Whole veggie soup - tortilla soup!

This soup contains SO much good stuff!!  All whole organic foods that are full of enzymes as it is never cooked because I do it in the Vitamix!  It contains carrots, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, cabbage, tomato, garlic, red bell pepper, onion, bullion and a spice Vitamix sells called "Blend it Up" for kick!  At the end, I dial it down and add black beans and white corn - you top it with crunchy tortilla chips and voila!  A raw, healthy lunch!  My children would never eat these veggies individually but they eat it up in the soup!

I finally found the secret!

I have been trying one recipe after another for soaked pancakes (soaking in an acid medium to break down phytates).  They tasted good, but always came out mush in the middle.  Well, with some more internet searching, I found out the secret was to cook them in a pan with the lid on, so they kind of get "baked".  It worked!  I used my stainless steel electric skillet with the lid on and they were so good I ate 3 with organic butter and organic maple syrup!!!  I'm so happy I finally figured this one out!

New Beachy Bedroom!

BEFORE

Nice sleeping bag - it was like camping out every day!

AFTER

Much more serene! I still have to add pictures to the walls and my hurricane candle lamps for ambiance. We will also be replacing that standing lamp with 2 small reading lamps clamped to the headboard for night reading.

How to fit even MORE greens in your diet!

I am really enjoying the Amazing Grass products I'm using.  You can buy them reasonable at Amazon with free shipping over $25.  I take the regular Wheatgrass and the Amazing grass each day - right there I'm at 10+ serving of antioxidant value before I even start my day!  My Green Smoothie yields me between 7-15 servings of fruit/veggies depending on which size I make.  Go Green!!!!

New Workout Room - Before and After!

Well, it's almost done - just some trim to paint left - so I am posting my before and afters on our new workout room! I am thrilled with it! It's so convenient to wake up and walk right to my own gym to keep in shape. Today I did my Total Gym workout followed by an Itrain Itread workout on the treadmill - good stuff! Drumroll please.................

BEFORE

AFTER

To remodel the room we had to tear down one wall, put up another, lay down the hardwood floor, paint, change light fixtures, get window coverings and build the bookshelves. I'll post our new bedroom soon too! I finally found the comforter I was looking for to fit my "cottage" theme!

Healthy Lemonade!

We usually drink water only, so I was so happy to find this recipe online for Healthy Lemonade!  Yummm. It's so good - pure water, sweetened with Stevia Lemon Drop Flavor.  The recipe calls for real lemons, but it was taking quite a bit of time each day to make, so I bought some True Lemon in bulk and I use 1/8 cup per pitcher with 3 droppers of Stevia.  I can make it so quickly and the True Lemon is only pure lemon crystals, nothing artificial added!  Hurray for summer and let the lemonade flow!

P.S.  It also makes great popsicles!!

Green Smoothie Popsicles!!

I was reading one day about a mom who made her Green Smoothies into Popsicles for her children and I thought - how genius!  So, we bought some molds and we have been doing the same! So now, not only do the kids drink 1 Green Smoothie a day, they also have one in Popsicle form!  Love it!  I simply use the Green Smoothie recipe from Robyn at Green Smoothie girl and pour them into molds!

Weekly Prep

It's Sunday night and I'm gearing up for a good week of eating and working out. The weather has changed and it is beautiful for walking and hiking.

Tonight I am soaking my greens (for Green Smoothies) in an organic apple cider vinegar bath to ensure they are clean. I have kale, beet greens and chard going - don't they look pretty?

I'm also making up my batch of addictive Robyn's Granola from Green Smoothie Girl. I can't recommend this stuff enough! It has raw wheat germ and freshly ground flaxseed, coconut oil, nuts, maple syrup - oh soooo good! You can get it in her breakfast recipe collection. This photo shows all the dry ingredients mixed together before adding the wet mixture.  All her recipes are excellent. Robyn is my Nutrition Guru!!

Here you melt honey, coconut oil and other items just until melted and pour it over the dry mixture.  Once it's thoroughly mixed, you bake it at 250 about 45 minutes.

The downward spiral of junk food

Recently some of my family came to visit and when you are sightseeing and in a rush, you grab fast food!  Well, for me it's a downward spiral.  It's just much better if I never get started on these type foods, because having one just feeds my craving for more!  I often wonder if there is really "something" in these foods (a chemcial perhaps) that makes your body want more and more of it.  We had burgers, pizza, soda and things like ice cream and candy bars!  Ackkkk!  I'm in my own self-created nightmare!  All the things I try so hard to stay away from and usually make me sick (seriously they do - headaches, stomachaches, heart palpitations) were "eased" back into my diet.  I think if you get enough of it back into your system, your body doesn't react so badly to it, thus making it easier to just keep eating this way.  

Well, today is detox day #1 and back to the grind. I woke up and took a 2 mile walk followed by my Hot Pink Smoothie.  Lunch today will be a Green Smoothie then a sensible dinner of whole foods.  It will be a hard week because I will be craving "just a little treat" after each meal, but I WILL resist and get back to feeling GOOD and nourished with whole foods.  I told my kids it won't be easy, but it has to be done!  It's just so much easier NOT to get started down that road.......

My first converts! (To Green Smoothies that is....)

I get excited about nutrition!  I am loving our green smoothie lifestyle!  I am happy to share about it with any who want to know!  

Sooooooo, my brother and his family came to visit us and they had a GREAT reaction to the green smoothies!  He likes them very much, his 12 year old daughter loves them, his wife is willing to drink them and his 8 year old daughter was kind enough to indulge her favorite aunt (hahaha Jackie) and try them.  She says perhaps in time she will grow to like them too (she has an aversion to seedy things, so maybe some playing around with the recipe will yield a smoothie she likes better.)  

Anyhow, my 12 year old niece is going to be in charge of the daily green smoothie, so I'm hoping to have her be a "guest writer" on my blog in a few weeks to tell of the benefits she sees in being "Green"!  

I have a Vitamix and my brother ordered a Blendtec (I want one too!!) so we will see how they like it's features compared to the Vitamix.  If I was independently wealthy, I'd buy it too just for fun!  

Free Jamba Juice!

Get a new free breakfast smoothie on April 8th before 10 am - details here!!

Orange Julius for Breakfast!

Yummm - made these for the kids yesterday - you can have Orange Julius for breakfast if you "tweak" the ingredients a bit!  I subbed Agave Nectar for sugar, and added plain kefir and flaxseed oil!  No one was the wiser!!

New Hair, New Fridge!

I got my hair done yesterday - a body wave- yikes - 3 hours 45 min later I have a new look - but that was painful to get!!  So now my new healthy, green, chemical and preservative free body is full of chemical hair.  My vanity got the better of me!!

Here is my new fridge I got from Sears - now I have 2 in my kitchen to support our fresh foods lifestyle - it's soooo convenient!  I'm so excited!!  Now I can stock up on the things we need and make less trips to the store.  I'm excited to get back to the farmer's market now that the weather is turning.