Green Smoothies - Getting Started

Some of you that know me may have seen that weird green drink I carry around in the mornings.  I've been asked more than once at work what the heck I was drinking.  It may not look appetizing, but once you hear about the many benefits of green smoothies, I'm sure you will learn to be hooked on them too!

Green smoothies provide a plethora of vitamins and minerals in a yummy, sippable form.  Why not just take a multi-vitamin then?  Well, for one thing, the bioavailability of the nutrients is not nearly as high as a green smoothie.  Then there is the greens factor.  Everyone knows greens are good for you, but who is going to sit down and eat 3 cups of straight up greens without adding some calorie laden dressings?  Fruit is a great way to dress up greens and add more vitamins and minerals to boot!  And third, what about the fiber?  Green smoothies make you feel FULL without all the calories of other fiber-rich snacks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tells me that for someone of my age, I should eat about 4 cups of fruits and vegetables a day (1.5 of fruit and 2.5 of vegetables).  Well, my basic green smoothie contains the equivalent of 6 cups of fruits and vegetables and the other one has 9!  That doesn't even include any salads or other fruits and vegetables I might have throughout the day!  WOW!  I'll admit at first, you'll want to start with a bit more fruit to get accustomed to the flavors - add in some spinach to a regular fruit smoothie or use a green powder.

I got started with green smoothies the hard way.  I used Kimberly Snyder's Glowing Green Smoothie recipe but did not have the awesome blender she does.  My blender was a 7-speed Osterizer that was a hand me down when I had first moved out.  Needless to say, my smoothies ended up being quite chunky.  I have since helped out friends that have asked and I have modified the way I would suggest people start out.

The quickest way to get started on the green smoothie without the initial $400 investment in an amazing blender is by first adding some baby spinach or a green powder to a regular fruit smoothie.  The green powder we have on hand is called Green Vibrance by Vibrant Health.  You can get it on Amazon.com.  It should last about one to two months depending on how often you are using it.  This is what got my husband to stop having Strep throat or getting sick in general.  There are many others out there including Sun Warrior Ormus Greens, Aloha Greens or Amazing Grass Green Superfood.

  

If your blender can handle it, here are some recipes for green smoothies adapted from Kimberly Snyder's recipe that incorporate other fruits and veggies that you can modify... I chose to get a Blendtec, but Kimberly uses a Vitamix, both amazing blenders worth the investment.  I have used mine at least twice a day, sometimes more, since I got it in April 2009.

These recipes are just different version of the basic one that I use every morning. I just add or remove fruits/greens based on what I have on hand. The idea behind a green smoothie is 40% greens with 60% fruit to start.  Then slowly change that ratio by increasing the percentage of greens.   I'll change up the greens to be kale or romaine lettuce or even beet or dandelion greens... sounds weird but if you have enough fruit, you can't taste it...  I'll continue to add more recipes for different types of green smoothies.  In the meantime, here are some good ones. Just blend and enjoy!  

Basic Green Smoothie

1 to 1 1/2 cup water
1 banana
1 apple
1 pear
2 stalks celery
2-3 mini cucumbers or 1 regular cucumber
2 handfuls baby spinach
Juice of 1 lemon

Green Smoothie I

1 to 1 1/2 cup water

1 banana
1 pear
1/2 cup other fruit (e.g. frozen or fresh mango, berries)
3-4 leaves romaine lettuce
2-3 stalks celery
1-2 cucumbers
2 cups (or more) baby spinach
1/2 lemon with pulp (only remove peel and seeds)
1 tsp chlorella or other green powder
1 tsp turmeric

Green Smoothie II

1 to 1 1/2 cup water
1 banana
1 pear
1/2 cup other fruit (e.g. frozen or fresh mango, berries)
3-4 leaves kale
2-3 stalks celery
1-2 cucumbers
2 cups (or more) baby spinach
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 lemon with pulp (only remove peel and seeds)

Just adding greens or green powder will get your health to a completely different plane.  My morning breakfast is the green smoothie - I personally can not eat anything else anymore and if I don't have my green smoothie for two days in a row, I start to feel lethargic...

Happy Drinking!

No Bake Granola Bars

This evening, I got some Go Raw Live Granola I had ordered on amazon.  I didn't realize there would be so much granola, so I decided to do something with it.  Inspired by Almost Vegan Amber Shea's recipe, I tried my hand at my own version, mainly because I didn't have any tahini, agave or coconut nectar on hand. It still turned out quite tasty.

Nut Butter Granola

1 cup natural nut butter (I used peanut butter)
3/4 cup brown rice syrup or coconut nectar (honey or maple syrup may not be thick enough)
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
4 cups granola

Mix the first four ingredients in a bowl. You may need to heat it a bit to make it easy to mix.  Once all is incorporated, add the granola and combine. Spread into a 9 inch square baking pan and press firmly.  Refrigerate.  Once set, cut into 16 bars.

