Sick of Spinach

When I first transitioned to raw foods, I relied heavily on spinach as the green in my diet, especially for green smoothies and juices. I took some time to acclimate to the taste of stronger greens, like kale and collards, but as I ate more of them, I found myself craving them more and more. Greens are now the foundation of our diet, and rotating our greens allows us to get a wider variety of nutrients. I'm not really sick of spinach, but I do like to include other things.

If you've had your fill of spinach, try some of these in your juices, smoothies, and yep, even salads, though some of the tougher greens would need to be massaged and/or marinated for salad purposes.

Mache (or Lamb's Lettuce)

Swiss Chard

Rainbow Chard

Kale

Red Leaf Lettuce

Green Leaf Lettuce

Romaine

Collards

Turnip Greens

Mustard Greens

Endive

Escarole

Watercress

Bok Choy

Arugula

Parsley

Beet Greens

Cabbage

Dandelion Greens

Basil, Cilantro, and other Herbs

Search your local produce section or farmer's market and see what greens you can find to mix it up a bit.

Enjoy!

BTW- My 11 year old daughter and I went to the doctor together today, and the nurse was surprised to find that our blood pressure measurements were within a few points of each other. Thank you, raw food!

Raw Food Today

Breakfast: Blender Soup (mixed lettuces, avocado, tomato, onion, celery, green onion, cayenne, and sea salt)

Snack: 6 clementines

Lunch: salad (spinach, celery, onion, green onion, and cucumber), with pepper dressing

Snack: 2 clementines, 1 grapefruit,1 banana

2 heaping teaspoons Vitamineral Green

Dinner: Green juice! (spinach, celery, apples, lemon)

Yikes! Does this sound like a super boring food day? It really wasn't! Everything was really fresh and juicy, and I had my share of greens. Shooting for a pound a day, in one form of another.

Silence and Smoothies

Shannon, at Raw Mom, has also undertaken a speaking fast. It seems she's finding herself in a rush of creativity. Perhaps I'll reach that point if I remain silent longer.

Right now, I'm reaching the point of headache. I homeschool Wonder Girl, and while she works very independently, my written coaching is getting on her nerves. I'm also finding it hard to keep her on track. It normally only takes a word or two, but she's taking advantage of my silence, and trying to debate me on what she should or shouldn't be doing. LB would help me out, but he's working out of the house this week. It probably would've been wise of me to wait for this until he could be here to help me out, but I was tired of waiting for the perfect opportunity.

On the wonderful side, started the day with an extra yummy green smoothie! Spinach, blueberries, and frozen mango, strawberries and papaya. Oh yes, and a bit of ground flax seed. We haven't been doing smoothies much in the colder weather, but now they seem to be finding there way back into our regime. I'm taking the rest of mine out to the backyard, where I'll lie in the hammock and read a book in the sunshine. . . all alone.

That Green Powder Stuff

So yardsnacker asked me to elaborate on the benefits of green powders. Here's my best shot at it.

Based on what I've read and experienced, I believe that greens are some of the most nutritious foods we can consume. However, it can be difficult to eat enough fresh greens or to get a truly wide variety of them through salads, green smoothies and green juices. That's where low-temp dried greens come in. The green powder I use includes grasses, herbs and green vegetables that I wouldn't otherwise get to enjoy the benefits of, like bilberry leaf, white willow bark, aloe leaf and strawberry leaf. These are all mixed together in a concentrated form.

Some people, like Raw Model, Anthony, make their own blends, by ordering various herbs and even dehydrating their own greens. I'm always threatening to do this, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Once I use up my couple of jars of pre-made green powder, I may just give it a shot. Kristen happened to post today about the green powder she likes. See #6 on her list.

I still make and love green juices and smoothies, and huge salads, but this is a way to easily up my intake of green nutrition, while also getting in some herbs and superfoods. When I would up my percentage of Raw and neglect green powder blends, I'd usually find I had more transition symptoms: breakouts, canker sores, tiredness, or cravings. Sometimes I just mix the powder with water--not the best taste, but not bad. (I'm past the point of consuming things I don't enjoy, unless they're for medicinal purposes.) I like it better in smoothies though.

Hope this brings some clarity.

Greens, Anyone?

