A quick and DELICIOUS refreshing green smoothie that is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day… or for any morning with its minty freshness. Check it out (recipe details below)! :)
Morning Mint Green Smoothie (Yield 3 cups)
1.5 cups water
1 cup ice
10 organic mint leaves
1 hefty handful organic spinach
2 fairly hefty dollops organic raw cashew butter
1 T or more raw coconut nectar (or raw agave or 2 pitted dates)
Blend and enjoy!
Food Journal 3/14/12
Pint green juice from our precious Norwalk Juicer. YES! I’m working on my Norwalk videos next week :) YAY!
Water
Tea – Nettles n Raspberry Leaf
Sprout Smoothie
Large salad with veggies, raw dressing and some tofu (all organic, of course)
Chipotle football size vegan burrito with some raw fixings in it (pico, guacamole, romaine)
2 cups Spring Power Applesauce
3 cups fresh grapefruit juice …. Quart Green juice
Lightly cooked asparagus with raw dipping sauce …. Sprouted English muffin with but butter on both sides plus one side with jalapeño. The other side strawberry lavender preserves.
OK… I officially like Ryan now. Gotta LOVE this!!!!! Ryan Seacrest sharing his green smoothie (he calls it Brazilian Thunder – very cool) and talking about how it gives him the energy to take on his busy day. Go Ryan!
And, here’s a past post I wrote about 3 Problems Smoothies Solve. Green smoothies ROCK! I’m going to go make one now.
I LOVE GREEN SMOOTHIES!!!! For all of you out there who are intimidated my raw food, or who don’t know where to begin… this is it! Whip up a blazing awesome green smoothie for your breakfast and TAKE ON THE WORLD! (Want to learn more? Read 3 Problems Smoothies Solvehere)
Here is today’s all-organic concoction. It made about a quart. I loved it so much, I drank it all down in about a minute – lol.
Water 1 giant leaf of Swiss Chard (ended up being about 1 handful when torn into pieces) 1 frozen banana 1 1/2 cups pineapple 1 handful goji berries 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
Blend it up and voila! Energizing – Satiating – Fun Breakfast
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
Here is what I started my day with today: Pineapple Ginger Green Smoothie – yum! The pineapple in this smoothie loaded my body with vitamins C and B1, as well as tons of manganese (manganese is an important cofactor for energy production). And! The vitamin C in it helped my body assimilate the iron in the kale. That’s important. Gosh… then, there’s all the awesome nutrition in ginger and kale. Wait! Then there is the dulse that adds even more potent nutrition (things like zinc, iodine, calcium, potassium, and more). Wowee – this is one spectacular smoothie.
Pineapple Ginger Green Smoothie By Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com Yield 1 quart
1 cup filtered water 1 cup ice 1 small knob ginger 2 (heaping) cups fresh pineapple, chopped 2 leaves of curly kale (stems and leaves) 1/8 teaspoon dulse flakes small drizzle raw agave nectar
Give it a whirl in your blender and enjoy the delicious nutrition!
We’ve been spending time at my mom’s on the weekends so we can get little Miso used to being here. He has been loving it. My mom has a small dog and they play non-stop. Here he is sleeping after some hard core playing. :)
I’m super happy because I have one of my best Internet buddies coming to visit little ol’ me! We met, maybe 2 years ago(?), online and we’ve labeled ourselves as soul sistas because we have so much in common. In fact, when I was blonde, we looked like actual sisters. You might know her, she calls herself Girl On Raw. She arrives next weekend. I’m taking her for a fabulous raw lunch, then to Whole Foods for a little shoppy-shop, and then we’re heading to my mom’s to stay the night. I think (if I have the energy) I’ll make her one of my newest recipes Ginger Spice Carrot Cake (to live for!), which will be featured in my new book.
Sunday’s Food
~ 2 cups Teeccino with coconut milk ~ 3 cups Organic Green Smoothie: water, bananas, lemon juice, ginger, spinach (the vitamin C in the ginger and lemon juice help the body to better assimilate the iron in the spinach) ~ Double serving Sun Warrior Brown Rice Protein Shake (getting baby some extra protein) ~ Heirloom lettuce salad with broccoli and carrots topped with Sweet Capri Dressing(my parents love this dressing) ~ Candy Bites (raw) ~ Banana ~ Cashew butter ~ For dinner, I’m making everyone my Vegan Chicken Ratatouille that we’ll have with big salads ~ Dessert? If I’m still hungry… bananas and cashew butter drizzled with raw chocolate sauce – OK, even if I’m not hungry, I suspect I’ll still have this. lol
On another good note… my back has improved! I still have some problems with it (low back pain from pregnancy), but my rockin’ midwife pressed on it and alleviated a lot of the pain so I’ve been having my mom do it for me, too. It’s made so much of a difference. I’ve even been able to get some walking back into my days. Yay!
I recently had someone email me through facebook asking the following:
Hi Kristen. I am ready to do some kind of detox at the first of the year, but I can’t spend a ton of money on a “program.” I know there are natural ways that don’t cost an arm and a leg, but wanted to know if you could recommend one that you may have done before you were pregnant. I’m a big fan of yours and trust your opinions. Thank you so much.
As the new year approaches, I suspect this is something on many minds. The new year is a great time to start over, try something new, or intensify what you already do, and take your health to new levels.
