The trick to green smoothies

I haven't been cooking much for the fam lately, as you've probably noticed by my lack of posts. We've been all over the place. Thursday night I went back to Dorio, my new favorite Greek place, and checked out their happy hour with my friend Kim. I got the hummus again, I can't get enough of that stuff. They don't have a whole lot of happy hour drink specials, but I tried this Greek white wine that is made from like the leftover wine on the walls of the barrel...I can't remember what its called but it was to die for. Kim got an "Aphrodite Sunrise", their happy hour cocktail, and that was pretty amazing as well. I just love that place.

Anyways, getting back on track here, I've been eating out a lot because my parents have been super busy and we haven't seemed to coordinate on dinner times so naturally, I'm not feeling as well as I could be. I keep reading about cleansing with green smoothies for breakfast on other blogs so I decided to give that a try; give myself a fresh start for the new month. So I put together a mix of watercress, celery, apple and flax; a recipe I'd seen on another blog. Um, no offense to that blogger, but it was absolutely terrible. I had to choke the thing down, all the while chewing on those nasty celery strings that didn't blend into the smoothie at all. It was a nightmare. BUT, I felt great! I made it through my intense morning workout with energy to spare and had such clarity of mind. So I know the green smoothies are a good thing, I just couldn't handle drinking them.

This morning I was making myself a normal fruit smoothie and noticed we had some kale that was starting to dry out a little. Oh yeah, I bought it for the green smoothies I was supposed to be making every day this week. Oops... Not knowing what else I was going to use the kale for (I hate letting fresh veggies go bad), I threw a few leaves into my smoothie, hoping it wouldn't totally ruin it. And guess what, not only did it not ruin it, it was actually really good! I totally tricked my taste buds into drinking a quasi-green smoothie!

Here's my recipe, I highly recommend trying it. Its a great way to get some greens in the morning without having to feel like you are eating veggies.

Green-ish Smoothie

1/2 c. frozen blueberries
1/2 c. frozen peaches
1/2 banana
1 tbsp. flax seed
3 kale leaves
2 tbsp. coconut milk
1 c. water
6 almonds

Mix ingredients together in a blender and enjoy! I like to sprinkle a little granola on the top of mine, gives it a little something to munch on while you are sipping away.

Spring Cleansing Day 3

Ughhh woke up this morning so tired again. To be expected I guess. I felt way more energized after having a grapefruit sprinkled with cinnamom (soooo good!)

Work today flew by. Anna and I had a ton to work on, plus I got to watch Biggest Loser during my downtime. I'm so hooked on that show. I drank a bunch of water and tea all morning, so when lunchtime came around I actually wasn't starving. And after my apple, carrots, snap peas and mango slices I was actually pretty full! This detox is so weird...I didn't think I'd make it this far without feeling like death. I did have a stomachache last night, I at least I know its working!

I had vegetable broth, half a papaya (which wasn't nearly as good as I was expecting) and a chard, spinach, cucumber and strawberry salad for dinner, plus some detox tea. I was stuffed, which shocks me. The upside is I was able to walk on the treadmill for a half hour without feeling tired. But I still feel really full. Strange...

I'm halfway through the detox, and I can't believe I've done so well! I'm hopefully going to be feeling like a new person by next week, I'm so sick of feeling crappy!

Wish me luck, and Live Free!

Spring Cleansing Days 1&2

So, as promised, I'm writing about my detoxing experience this week. Let me explain a little bit about where I'm coming from.

I first read about detoxing in "Skinny Bitch" and I was automatically intrigued. You can do a water fast, a juice fast, or a raw fruits and veggies fast. Starting out, I didn't want to go too extreme, so I started researching raw fasts. Basically, you only eat organic, uncooked fruits and vegetables for a period of time. I decided to match my detox up with Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter), because detoxing is supposed to be a mind clearing and spiritual experience. My physical reason for doing it is that I need to flush my system out and rid myself of all the junk I've put into my body that I'm allergic to.

I started the detox yesterday with grapefruit for breakfast. I thought I'd be absolutely starving a short time later, but I actually wasn't! That grapefruit actually held me over longer than cereal does! All morning I had plenty of energy, I was so surprised because I'd read the first days of the detox are rough. For lunch, I had carrots, snap peas, an apple, and strawberries. Again, I had energy all afternoon, though it did start waning towards the end of my work day. For dinner, I had a cup of vegetable broth, a pear, a bunch of broccoli, blueberries and sliced cucumber. I also drank some detox tea after dinner to help the process along. I was definitely tired by that point, I'm sure as a combination from my weekend in San Francisco and the new eating pattern.

This morning I meant to get up early and work out, but I woke up with no energy so I skipped it, probably for the best. I had cantaloupe and strawberries for breakfast. I was definitely tired all day at work today. Luckily, I never really got the headaches that I'd been reading about. For lunch I had an apple, carrots and snap peas again. Its amazing how filling fruits and vegetables are! I never even realized that before, probably because I've never eaten enough fruits and vegetables. I started to get a bloated stomachache around dinner time, so I know the detoxing is finally starting. I'm so happy to be getting rid of those toxins! For dinner, I had a pear, a red bell pepper, and broccoli, and I even treated myself to "dessert": cantaloupe chunks, strawberries and grapes. Wow that sounds lame hahaha.

Overall though I feel pretty good about what I'm doing. I thought I'd be starving all the time, but I'm actually realizing that fruits and vegetables can totally fill you up, and I actually find myself eating less. I'm excited to see how this will affect me once I start eating real food again! I'm hoping it will noticeably lessen my food allergy symptoms. We'll see though.

Stay tuned, and Live Free!