Even if you're not following a High Raw diet, green smoothies offer the opportunity to add a wider range of nutrients to your diet in one easily blended drink. Wonder Girl arose from her nap today requesting a green smoothie for lunch. The lovely concoction consisted of kale, spinach, kohl rabi leaves, ground flax seed, hemp oil, and a mix of frozen strawberries, mango and papaya. We don't usually have quite so many ingredients, but we wanted to kick it up a notch.

When I'm feeling less than 100% greens usually help. I had the above smoothie, as well as a juice of apples, lemon, ginger and wheatgrass (that magical green). And I'm feeling super-duper!


Check out the green smoothie video added to the left side bar.

Green Smoothie Wrap-up

So the Green Smoothie Challenge ended on Wednesday, and what did I learn:

• I really do love green smoothies, but the savory ones are best for cold weather.
• Living Foods has to be about abundance for me. When my mind clicks over to a scarcity mentality--focused on what I can't have--I slide into panic mode.
• I need fats to function well.
• Having a dedicated smoothie container makes things much more convenient.
• There's definitely a more intense feeling of lightness that comes with living off of green smoothies. I can only imagine the energy I'd have if I did it for a longer time period, or if I did a juice feast.
• I'm incredibly fortunate to have access to so much fresh, organic, local produce.

There will definitely be more green smoothies in my future--I'll likely invite LB to do a challenge with me when he returns--but I still love fruits and veggies in their original forms best of all.

I'm off to finish my juice of beet greens and apples.

Green Smoothie Progress Report

Breakfast: Smoothie of tatsoi, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, ground flax seeds, coconut butter, and a couple of dates

I don't really love kiwi in smoothies. I think this one would've been better without it--still, it's potable. Yeah, definitely no kiwi next time. It's kind of irritating my mouth....seriously, like, burning.


Pre-workout snack: juice of pineapple and celery
That was my 1st go with the new juicer, so I figured I'd stick to something easy. It was quite green and yummy!
1 tablespoon hempseed oil
I usually get lots of healthy fats in my diet (I'm obviously not 80/10/10) but lately I've been getting less than normal. Combine that with a severe shortage on sleep and I'm looking a bit raggedy. Gotta up the fats.


Lunch: smoothie of spinach, avocado, tomatoes, sun-dried tomato, cayenne, sea salt, garlic, onion powder and celery juice
I love having these savory smoothies as soups. I add as little water as possible and enjoy it as a meal. This 2/3 of a blender carafe was more than I could consume in one sitting. Satisfying!

Dinner: The last of the lunch smoothie

Stop the Cravings!

Today, I wrestled with the devil. Okay, it wasn't really that dramatic, but I did face down a craving for a toasty veggie panini.

I haven't thought of one of those sandwiches in a long while, but as soon as I'm told to limit myself, my mind goes directly to whatever's off limits. Doing green smoothies has been great, but it's also meant giving up the marinated veggies, dehydrator breads and crackers which have taken the place of some of the cooked foods I loved once upon a time.

But it's only been 2 days!

I know. It's pathetic. Check out this juicy gal who has been juice feasting for 80+ days, shooting for 92. You don't hear her whining about paninins. But I aint her, and I was sitting in my car, ready to head down to the cafe and get my sammich.


Here's how I fought down the craving:


1. Did a quick self-check to make sure it wasn't a demand for emotional eating.

2. Told myself that if I still wanted the sandwich in a couple of hours, I could have it.

3. Asked myself how I would feel if I blew a simple 3 day challenge on one sandwich. How will I know how I could benefit from the smoothies if I didn't give the 3 days a fair chance?

4. Promised myself that if I still want the darn thing on Thursday, I can have it without guilt.

5. Reminded myself that it's only 3 days!

Normally I'd go through these steps with LB and he'd remind me of my goals, while reassuring me that one stupid sandwich won't kill me if I really want it. We have a zero-deprivation rule. But LB wasn't around, so I had to walk through this one by myself. And I did!

Green Smoothie Progress Report

Breakfast: smoothie of spinach, avocado, tomatoes, sea salt, cayenne and garlic


Snack: 2 cups of white/mate tea


Early lunch: smoothie of strawberries, spinach, chia seed gel and a couple of dates
This smoothie needed something, but I didn't have time to do more experimenting. It tasted okay, just a bit bland -- especially after my spicy breakfast smoothie.

