserts), or all of the above.
Be Flexible!
I’m not a purist when it comes to my diet, and I find that most people succeed with this lifestyle when they take it easy, have fun and remain flexible. This can be very important during those first months of transition (and forever for that matter!). For some, eating 100% Raw is the only way to go, and that’s great. But, for many, to easily succeed with a predominantly Raw vegan lifestyle, it can mean being flexible (yet still super healthy) and that can mean living a High Raw lifestyle (in the beginning, at different times during the journey, or all the time).
Don’t Stress and Don’t Give Up!
Don’t freak out if you have a bad day of eating, and certainly don’t give up. I’m fond of saying, “Every meal is another chance to turn it around.” Over time, as you eat more and more fresh Raw vegan foods, you’ll naturally find yourself avoiding unhealthy foods anyway, so just let it happen naturally and enjoy the journey.
Got Greens?!
When I first went Raw, I found that the more greens I added to my lifestyle, the less I craved unhealthy foods. Now, my attention is naturally focused on great and healthy choices all the time. A super way to get more greens is with green smoothies, salads, plant blood (a.k.a. green juice) and adding green powder to your life (one of my favorites is Vitamineral Green Powder).
Fresh Fruit Does Wonders!
Keeping fresh organic fruit around all the time is a great way to avoid unhealthy cravings (And! It’s soooo good!). The next time your sweet tooth comes a knockin’, eat a banana or drink a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice or eat a date (or 2 or 3!) or enjoy some berries. The craving will disappear as you gently nourish your body with nutrient dense food that is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Beauty and vitality are gifts from nature for those who live by her laws.
~ Leonardo Da Vinci
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I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. 
