STRAWBERRY BREEZE

More magnificent rawness... STRAWBERRY BREEZE

We've had a friend of my son's staying with us for the last week and I've been experimenting on them with some new Green Smoothie recipes! I love to try out new ideas and flavors to see what combos work and are most tasty - especially to my son and his friends. Here was one of the kid's faves! (Popeye never had it so good!)

Strawberry Breeze

1 to 1 1/2 cup frozen STRAWBERRIES
1 cup frozen MANGO
1/2 cup fresh baby Spinach
1 Celery stick
squeeze of Agave (to taste)
fresh Water

Cover the 1st three ingredients with water and whir it up until smooth. You may need to add a bit more water if it's too thick. Drizzle in a bit of agave, depending on how sweet you want it - can also add a splash of apple juice if you like. Delicious, Pink and Nutritious! This will cool off the hottest summer day!

Peace & Green Eating!

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Oh, The Raw RAPTURE of Gazpacho!

After SuperKid's yukky stomach virus yesterday, we tried to stay on raw foods today to get him back on an even keel.

He was asking for Gazpacho from Cricket's.....hmmm, I thought....that's certainly RAW! Yea! All those lovely raw veggies that will heal the body - so off to Cricket's we go!

As we sit and eat our soup together, I watch SuperKid roll his eyes and 'hmmm' each mouthful. I realize he's in raw RAPTURE!!!

I am so thankful for all these healing plants that God gave us! They combine perfectly to heal the body. The catch? We have to actually put them in our bodies!

I wish more people would realize the value of raw plant foods. God made these...He gave them to us. They are marvelous and we should all indulge on a daily basis.

A friend at church recently joked, "....it's better than all that weirdo stuff she eats!" I said, "All that weirdo stuff I eat is simply live foods grown by God for us to nourish our bodies with."

She paused....and I could tell she was thinking....really thinking. I hope she comes to a conclusion. I love this woman and she has a brain tumor (non-cancerous, thank God), I dearly want to see her healed!

God can heal. His plants can heal. The decision is up to us. Open wide and heal.....

Amen.

Peace & Green Eating!

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A Blender Full of Healing

My 11 year old son had to stay home from school today. He's sick with some kind of stomach bug - YUK!

So, between his dashes to the bathroom, I've been filling his little tummy with green smoothies! Since he already loves Green Smoothies and drinks one every day, it's been an easy sell. Also, since they're loaded with the natural juices from the veggies & fruit, not to mention the large amounts of water, he's not dehydrated as he would normally be from something like this.

What's great about these smoothies is, since they're liquid nutrients, they are very EASY to digest. In fact, within 10-20 minutes they've vacated your tummy and are already in your intestines where your body devours the raw nutrients! Plus, since it takes very little effort for your body to digest them, your body can turn its energy to healing.

The first one he had today (pictured above) was made of frozen Mango, Carrot, Swiss Chard, Goji Berries, Parsley & fresh Water.

Peace & Green Eating!

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I'm Going Bananas!

One of my favorite GREEN SMOOTHIE recipes is:

1 Banana
2 leaves of Swiss Chard
handfull of flat leaf Parsley

Whir, whir, whir in the blender and drink it all down! Delish & Nutricious!

another favorite one:

1 Banana
3/4 cup of Zucchini
3/4 cup of Cucumber
handful of Parsley
half a Lime

Whir, whir, whir......cheers!

They may sound odd, but they are truly DELISH!!!!

Slendie
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Nuts for Young Coconuts !!!

The dry, brown, hairy coconuts you see at the grocery store are not 'Young Coconuts'. Their outside flesh has been stripped off, leaving the shell with the white coconut meat & water inside, to dry to the hardened furry shell we're used to seeing.

When you buy a Young Coconut - they've been skinned only, leaving the white flesh around the shell. See photos at first link below. The shell is MUCH easier to break into this way since it has not yet hardened. Additionally, they say this 'younger' version of the coconut is considered a Live Food - making it rich in minerals!

