Green Smoothies

I love green-smoothies.

I have one for breakfast every morning.

They're full of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, antioxidants and chlorophyll.

I'm not a morning person, but these puppies give me a ton of energy

to start my day!

I'm not even hungry until past noon! (The time I'd like to get up.)

I vary the greens and fruits.

On this day, I used some Red Chard, Collards, Spinach, Celery and Parsley.

I try to use only organic produce and fruit, whenever possible.

I also add two - three cups of water.

(Make sure your blender jar is large enough to hold all of that.)

I only use one or two Collard leaves, because they have a strong flavor.

I also remove the tough stem. I just slide the leaf off.

I use one piece of fruit, when making green-smoothies for myself,

because I don't like them too sweet.

But when I make them for our grandchildren, (or my husband :)

or anyone trying them for the first time, I add another piece.

Maybe even a date, for extra sweetness.

(Wimps!)

Everything gets a good bath, before it goes into the blender.

I make sure to cut off the 'organic' stickers. Sometimes there are two, or three.

I like knowing that it's organic, but I'm not a fan of eating the dang stickers.

(It happens.)

I also add two - three tablespoons of Goji Berries and Hemp Seeds.

I switch off using the Hemp Seeds with Chia Seeds and Sesame Seeds.

(Protein.)

I read that it's important not to eat the same thing every day,

so as not to get allergies to that certain food.

With the many food allergies I've had most of my life -

I'm not about to try to prove them wrong!

(But I think chocolate should be exempt.)

I have great knives, a good cutting board, and a fabulous Sous Chef!

But I just tear the greens and shove them into the blender.

I'm all about making it as easy and fast as possible.

("Iron Chef"- I'm not.)

I use the BlendTec blender and it's a real work-horse!

Here are some stats:

Commercial-quality, 1,560-watt, 3 horse-power motor !!

Pre-programmed blending cycles, digital touch-pad controls,

auto shut-off. And much more -

which I'm too lazy to type.

On those rare occasions it tastes a little nasty, here's a trick -

I add a peeled and diced lemon!

I leave on the white part - the pith. It's full of healthy stuff.

This time I do cut the lemon, because it will bounce around, otherwise.

Heeere it is -

A healthy way to start the day!!

And give you energy throughout the day!!

Not just for adults...

Even our granddaughter likes them!

(She sometimes uses a straw. Pink, of course.)

And our grandson!

(But I have to admit, he likes his sweet, sweet, sweet!!)

Even our newest granddaughter likes them!

(That was her first time trying a green-smoothie,

and she kept reaching for more!)

If you'd like to try green-smoothies, and I hope you do,

I'd like to suggest this fabulous book, by Victoria Boutenko.

You can find it - and a slew of her other books and DVDs -

on her website: Raw Family.

I leave you with these words of wisdom:

"Think of nourishing the body rather than eating."

- Ann Wigmore

You may also like:

Raw Food, Desserts And Green Smoothies - For Kids.

Dessert And Granddaughters - What's Not To Love?

There are SO many things to love!

I love "Followers" and comments too!

(Thank you!)

Signing off for now,

gabriele

Celebrating Hot Water And Cool Cups - - Part Two

Hot water is my drink of choice. I love it.

I can drink it morning, noon and night - every day of the year.

I'm allergic to coffee, sensitive to tea and hot chocolate is addictive.

Coffee gives me a rash and makes my face all flushed and itchy.

Tea makes me feel wobbly,

as if I'm walking around wearing someone else's prescription glasses.

Hot chocolate gives me the shakes and puts me on a week-long sugar binge!

Water just makes me pee.

(Raw food desserts: Macaroons and Chocolate-thingies.

Sorry, forgot their proper names.)

To make drinking water even more exciting and fun, (if that's even possible!)

I collect cups -

Pretty cups, unusual cups, funny cups, weird cups.

While standing in line at the store waiting to pay for this cup,

a young lady standing behind me asked excitedly, "Is that really true?!"

Yes, "Heeere's your sign."

(OK, I know you're gonna want to check that out, but please come back!:)

Every once-in-awhile, I like a little bit of 'bling'.

Yes, I know it's a kids cup -

Maybe even for rinsing after teeth-brushing, but I don't care.

If it makes me happy, it's mine! (And I'm a big fan of monkeys.)

Ever have one of those days?

It's not easy being cheesy.

I need sunglasses with this bad-boy.

Haven't been to Vegas in awhile.

I miss Las Vegas.

I miss the old slot machines.

I miss my money.

This is my old stand-by.

It has a mouth-print like my favorite chair has a butt-print.

For the days I'm so 'happy, happy, happy'!

Not so much.

Back out of the room...

Now.

You may also like:

"Celebrating Hot Water And Cool Cups - Part One"

There are SO many things to love!

I love 'Followers" and comments too!

(Thank you!)

Signing off for now,

gabriele

Raw Food - Sooo Good!

