green juice and smoothies

a few years ago i read quite a bit about the benefits of juicing and green smoothies. i knew right away that i wanted to incorporate both into my diet and that i REALLY wanted a vita-mix blender. but since they are so dang expensive i decided i would make due with the blender i had and opted to get a juicer. once it arrived in the mail, i set to work and made a big glass of fresh vegetable juice. it was seriously disgusting and i ended up dumping it out. until, last week my poor little juicer sat in the cupboard waiting for the day when he would get a second chance at life. it wasn't his fault that i made a gross concoction. well, his patience paid off! over the years that he sat waiting i continued reading about juicing, but the horrible memories kept me from giving it another try. then one night as i was browsing the "watch instantly" section of netflix, i came across this documentary and decided to watch it. after it was over, i was convinced i HAD to give juicing another shot. so the next day, i made my second glass of juice. yucky again! i decided to look up some recipes. duh! why didn't i do that the first time?! needless to say, with a recipe the juice was awesome and insanely refreshing! i've been juicing daily since then and am pretty darn sure i will continue for the rest of my life! hehehe! hey, jack lelanne thrived on stuff. i plan on doing the same!

as for the vita-mix...after nearly 3 years of searching for a used one, saving enough money then using it for more important things, yadda yadda yadda...i finally got one! ruben bought it from nicky's mom for my birthday ( i had tried to buy it from her about a year ago. luckily her husband recently bought a blendtec and they no longer needed the vita-mix, so they sold it to us for a great price. thanks again dave and denise!). green smoothies are much better without big chunks of kale in them.

i've been making all sorts of goodies! above are raw kale chips. these babies are seriously delicious! you can find the recipe here. i also have made raw chia seed pudding a couple of times, a great healthful desert! and i'm still working on making a good raw cracker. i've made several different batches but they don't come close to these (the best raw cracker around, i think).

green smoothies changed my life. i know, that sounds kinda lame but it's true. i can already tell that juicing is doing the same thing. that being said, i want to encourage everyone to start juicing and blending! if you don't have a juicer start with smoothies. you don't need a high speed blender, a regular one works fine. here's a recipe for my basic green smoothie-

*2 cups water
*1 banana, i like mine frozen
*about 1 cup frozen mango or any fresh fruit you enjoy or have on hand
*1-2 big handfuls of kale, chard, spinach or any dark leafy green (you'll want to remove the stem from kale or chard)

and here is a recipe for the juice i've been making-

*2 big handfuls of spinach
*1 whole lemon
*1-2 cucumbers
*1-2 celery ribs
*1 green apple
*1 big handful of parsley or cilantro
*1 chunk of fresh ginger (about 1 tablespoon)

when i first discovered raw food and started making green smoothies i lost close to 20 pounds! now after baby #4 i'm in the same boat. unfortunately i didn't eat that great during my pregnancy. i ate way too many grains, a food that definitely packs the pounds on me. but, i know with smoothies and juicing the weight will come off like it did last time.

do you have a yummy juice or smoothie recipe you'd like to share? if so, please leave a comment. and even if you don't, leave a comment and share your thoughts :D

for further reading and viewing-

Green for Life

Dr. Mercola interview with Cherie Calbom

Life Regenerator aka Dan the Man

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead

♥ anne