Meet Meghan, a beautiful, happy, healthy, gluten, & dairy free nutritionist! I found Meghan's blog via Ellen @ I Am Gluten Free. Ellen wrote about a 3 day "green smoothie cleanse" that she was participating in and I was very intrigued.
If you read my blog, you know I love meat...especially bacon. And that my friends, is not going to change... but I think every once in a while we do need to let our bodies recharge, refresh, and renew... eating a bunch of good raw vegetables and fruits in the form of a healthy, delicious smoothie is a great way to do that!
This spring cleanse is more than just a way of eating, it's a way to jump start daily exercise, prayer, and good health in general.
Basically beginning on Sunday, I will have three days in which I will eat "green" smoothies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with an AM and PM snack in between. The smoothies will be chock-full of wonderful green veggies such as:
- raw spinach
- mustard greens
- celery
- cucumbers
- cabbage
- fresh parsley
- kale
- mint
To work my way into the cleanse I am already eating at least 1 green smoothie a day. I am going to try to share the smoothies I have with you each day on this cleanse! I hope it will inspire you to try a green smoothie for yourself! They are really healthy and a fantastic way to add more fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet! Dust off your blender in the back of the cabinet and start making smoothies!
To get your started, here is Meghan's fantastic tutorial on how to create your own green smoothie!
I owe a HUGE thank you to my friend Clara of Six Food Intolerance Living for introducing me to smoothies a few weeks ago. She shared her recipe for a Kale and Pear smoothie, which started my current obsession with healthy, raw smoothies! Thanks Clara for helping me on my journey to good health!!
Here is the smoothie that I had as a dessert last night and for breakfast this morning. It is a little heavy with fruits, but since I'm working my way towards more green and less fruits it's a good start! It was absolutely delicious!
I made this smoothie last night so I would be prepared for today. To keep my smoothie "icy" I store it in the very back of my refrigerator on the first shelf. It stays icy and crisp for my morning breakfast!
Carrie's Morning Breakfast Smoothie
This smoothie is full of fiber, protein, green veggies, sweet fresh fruit, and lots of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids from the hemp protein, chia seeds, and ground flax seeds. The sweetness of the fruit really shines through in this wonderful smoothie!
*Top 8 free (soy, casein, eggs, wheat, peanuts, treenuts, fish, shellfish, + gluten)
- 1 cup mustard greens (or kale if you prefer!)
- 2 cups spinach
- 1/2 cup italian parsley
- 1/2 cup grapes
- 1/2 an apple
- 1 small pear
- 1 banana
- handful of blueberries
- handful of blackberries
- 1 1/2 cups hemp milk
- 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder (crushed hemp seeds)
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar
- 3 cups ice
Overwhelmed? Don't be! I know it's a lot of ingredients, but trust me, you'll LOVE just tossing all of these wonderful fresh foods into the blender and making yourself a delicious treat!
To make my smoothies I add the liquid first (hemp milk in this case!), and add the greens. I pulse them on high until they are very smooth and then add the other ingredients and pulse again until smooth. Lastly I add ice and once again pulse until very smooth and serve immediately or store in the back of my fridge where the smoothie will remain icy until breakfast! I would love to have a vitamix one day, but this blending technique seems to work really well in my old, run of the mill blender!
Do you have any tips or ideas on how to make a delicious green smoothie??
PLEASE share with us in the comments below!
I can't wait to hear from you!!
PLEASE share with us in the comments below!
I can't wait to hear from you!!
Stay tuned for additional Healthy Green Smoothie posts through next week!