Yield: 16 servings
Per serving: 317 calories, 10 grams fat, 6 grams fiber, 8 grams protein

These don't look nearly as good as they taste... though next time, I will try Amber's recipe because those bars look yummy.

My Journey to NOW

Sanjeevani means "one that infuses life".  The term is from Hindu mythology and really speaks to my purpose.  As 2011 comes to a close and we embark on 2012, I know a lot of people are making their New Year's Resolutions.  Some of those may include ways to look and feel better and be healthy in the coming year.  So I wanted to share something that, for me, has been a "life infusing" journey.

When I first started informally researching nutrition, it was mainly to look good. I've been a life-long vegetarian thanks to my parents.  I am a first generation American from East India and we always had healthy food in our household.  Dinner was usually whole wheat flat bread (चपाती), vegetables (सब्जी), lentil soup (दाल), rice (चावल) and yogurt (दही).  Once I moved out, however, I became what most people refer to as a starchatarian - I hardly ever ate vegetables.

2005

It was 2001 when I began my research, and I was only slightly overweight and looking to lose those last 10 lbs.  I tried almost everything I could think of from ediets to Diet To Go to South Beach (not easy when you are a vegetarian).  I tried various combinations of counting calories, keeping track of what I ate in a journal, eating the majority of my calories in the morning, not eating after a certain time of day and I quickly became what is known as a yo-yo dieter.  I'd lose a few pounds and then gain it all back when I got tired of the regimented eating and feeling unsatisfied.  I never attributed my weight to Cheetos and Oreo's.  After all, I am a vegetarian and I was always below my daily allotment of 1,200 calories!!  I continued to search for another answer, the holy grail, expecting there to be one - I just had to find it!

One cool weekend day in February 2009, I happened to be doing my informal research on nutrition and diets.  I cannot remember what specifically I searched for when I stumbled upon Kimberly Snyder's blog - specifically the one about the Raw Cacao Truffles.  I had always questioned why we cook our foods when many of the vitamins, minerals and enzymes get destroyed in the heating process.  I read more of her blog at that point and was sold.  I hopped right onto that bandwagon and immediately began my raw food journey.  I made a green smoothie every morning, ate salads for lunch and dinner, and consumed coconuts and avocados and many other raw goodies for other times of the day.  I dropped weight so quickly, I was amazed!  I'd never been able to do that even on strict calorie counting diets.  I was eating whole plant foods and had tons of energy and never felt hungry!  WOW!

2009

Unfortunately, because I dove right into it, I was soon bombarded with a slew of detox symptoms including acne and bloating and cravings for sugar.  I ended my short raw food phase after one month during the engagement party of a really good friend of mine.  Because of my intense cravings, I binged on everything there including crackers with Brie and apricots, cheesecake and many dairy, white flour and/or sugar laden snacks.  I felt horrible and fatigued and felt like I was dragging.  I went right back to my previous way of eating - being a starchatarian with a few modifications.

So I continued my search while I continued various versions of my green smoothie, one of those few modifications which I will post in a later blog.  In the meantime, I became an aunt, got married, acquired two kids, and was generally dealing with all of these changes in my life.  It wasn't the time to make a drastic change in my lifestyle from a diet perspective since it would have been hard to keep up with it.  But I knew that I wanted to make a change because those few weeks I was eating whole plant-based foods was the best I'd ever felt.

2011

Which leads me to NOW.  I am physically in the best shape of my life at 35.  I have a lot of energy and have not been sick since I began my endeavor into being a true vegetarian and almost vegan (I admit to succumbing to cheese and some dairy based baked goods every now and then).  I now have the complete understanding of what makes ME feel good physically and as I am adopting these choices into my own lifestyle, I want to tell the whole world in hopes that my story will help you in your own journey.  Kimberly Snyder's book, The Beauty Detox Solution has been a tremendous influence on the way I eat now.  I admit I'm not perfect, but as Kimberly once told me, it's what you do 95% of the time that really counts.  I highly recommend her book - it is my main source of information on nutrition along with her blog.

In my blog, I hope to share some interesting situations in my own life regarding nutrition and hope that you can benefit from it.  I will include stories, recipes, and general information.  I hope that I can be a part of your journey as I continue on my own.

The Good Fat - Avocado

Avocados have had a bad reputation in the past, but they are coming back into the spotlight as the "good fat".  What's a good fat?  Well, in the case of avocado, it comes with tons of fiber, vitamins (B, E, K), and potassium.  The fat in avocado is primarily monounsaturated fat, which has been shown to increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL or the good kind) and decrease low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL or the not-so-good kind).

I consume about one avocado per week on average, sometimes more.  I love avocados and the simplicity of many of the recipes that help increase the deliciousness of this fruit. I have been known to cut open an avocado, sprinkle a bit of sea salt and just scoop it out with a spoon and eat!  Or mash it up with some sea salt and eat it on sprouted whole wheat toast.  But for some variety, I've included a couple of easy, go-to recipes.  The Roasted Garlic Guacamole is something I love to share at parties.  The Avocado Soup is a great first course to any meal, but you might want to keep the meal light as this soup is extremely filling.  And the Chocolate Avocado Pudding is a great snack or a yummy finish to any meal.  A note about salt: always start with less salt and add more based on your preference.