Click this link to view & read about Young Coconuts:
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/youngcoconuts.html

I've also drained the coconut water & drank with a squirt of lime - truly delicious, refreshing and an excellent drink full of natural electrolytes.

Click this link to see Green Smoothie Girl demonstrate the Hot Pink Smoothie with a Young Coconut Water base:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRgNVtMU9aw&feature=related

Notice that Green Smoothie Girl opens her Young Coconuts a bit differently - both ways work and it's an easy open!

Cheers, Peace & Green Eating!

Slendie
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Hot Pink Smoothie Bliss Out !!!

I've been hot, hot, hot for the Green Smoothies that have become part of my daily health ritual. I usually do a couple a day and am seeing wonderful results!

But, this morning, I decided to try something different - a HOT PINK SMOOTHIE!

I found the recipe presented on You Tube by Green Smoothie Girl from http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/ - check her out!

So, it goes like this:

Fresh COCONUT WATER (from a young coconut)
Half a BEET (yes, raw!)
One CARROT (yes, yes, raw!)
Two DATES
Some VANILLA
Frozen STRAWBERRIES (raw, raw, raw!!!)

Whir, whir, whir in the blender and then BLISS out on this healthy treat!

I believe the original recipe also called for CASHEWS - but I'm not fond of cashews and didn't want the extra fat, since I'd like to drop some pounds.

BOY - did that come out HOT PINK! And,it was as yummy as it was hot pink!

Delish!!!! Give it a try! Tomorrow I'll post my favorite GREEN SMOOTHIE recipe.

Sip, sip.........ah......Bliss all over the place!

Slendie
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What Made Me Jump Off the Cliff?

.....and into being a vegetarian?

Because I was sick and tired of feeling and looking sick and tired!

I'm about three weeks into it and it's been easy so far. I guess it's been easy because after a couple of days of Green Smoothies and Raw Veggies - there was a noticeable improvement in the way I felt....in the way I slept....in the way I looked. I have wanted to do this for a year, but put it off. There was always another cupcake, enchilada or pizza!

And it gets better with each day. I'm not fully 'Raw'.....probably about 70% by my guesstimate, the rest is based or steamed Veggies. Here's how the day goes....

First thing in my belly - coconut water w/ a squeeze of lime
Yoga
Green Smoothie - today it was Parsley, Cucumber, Zucchini & a scooped out Lemon
Green Tea
Go about my day
Lunch - munch on whatever raw is in the fridge - today it was carrots, cucumber, goji berries
Early Evening - Green Smoothie of some sort
Dinner - today it was a casserole I made up of Eggplant, Zucchini, Mushrooms, Garlic & Roasted Tomatoes. I baked it all together in a big dish until it bubbled

Oh, and tons of water with lemon or lime squeezed in. YUM!

I eat until I feel full, not stuffed. I do think I'm losing weight - but as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm SCARED of the big, bad scale!

In any case, I'm going to weigh soon and see what improvement is there.

I love feeling this way, I love healing my body and getting healthy. I should have done it long ago. I don't know what was stopping me....well, maybe I do (but that's another blog).

Peace & Green Eating!

Slendie
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What is Going On Around Here?!?

3 people today told me my skin was glowing! A woman a couple of nights ago asked me what my skin regime was or did I just have great DNA. My husband keeps saying, "you're so beautiful! Your skin is so soft."

WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HERE???

Oh, must be the Yoga....the Green Smoothies....the raw Veggie eating....the sleeping through the night! My, oh, my! I may have found the secret to the Fountain of Youth!

I am enjoying the Yoga so very much! It is so....centering. That's the only word that comes to mind. And eating all the lovely veggies...I feel like I'm feeding myself LIFE! I'm eating LIFE everyday and it tastes sooooo gooood!

I don't think I mentioned before - but I also gave up all alcohol. Not that I'm a drunk or anything, but I do enjoy a glass of wine now and then. But, I thought in the interest of detoxing, getting healthy and healing my body, I should fore go it for now.