Post-workout snack: smoothie of apples, an orange, cucumber, cilantro, lime juice, ginger and a touch of agave.
Wonder Girl loved this one. Next time I'll make a larger batch, but this one's just for me!

Dinner: smoothie of tatsoi, strawberries, mango, papaya, ground flaxseed, pineapple and an orange
1 cup white/mate tea

Dessert: kombucha

This all seems like a lot of food to me, but I've been putting in serious workouts, and I have to remember I often share my blender-full with the girls. It's hard to turn down kids who're begging you for greens, veggies and fruit!

Why Green Smoothies?

After dropping my percentage of Living Foods down to about 50% or less and indulging in highly processed cooked foods over the holidays, I've gotten back to about 90% Raw and Living foods. I'm comfortable with that number, and often can go days where the only non-Raw I take in is in the form of tea. So why the 3 day Green Smoothie challenge?

I know I did some damage with the way I ate in December and January. I'm taking these 3 short days as an opportunity to bombard my body with the goodness of greens to undo some of that damage. The large amount of fiber should help me detox/cleanse to an extent, and blending the food makes it a snap to consume large quantities of greens, while making it easier for my body to digest and assimilate the nutrients.

Honestly, it's easy in some ways. I don't have to wonder what my next meal will be. I leave the blender sitting out on the counter, and soon I'll put the juicer in action as well. An essential part of doing green smoothies is to get a wide variety of greens. Right now I only have spinach, but my CSA basket arrives tomorrow, and it always has lots of different leafy veggies in it. While I was on my hike, I was truly tempted by the wild mustard and dandelion greens growing all along the trail. No picking allowed in the park, though. Too bad.

Green Smoothie Report

Breakfast: Smoothie of spinach, strawberries, coconut water, cinnamon and ground flax seeds
The only problem with this was that I used frozen strawberries, so it was cold. I sat under a heavy throw blanket while I sipped, but my poor fingertips were chilled to the bone.


Post-hiking meal: Smoothie of spinach, avocado, lemon, garlic, tomatoes and sea salt
After my workout, I really wanted something substantial. This smoothie is based on a recipe in Victoria Boutenko's book, Green for Life. I put it in a bowl and ate it like a soup--all the more satisfying for the little bits floating around for me to chew. I was quite hungry, and this green smoothie quickly satisfied me.


Snack: White tea with Raw honey

Dinner: Smoothie of pineapple, coconut meat & coconut water
I thought I'd have another smoothie after this, but I wasn't hungry. That means I missed my 3rd green smoothie for the day. No worries. I'll plan better tomorrow.

Green Smoothie Challenge Rules

The lovely thing about this particular challenge is that all participants are encouraged to make up their own rules based on where we are in our health journeys. It's late and I'm exhausted, but I want to post my rules for myself, lest I conveniently forget them.

For the next three days I will consume:

• Three meals per day of green smoothies (which can turn into soups if I opt to use a bowl & spoon)
• Up to one all fruit smoothie/juice per day
• Green juices as desired
• White and/or other low-caff tea as desired

I think that about covers it! Oh, yeah...one tiny detail: I reserve the right to bend the rules. I shouldn't have any problems, but this is a busy week, so if I find myself feeling deprived or lacking energy, then I might eat an orange or something. Heck, it's only 3 days!

Lovely Boyfriend Wins Gold Medal

So we're not supposed to exchange gifts for Valentine's Day. I purchased a blank card for LB and wrote him a slightly humorous message about how much he means to me (more than I can ever say). In the morning, when I opened my laptop, there was a nice card from him. All was right with the world, until...

Just before we left for dinner, Lovely Boyfriend called me into his room to take a look at something. On his bed there was a large box. Inside that box was a juicer! I've really been into juice lately, but the local juice bar is expensive, and not conveniently located to our home. We shopped online for the juicers all the Raw folks recommend, but they were incredibly pricey.

We'll have to get something else if we want to do wheat grass, but in the meantime, I'm thrilled to have a mid-range juicer than can do fruits and veggies for me. I'm doing the 3-day Green Smoothie Challenge next week, and I'll think of juice as my treat during that phase.

Once again, LB wins the Gold Medal for the Best Boyfriend Ever!