I love raw food.

I love the taste, the look and especially how it makes me feel!

On those few occasions that I revert back to my evil ways of eating,

I pay the price! Here is the proof - in a previous post:

Raw Food vs The Standard American Diet-S.A.D.

In this post, I'm featuring the recipes from the amazing, raw-chef and author,

Jennifer Cornbleet's fabulous book -

"Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People".

Here are the ingredients I used. Except for the red cabbage.

I haven't a clue as to why I put that bad-boy on the platter.

I'll also be showing two of my own recipes -

"Goji Berry Lemonade" and "Banana, Kiwi, Chocolate Pudding".

I didn't have lemons and, truth be told, was too lazy to get dressed

and drive to the store to buy them.

So I used the organic lemon juice instead.

It won't kill ya.

I had to use the curly kale, because I couldn't find the other kind.

There also wasn't any zuchini, for the Spaghetti, so I had to buy the yellow squash.

That's the beauty of raw food - nothing's written in stone.

(Don't forget to ignore that dang red cabbage.)

I buy the large bottle of Raw Agave Nectar and refill the little one, as needed.

I try to use it in moderation, like anything 'sweet'. (That's really hard for me!)

Here's what I used for the "Goji Berry Lemonade":

Two tablespoons Goji Berries

Two tablespoons Raw Agave Nectar

(Or sweeten to taste.)

Four tablespoons lemon juice

(I usually use one entire peeled lemon.)

Two cups water

Grind the ingredients in a blender until smooth -

And serve.

Yum!!

This is Jennifer's "Spinach Apple Soup".

And yes, that is the color! Pure health in a bowl. And sooo good!!

This is her "Mediterranean Kale Salad".

No, that's not cheese! I didn't have the pine nuts the recipe called for,

so I chopped-up, (rather badly) a few Macadamia Nuts.

But, yeah, in my other life, I'd be all over the cheese!!

How good does THAT look?! And it tasted even better!

Here are the yellow squash 'noodles', topped with Jennifer's "Marinara Sauce"

and "No Meat Balls", made from her "Walnut Pate".

I'm allergic to walnuts, so I used pecans.

I couldn't believe how delicious this was!!

If you have a high-speed blender like a BlendTec,

you can make some of these sauces a little bit on the 'warm' side.

Actually, that blender has a "Soup" cycle that makes things very warm.

I love that blender!

And finally, my favorite part of ANY meal - Dessert!!

This is my "Banana, Kiwi, Chocolate Pudding":

Cut two bananas into small pieces and freeze.

Cut two kiwis into small pieces and freeze.

Place the frozen pieces in a food processor along with -

Four tablespoons Raw Cacao

Four tablespoons Raw Agave Nectar

Grind until smooth.

Serve -

And dive right in!! Ohhh yeahhhhh!

Here is the link to Jennifer Cornbleet's wonderful book,

"Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People".

As well as her awesome DVD and newest book,

"Raw For Dessert".

I made some of her delicious chocolate truffles in this previous post:

"If I Can't Have Paris - At Least Give Me Truffles."

I do hope you'll give raw food a try. And I hope I did Jennifer's recipes justice.

I highly recommend her books and her DVD.

Well, the dishes are washed -

and it's almost time to think about the next raw meal.

What will it be??

There are SO many things to love!

Signing off for now,

gabriele

Happy Grandparent's Day!

How many of you know that there IS a "Grandparent's Day"?!

I think we're getting the short-end-of-the-stick!

I've never seen a mushy Hallmark commercial for a card for us grandparents.

Have you?

This year it falls on Sunday, September 12th.

So I'd like to say, to all the grandmothers and grandfathers,

and to everyone that also has that role in someones life -

"Thank you and God bless you for all that you do.

May you have a wonderful Grandparent's Day

surrounded by all those that you love and that love you!!

Enjoy your special day!!"

The above two photographs are of my grandparents.

This is my children's maternal grandfather - my father.

This is my children's maternal grandmother - my mother.

And here is one of our grandchildren's grandfathers - my husband.

And here is one of their grandmothers - lucky me!! :)

Grandchildren don't make a man feel old; it's the knowledge that he's married to a grandmother. ~G. Norman Collie

A grandmother is a mother who has a second chance. ~Author Unknown

One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. ~Joy Hargrove

To a small child, the perfect granddad is unafraid of big dogs and fierce storms but absolutely terrified of the word "boo." ~Robert Brault,

My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world. And after two or three hours with them, I believe it, too. ~Gene Perret

Do you know why grandchildren are always so full of energy? They suck it out of their grandparents. ~Gene Perret

Grandparents are there to help the child get into mischief they haven't thought of yet. ~Gene Perret

"You're more trouble than the children are" is the greatest compliment a grandparent can receive. ~Gene Perret

A grandparent loves you from when you're a bald baby to a bald father and all the hair in between. - Erma Bombeck

Signing off for now,

gabriele