Okay....what's the math? Well, so far I've shunned the scale. Scales SCARE me...at least in the last 8 years they have. But, I know what I weighed at my last OB/GYN appt. last November.....and I know what I weighed when I went to to the doctor's in August for a bad case of laryngitis! But....I'm scared...oh, so scared to tell you all. It's a BIG number....VERY BIG!!! But I know I have to get honest and I can track the math of the situation here on the blog.....SOoooo......

SO....in my next post I'll list my weight from the summer, and I'll go weigh to see what it is now. It's only been about 3 weeks, but I feel less bloated. Maybe I've lost a few little pounds.

I HOPE SO!

So, thanks for stopping by and check back in a day or so......

Peace & Green Eating.....

Slendie
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Staying the Course!

It's a day by day thing....but I'm actually enjoying it so far. This seems different this time...from the times before. All the times in the last 8 years that I tried to get my healthy self back. Something in my gut tells me I'm on the right track this time and I'm thrilled about that!

So, here's what I've been doing:

• Daily Yoga Practice: right after I get my kid off to school, on an empty stomach. I love the time to work on myself in a non-jarring way. All the lovely breathing, stretching, posing, meditating ~ it really does do a body good! I feel elongated, graceful and lovely after each session. My neck feels like it's growing longer and more elegant. My spine feels realigned and flowing. My energy feels up and I can feel radiant! I've been using the Ana Brett Kundalini Yoga DVD's. I'm still new at Yoga - very! - but will share more about the DVD's I'm using in a future post.

• Daily Green Smoothies: this morning I had one with Avocado, Parsley, Spinach & Lemon. The Avocado made it smoother and more blended than previous smoothies. It was good, more veggie tasting, but good. I have been drinking one immediately after doing Yoga. For some reason, I feel like my body can really soak up the green goodness after all that deep breathing and stretching.

• Eating Vegetarian: I've been meat free for three weeks now! I told my family they can eat meat during the day, but it's not for me anymore. And, I told them that I would be cooking purely vegetarian for dinner. So, for dinner each night, I prepare a lovely vegetarian meal for my family. My husband and son have been very supportive and have eaten and praised each meal. I'm lucky that they pretty much eat whatever I put in front of them.

How am I feeling? Great - so much better than three weeks ago!

How am I sleeping? Fantastic - I had no idea it was possible to sleep through the night! It is, it is!

Peace & Green Living (& eating) to you and yours!

Slendie
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Go Green & Drink It Up!

A few months ago I saw a show on Oprah with Dr. Oz. Dr. Oz was talking about a green blender drink he makes that has things like parsley, celery, cucumber, spinach & lemon which is a fantastic way to feed your body minerals & vitamins, as well as increase energy. I tried it, I liked it, but it got boring fast.

However, a few days ago I found this fantastic website that promotes Raw Food eating! I love veggies & fruits and had already been incorporating them into my diet over the last two weeks. But this website (which I will include here, once I have persmission to do so), not only promotes eating raw foods - but also something they call GREEN SMOOTHIES. They are holding a Green Smoothie challenge in which they will drink two or more a day and incorporate exercise atleast 3 times per week until November.

Well, I joined up! What's a girl to do? All this wonderful information coming to me - I just gotta jump on board the Green Smoothie challenge!

In a Green Smoothie - you can mix any green veggie! Also, you can mix in a fruit with it. Once I realized there were hundreds of combinations, I realized I wouldn't get bored! Yesterday I had a green grape & cucumber smoothie! YUMMMMMMY! And refreshing! Of course, I laughingly realized after I drank it that those are officially two fruits.....but, at least I've started! Today, I'm mixing zucchini with romaine lettuce, cucumber, celery and a little parsley! Can't wait to feel the green vibes running through my veins!

I feel green! And soon, I hope to be feeling my good old Slendarella self! No, it'll be better than that, I'll be a whole new Slendarella! (*green grins all around*)

signed, Slendie
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