GSP - Green Smoothie Princesses

Have you ever tried a Green Smoothie?

I first “played” with this sort of liquid meal option a couple of years ago. We had a failed cabbage crop in the garden – the heads had not formed but we had plenty of large green cabbage leaves awaiting our culinary raw food efforts.

I kept it simple – about 3 leaves plus the juice of 1 or 2 oranges & some water. The blender I was using was strong but not high speed (the motor was 800 watts – it still lives but has been replaced as the tool of choice).

I lost a little weight which was nice – child #2 had caused me a lot of trouble in that department. My hormones were “out of whack”. But I did not persist with the idea once our homegrown greens ran out.

Fast forward a year – I was going through a 3 month intense dental treatment program. It involved, on average, one anaesthetic a week. My system was so toxic (I am chemically sensitive, so I was not coping well).

After I finished the treatment I decided to get back to green smoothies. I opted to get a little more adventurous & complex with the ingredients. I also opted to try to not use brassicas.

These days, my leafy greens of first choice are – Cos, Baby Spinach & Arugula. While brassicas are a powerhouse of nutrition, be careful if you have thyroid issues (like me). I also try to use home grown ingredients whenever possible. Parsley is another favourite to add but be careful of how much as it is very strong.

I have two daughters (8 & 5) – my Green Smoothie Princesses – who now love their green smoothies! Miss 8 was always a fan but miss 5 was a little more difficult to please. They are not keen on the Arugula as it can be quite strong.

I try to make a couple of days’ supply at a time. This is especially helpful if more than one person will be consuming the smoothies. For instance, today I filled 5 jars. I like re-use 1kg honey jars. They have a good diameter which is easy to hold. It is a good size to fit in a small insulated bag/pouch too. Today’s batches – 4 jars in the fridge door:

Here is the recipe I used today:

3/8 pineapple
3-4 bananas
1 pear
1 nashi
juice of one orange
large handful baby spinash
half a head of cos
1 medium lebanese cucumber
half a cup water.
Blend.

Before consuming I like to add:
1-2 heaped tspn raw cacao
1 tspn chia
1/4-1/2 tspn macqui powder
3-6 heaped tspns hemp seeds.

Happy Blending!

Peace to all,

KISS for Life,

Miriam.

Raw Food for Improved Health

I went vegetarian when I was 15 years old (in 1982). My parents had always insisted I eat meat despite the fact that I disliked it immensely. Dinner was a very painful daily activity for me.

I had also been put on solids very young - at only 3 months. Looking back now with my current knowledge and experience it is no surprise that I have a number of medical issues relating to food.

I suffer quite severely from Environmental Illness. I have food sensitivities, multiple chemical sensitivities - in fact, I am a universal reactor - mild chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and electromagnetic sensitivities (including light and noise).

I found going vegetarian and partially raw helped somewhat at various stages in my life.

It is a story of slides and roundabouts. 

Eventually (in 1999) I lost all food tolerances. I could not get much lower. I had collected a number of books on dietary protocols for health. Several were on raw food. I decided I had nothing to lose and plunged into a new regime of raw food. I went vegan. And it helped quite a bit. 

At first, but then I had some dental issues develop and then some memory and concentration issues. I was not getting the nutritional balance right. My B12 went too low and my GP freaked out (it was really low at around 57 instead of needing to be at around 350 whatever the measurement was). My diet altered a little in an attempt to help balance my iron, calcium and B12.

I stayed mostly raw for several years. Then marriage and pregnancies intervened. During the pregnancies I found I could not tolerate much raw food. I got very ill when #1 was 14 months old and had to abolish any food with fat as it was causing severe pain. It took the best part of a year to tolerate almonds (which I ate for calcium) again.

Pregnancy #2 also caused some similar issues with raw food but I was trying raw milk this time. Bad idea! I put on way too much weight. By the time I was 8 months pregnant my kidneys were not working well. My legs were in agony from fluid retention ( but it was not looking that bad). Baby came  2 weeks early thankfully. I was able to increase my raw food a bit again, but not as much as I wanted.

Now, a little over 5 years later, I am finally doing it!

This time around I am also having raw green smoothies. I had not read about them in the past - only wheatgrass juice. It seems to be making a reasonable difference. Together with my improved knowledge and understanding about nutrition and my personal nutritional needs, I believe this attempt at Raw Foodism will be much more successful!

I WANT TO LOSE ABOUT 15 KILOGRAMS. 

Green smoothies in glass jars made in advance.

Dehydrating activated almonds.

Lots of fresh organic food in the fridge!

Homegrown Mutsu apples - mmmm yum!

Lots of bananas - for smoothies and "ice cream".

Pawpaw season - they are loaded with enzymes.

Homegrown grapes - a heritage variety of which we do not know the name.

Above are some photos of our home garden, some of the fresh food in the fridge and fruit on hand.

Now I am working on being a raw food coach. I have started drafting courses and workshops and "party" style demonstrations. I am adding many new products to my website. I whole heartily believe that a partial raw diet of at least around 60+% benefits everybody. I intend to commence studies in Nutrition later this year. (I might later turn that into Naturopathy.)

Join me in a Raw Food Challenge - Let me know if you want coaching or demonstrations. 

Peace to all, 

KISS for Life,

Miriam.

Blend Power Packed Meals

Happy New Year!

Wishing you & yours a wonderful, healthy & enriching year ahead.

Unfortunately last year was somewhat difficult for me for various reasons but I am looing forward to improving with leaps & bounds this year.

One aspect of that is my rekindled faith in raw foods! I have always loved raw foods in my diet and have been through times where I have consumed a high raw diet. It is very powerful, cleansing and nourishing. This time around I am including much greater amounts of green foods - I like a mix of brassicas (I love asian greens in particular), Baby Spinach, Cos/Romaine lettuce and Rocket.

Due to some hypothyroid issues I generally have my brassicas steamed so as to denature the goiteragens. The rest I eat as leafy greens either plained or lightly dressed with lemon juice OR as a green smoothie.

I First got into raw food seriously for weight loss and health as a teenager (over 30 years ago). However, none of my reading materials back then talked about green smoothies. Shame really. Now I am making up for it. It is fantastic and I encourage you all to incorporate it into your life too! Check out the Blenders on the website here:

http://www.betweenskyandearth.com.au/store/pc/Blenders-c155.htm

We are expanding the Blenders on offer on the website ... and I hope that we will be able to add the fantastic Vitamix 5200 blender by the end of the month. This is the Rolls Royce of household blenders. Amazingly it comes with a 7 year warranty!

My other news for 2013 is I will commence studying Nutritional Medicine during Autumn. I am very excited. I f all goes to plan, I will work the qualification up to Naturopathy in a few years.

Be good to one another. Take care out there (we have a heatwave here),

KISS for Life,
Miriam.