Saturday, August 28th, 2010

Purple Smoothie (Raw Vegan Recipe)

by Kristen in blackberries, blueberries, cardamom, ejuva, hemp seeds, mango, moflora, probiotic, smoothie, sunflower lecithin, vita-mix 5200

Purple Smoothie
Recipe by Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com
Yield 3 cups

1 cup blueberries
1 cup blackberries
1 mango, peeled and pitted
2 large handfuls spinach
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1 teaspoon raw sunflower lecithin
1 teaspoon raw agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 serving probiotic powder

Blend these nutritious ingredients up and enjoy! *Update: It was brought to my attention that I didn’t list water as an ingredient. Oops. My bad. I don’t remember now, but I suspect I had a cup of water in there.

GGGRRRR! Beowulf Protein Smoothie

by Kristen in beowulf protein smoothie, Hemp, smoothie

Here is a powerful, post-workout-fueling (banana, celery, dates), muscle replenishing (hemp), rockin’ antioxidant filled (goji berries), blood- circulating (ginger) smoothie. It’s like one-stop-shopping with all of the delicious and nutritious goodies in it. Seriously! I can’t help but growl out “GGGRRR!” every time I drink it.

One of my favorite aspects of this beautiful light brown, red speckled smoothie is the hemp protein. I frequently proclaim to everyone in my classes, “Get Hemped!” Hemp protein is a great addition to everyone’s life (especially children). It’s one of the most effective ways to add a complete protein to your diet with plenty of fiber and omegas (essential fatty acids).

GGGRRRR! Beowulf Protein Smoothie
Kristen Suzanne of Kristen’s Raw
Yield 2 cups

1 cup water
2 bananas
2 stalks celery
2 dates, pitted
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon goji berries
1 tablespoon hemp protein powder (I love Manitoba Harvest brand)

Blend all of the ingredients until creamy and smooth. Add some ice cubes for a chilly refresher. Enjoy this with your family as you all drink and growl “GGGRRRR!”

Blissed Out Running & Chocolate Runner’s Smoothie

by Kristen in chia seeds, hemp recipes, raw chocolate, raw recipes, smoothie

I’ve been doing extra running on the treadmill lately. In the past, a typical cardio session would include me switching back and forth between running on the zero incline and walking fast on a very high incline (not usually running for longer than a few minutes at a time). Basically, because I find it pretty damn hard to run. I always have.

Lately, however, I’m finding myself running for minutes and minutes on end. And, it was during one of these recent episodes of “continued” running, that I found myself totally blissed out, unaware of the time passing or the music flowing into my ears from the headphones connected to my nano. Interestingly, the trick was that I started looking at things as if I were seeing them for the first time. I pretended I was a child looking around the gym and experiencing simple objects and activities anew.

Can you imagine what it’s like looking at something as if you’d never seen it before…like the ceiling fan, the weights, someone working out, the mirrors on the wall, the cables coming down from the ceiling holding a platform suspended in the air that the TVs set on…it’s kind of weird and and cool at the same time. The first time I did this, I realized that about 15 minutes had gone by with me still running. My body was working hard, my breathing was labored, and I was starting to drip sweat, but I had this amazing level of sustained energy coursing through me, pushing me another step. I loved it!

You see, normally, I need to have some really great music on to keep me pumped up in the gym, or at the very least, I need be reading an intriguing magazine while doing some cardio (unless I’m on my rebounder!). But, it seems this isn’t the case anymore because I’m finding neat ways to engage my mind while getting my heart rate up in the gym.

Clearly, after such a superb workout (as described above), my body screams for fuel, and I’m happy to deliver (so easy to do when you live a High Raw, All Vegan Lifestyle such as mine). Here is my newest smoothie, Blissed Out Chocolate Runner’s Smoothie. I’ve been enjoying these post-workout…fantastic and delicious.

Blissed Out Chocolate Runner’s Smoothie
Yield approximately 4 cups

1-2 cups water
2 bananas
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups spinach
3 tablespoons Chia Seeds
2 tablespoons Hemp Protein Powder
2 tablespoons Raw Chocolate Powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (of course!)
1-2 cups ice, optional, but especially refreshing after getting hot and sweaty!

Blend all of the ingredients until smooth and enjoy (preferably after a great workout)!