Roasted Garlic Guacamole

2 large avocados
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 (or more) cloves roasted garlic*
1 small jalapeno chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
Juice of 1 lime or 1/2 lemon
1/2 to 1 tsp Himalayan sea salt or to taste

Cut each avocado in half and scoop out the flesh into a bowl.  Mash up as chunky or as smooth as you like and then add the rest of the ingredients.  I like mine pretty chunky.  Enjoy with tortilla chips or add to any recipe for a bit of flair.

*To roast garlic, place the cloves in aluminum foil with a bit of olive oil, wrap and roast in the oven on 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until soft.

Avocado Soup

Makes 4-6 servings

2 medium or 1 1/2 large avocado
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp Himalayan sea salt or to taste
Cilantro for garnish

Add all ingredients except cilantro to the blender and blend until smooth.  You may add more almond milk to make the soup thinner.  Garnish with the cilantro.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

1 large avocado
1/3 cup coconut nectar or pure maple syrup
3 T raw cacao powder (can substitute with natural cocoa powder)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 T water
pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Pecan Pie Revisited!

I have a love/hate relationship with pecan pie.  I absolutely adore the smooth caramely filling and could eat that by itself, but pecan pie is the reason I became a chubby pre-teen.  I had always been fairly thin growing up, but as a young kid, we moved from a big house in the suburbs of Dallas, TX to a tiny, two bedroom apartment in Flushing, NY.  It was a temporary situation with five of us living in this limited space and each morning before we walked to school , my mom would give my brother and I a quarter each to stop at the corner store and get something to supplement our lunch that day.  My mom's intention was for us to get milk for lunch and I don't think she knew it then, but I was able to get two mini pecan pies for that quarter and that is what I got everyday instead of the milk.  Pretty soon, those pecan pies started showing up on my body.

I would not even DREAM of eating pecan pie with that sort of frequency now, but back then, I had zero hesitation in consuming two of the mini ones daily.  To this day, I get that nostalgic feeling when I think of pecan pie.

So because of my extreme love of the stuff, I decided I would try my hand at a healthier version created by Kimberly Snyder.  You can find her recipe here, and I followed it exactly.  Note: If you do not have coconut nectar, you can replace it with real maple syrup.  I happened to have bought some coconut nectar this past weekend.

Here are the fruits of that labor.

It really is delicious and for once, I actually prefer the crust! The filling is a tad sweet for my taste, so if I made it again, I would either not add the coconut nectar or cut back on it or the raisins in the filling.

So why is this version healthier than the original?  Well, for one, it contains no gluten, dairy or refined sugars - the sweetness comes from dried fruit and sap.  All the fat is from raw nuts, and here is the best part... it is so rich, you won't want more than a small slice.

Have you wondered why in these days of the fat-free, calorie-free and sugar-free craze we are fatter than ever? That stuff is not REAL food.  We keep wanting more because our bodies are not satisfied with these food substitutes. This pecan pie is made from real and natural ingredients.  You won't need much to feel satiated.

If you do try this, let me know what you think!

Post Thanksgiving - Italian Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Happy Post Thanksgiving Day!  For a lot of people, it's Turkey Day, but for me, it's a time to be lenient on my eating to be able to spend time with the family and enjoy a carefree day while still making sure your body's digestive system doesn't get totally bogged down.

We went to my husband's aunt's house for Thanksgiving.  There was the usual turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, green bean casserole, and pecan pie.  And there were MANY other things just as delicious and unhealthy!  Since we knew that was going to happen, we decided to give ourselves a slightly healthy option so we opted to make something to take with us.  These roasted sweet potatoes are a great alternative to the traditional sweet potato casserole that is typically served during Thanksgiving dinner.  Sweet potatoes are a complex carbohydrate high in beta carotene, fiber, and vitamin C.  They are a great alternative to the more traditional white potatoes for baked fries and mashed potatoes due to their high nutritional value.  This is made with coconut oil, which has lauric acid, a medium chain fatty acid, and is easier to digest.  And they taste great!

We probably should have also included a big salad to take with us since there wasn't any there... but at least I'd done something right and had my green smoothie for breakfast!  I'll admit to enjoying some goodies with refined sugar and dairy, but I didn't overindulge and I didn't end up in the usual post-meal coma.  Remember to always stay well hydrated before and after enjoying your meal and have a salad or green smoothie prior to indulging.  Enjoy!!

Italian Roasted Sweet Potatoes


2 medium or 3 large sweet potatoes thoroughly washed and cut into 1 inch cubes (leave the skins on)
2 T coconut oil
2 T Italian seasoning (or to taste)
2 tsp salt (or to taste)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Toss all ingredients together in a baking dish or roasting pan and bake for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours stirring once halfway through.