So, I’ll get straight to my answer… There are many ways – for free (other than the cost of organic produce and equipment needed such as a juicer or blender). I’m only touching on them briefly in this post, but if you have specific questions about any of them, then feel free to post the question in the comments section. For great tools, books, and resources to help your health journey, visit here for links to my favorite products. Note* I’m not a doctor or nurse or medical professional of any type, so I have to tell you that you should consult one before embarking on any major diet changes… okay, now that that is out of the way… here are some ideas:
1) Go Vegan Cleanse
If you’re not already, then adhering to a delicious all vegan diet is a great place to start. By eschewing all animal products and by-products you’ll not only do your body a heap of good, but you’ll also make animals very happy, and help save our earth. Be careful though, it’s possible to eat a junk food vegan diet, and while that might help animals and the earth, it’s not going to do much for your health. Keep it clean, organic, and fresh! If you want tips and ideas for foods, let me know in the comments section. You can do this for 3 days, 5 days, a month, or the whole year. Just get started, take it day by day, and enjoy the awesome journey.
2) Go Raw Cleanse
If you’re already vegetarian or vegan, then step it up a notch and go RAW! Whoo hoo! Get ready for some major energy when you do that, too. By eating all of your vegan food fresh, and uncooked, you’re getting the most out of your food by way of nutrients and enzymes. As I wrote in the vegan section above, you can do this 3 days a week, or a week at a time, or heck, set yourself a goal for one month of all Raw. Don’t be surprised if you want to make a long term lifestyle out of it, most people do. You’ll be amazed at how awesome you feel.
3) Smoothie (Greens and Fruit) Cleanse
Want to go a little more hard core? Consume all of your meals in a liquid form with smoothies. This is a nice, gentle, and fun approach to cleaning our your digestive tract with blended foods. Basically you drink green smoothies all day (this can include blended salads, green smoothies, and even all fruit smoothies). Green smoothies are great because they’re EASY to make, you can store them for a couple of days at a time if you can only prep them a few days a week, they’re satiating with plenty of diverse options, and they’re totally delicious! You could start with going for 3 days and then seeing how you feel. Or, you could do it every other day, and eat raw vegan the opposite days to get started. You’ll need a blender (regular or high powered will work) for this plan – I’ve written about my favorite blenders here.
4) Green Juice Cleanse
This is for the more ninja folks out there who want to go all the way with cleansing and renewal at an accelerated pace. Essentially, you only consume green juices all day (once in a while you can do an all fruit blend, but it’s recommended that you primarily guzzle down the green goodness). This is harder than a green smoothie fast so maybe you would want to start with just a couple of days and see how you feel. You can set up a program for yourself where you juice 3 days a week. Or, you can go truly hardcore and juice fast for a week or more at a time. Or, you could drink green juices one day, green smoothies the next and go back and forth, too. Keep in mind that on days where you only juice, you should aim for 4-5 quarts of juice a day. You’ll need a juicer for this plan, and I’ve written about my favorite juicers here.
You can do a mix of all of the above plans day by day, or you can go vegan for one week, then raw another week, then green smoothies another week, then graduate to green juices the final week. It’s important to: Be flexible. Have fun. Enjoy the journey. Give it a chance. Remember to watch how you’re body responds and make sure you get enough calories so you don’t lose your energy. Also(!), you might get a little sick in the form of detox (headache, flu like feelings with a snotty nose, skin eruptions, etc), so it’s really important to carve out some resting time for yourself.
Or…
5) You can try a program that my friend, Gena, is part of leading (it’s not free, but the price seems reasonable). The program has three levels. I’m not a huge fan of the first two levels, because they include animal products, but for the third level (Gena’s), she’s doing it all vegan! I have not gone through her program or seen specifics/results, so I can’t write about how good it is. But, Gena is an awesome coach, so I have high expectations. You can get more information here.
Mmmm a day full of healthy, energizing, GREEN, nutrient dense, delicious, EASY, fun, texture filled, Raw, Vegan, Organic food!!!
Plant Blood (a.k.a. Green Juice) – 2 cups
celery, kale, cucumber, cabbage, and lemon
Green Smoothie – 3 cups
1 mango (are those a doozy to cut up, or what? with that pit and all you have to cut around!), fresh cut sunflower sprouts, fresh cut pea sprouts, and 1 frozen banana
Tropical Spicy Protein Smoothie – 3 cups
1.5 cups water, 2 frozen bananas, 1/2 cup mango (or more), 1/4 cup hemp seeds, 1/4 cup hemp protein powder, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, dash vanilla extract
LOTS of Salad!
I’m crazy for romaine salads lately… like I eat 3 bowls in a row! Must be the Monkey growing in me, eh? The usual easy, simple combo: romaine, cucumber, red bell pepper, and topped with a dressing of lemon juice, raw olive oil, Himalayan crystal salt, and black pepper.
Dinner is not here yet, but here is my plan! Kale Salad and Crunchy Buckwheat Biscuits
Marinated kale salad topped with avocado, cucumber, red bell pepper. Crunchy Buckwheat Biscuits have a wonderful cheesy flavor (I use nutritional yeast – not raw, but everything else is). I dehydrated thoroughly where they’re a thick, crunchy biscuit. Yum! I will post the recipe soon!
PRUNES!
Yum, I love prunes. Deliciously sweet and packed with antioxidants and nutrients.
Update: My kale salad at dinner was a bit different from what I posted above, and let me tell you… We LOVED it! My husband said three times, “Wow! This is soooo good!” I’ll post the exact recipe another day, but the ingredients were marinated kale, garlic, avocado, pineapple, and orange. I’m calling it Pineapple Orange Kale Salad.
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. More...
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. 