Mini-Feast--It's the Feast for Me

I've been toying with the idea of a smoothie feast for a while. I think it took me a while to figure out that I still need to have a certain amount of fat while doing the feast. I can add coconut butter, nut milk, hemp seeds, ground flax seeds or other yummy goodness to my smoothies, but there has to be a bit of fat in there or I just don't function well. I don't think I could do 92 days of anything. (That's a popular goal for juice feasts these days.) Surely, I could do 3 days!

Raw Diva Keely suggested I sign up for the Green Smoothie Queen 3-Day Challenge hosted by the Raw Divas. It starts on February 18th. Lovely Boyfriend happens to be leaving town on February 17th ( a trip about which I am not thrilled). Coincidence? I think not!

I think I'll order the Divas green smoothie jug. It comes with a couple of passes to the Feast. I'd normally give the second pass to LB. He's a great sport and would certainly go along for 3 days, but I think I should do this first one by myself. I can always offer him the opportunity later. Besides, I get tons of greens in my CSA basket and this won't increase my food bill at all. There's a certain thrill to having this all to myself.

Green Smoothies in the House!

I broke down and got a new blender before I read Jason's comments. He suggested I try the thrift stores for a professional quality blender. Why didn't I think of that?

Well, I will eventually do that, but for now I have an inexpensive machine, which will probably last for a while, since I'm careful not to overtax it. I feed the ingredients in progressively. If I find a better one, I'll pass this one along. Maybe Fierce Teenager can take it away to college.


I'd really like to do a smoothie feast. I know I'm not in a place for a juice feast, but the smoothies have been calling to me, especially since I dropped my Raw percentage over the holidays. It seems like it would be a good way to cleanse myself somewhat. I'm not ready to commit though, because I still have to use everything in my wonderful CSA basket and I have to prepare foods for the rest of the family. Well, I'm still playing with the idea, as I think it would help me go deeper into health--physically, spiritually and emotionally. Right now, I'm journaling a lot in order to better see the connections between my emotions and my spirit to what I'm putting in my body.

I just finished a great juice from the cafe at Mother's Market: apple, lemon, ginger & wheatgrass. It made me want to invest in a juicer and start doing that at home. I think I'll check the thrift stores.

Duh!

I was visiting Sam over at yardsnacker when I had a Duh! moment. Several of his blogs raved about different juices and smoothies he's tried and thrived on, and I realized that's what's missing from my return to Raw. You'd think I'd remember that detail from when I started this journey last year, but my efforts have been almost completely focused on making use of all the ingredients in my CSA basket.

We pay about $450 for three months worth of our weekly baskets of organic produce. It's wonderful. The food's more flavorful than anything we can get at the grocery store, and it really saves us money. One challenge: some of the items are new to me, or things I wouldn't normally buy, or even things I'm not sure what do with. In the end, I sometimes end up letting things go bad, and I'm trying really hard to minimize that. A Vita-Mix isn't in my near future, and I don't have a clue which cheaper blender is best, so when my blender gave up the ghost last month, I didn't worry too much about it. I thought, of course, that I'd be getting plenty of fruits and veggies just by consuming what comes in the basket.

Duh! I'm getting way too few greens. I need my smoothies back!

Big Sigh

Why doesn't a juice feast appeal to me at all? Lots of Raw Foodies rave about the feasts they've done for upwards of 90 days, but I couldn't get through 3 days last fall. I don't juice. I prefer green smoothies (don't want to waste the pulp & fiber, don't have a juicer, like the slightly more satisfying feeling I get from smoothies), but I still couldn't go for a week on the blended concoctions.

My friend Terilynn is on her 34th day of her juice feast. Angela Stokes is famous for her 92 day excursion into a juice-only phase. I love the lightness of being that comes from being completely, or mostly, Raw. I missed it terribly as I ate more cooked food over the holidays, and I'm sure Raw juices would heighten the lovely light and clean feelings. I just can't do it.

Right now I have the perfect excuse: my not-so-high-powered blender blew up today, just as I was preparing to make a smoothie of spinach, peaches, banana and flax seeds. But I have to face facts--even if I owned the much coveted Vita-Mix, I wouldn't go very long without solid foods. I reason that there would've been no juicer in the Garden of Eden. Early man wouldn't waste the flesh of fruit, the fibrous substance of leafy greens, so why should I?

When it's all said and done, I may never enjoy a juice or smoothie feast. I'm okay with that. Still, just as with the certainty that I'll never voluntarily jump out of a plane, I'll sometimes wonder what I'm missing.