Green Smoothies

Green Smoothies...yum. A wonderful way to get lots of greens and fiber, that is fast and easy and doesn't use up a ton of produce. Perhaps instead of a Juice Feast I will do a Green Smoothie Feast instead. That will be time saving as well as money saving, and I can still juice some, just not so much as to break the bank. Today's was an act of necessity as I did not get up early enough to make juice this morning. I even postponed taking a shower and washing my hair, which hopefully I will do this evening so as to get out of the house early tomorrow...we are going to the Farmer's Market....need to get there early to get the best of things and also so it's not so crowded. I do wish they wouldn't allow people to bring their dogs. It's crowded enough with all of the people, don't need dogs thrown into the mix. However, this is a dog friendly and a bike friendly town.....so that will never happen. I have noticed that drinking only juice all day long, and then eating some cooked food in the evenings is not doing me very much good. David Rainoshek of the Juice Feasting website did say that it is very confusing to the system and not a good thing to do. I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing, until, after feeling great all day, I woke up the next day, after eating a refried bean quesadilla that had fresh poblano and fresh tomato slices on it, just feeling and looking bleah. I didn't over eat, just ate cooked food. This was Wed. evening. And consequently perhaps, or because I am wreaking havoc on my candida with the juicing and the large daily dose of fiber and it's fighting back, I had cravings for sweets yesterday and succumbed to them. I ate 6 small dark snickers that are kept in the freezer (by me) here at work, then had 2 Corona beers and a blue corn espinaca enchilada (spinach) that was really good as the spinach hadn't been cooked, just put inside the tortilla and warmed. It had a bit of cream cheese or some creamy type of cheese (manchego or the soft Mexican cheese) and came with sides of black beans and rice. I didn't eat those, but did enjoy a few chips and some very tasty salsa. Overall, I ate lightly, and when we got home later, I had a small bag of some rice/corn tamari chips. I didn't gain any weight, which was good, and I feel fine today, but it isn't something I plan on doing in the future. I did indulge though, as we were out celebrating our 13 year olds graduation from middle school. Wonderful time that, he is such a great kid. Proud to call him mine. (ours). Today's fare has been just a wonderful green smoothie made with 2 ripe bananas, 3 oranges, 3 small lovely apricots, a half of a box of strawberries, with a large handful of italian flatleaf parsley and dandelion greens. All organic. It has a wonderful flavor and is full of fiber as I processed it in my Cuisnart with the S-blade, which does not blend it as smoothly as a blender might. I am thinking about getting a K-Tec Blender, but I think I have to be successfully raw for long enough for my husband to take me seriously before I request such a thing. However I do have a bunch of points with my credit card, enough to get a free blender! Not sure how long it will last, this blender, but it should do well enough if I treat it kindly. So...green smoothies, juice and raw foods...simple ones, nothing dehydrated, overly fatty or sweet. I make this lovely salad that even has my youngest asking for more....it's mixed greens with pine nuts, and a little grated Parmesiano Reggiano cheese. I know the cheese is not raw, and the dressing I use is not either (Seeds of Change Greek Feta Dressing) but it's close enough. For myself and my older son I also add fresh tomatoes. It is sooooo good! So starting now, this very day, I am committing myself to being 100% raw. (99.03%) With lots of green smoothies and juice. (And no more cheats like that smidgen of leftover danish I just ate....)

OK...later in the day, after finishing off the green smoothie, I got hungry in the afternoon, so ate my quart of strawberries I bought while out and about this morning. That lasted only a little while, so then I had this small sample of granola that I had picked up (not raw, but almost....) and that helped. Then I discovered this bag of raw pistachios I had under my desk....and had some of those. Those dark Snickers were calling my name but I said NO and did not succumb. Dinner is going to be a nice large salad of mixed greens, broccoli, tomato, carrot and avocado with pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano and the Greek Feta dressing. Yum. I will stay RAW!!

Ciao bellos!
Alessandra