Almond Butter and "Jelly" Smoothie!

[This is a cross-post from one of my other blogs, A Midlife Regeneration.  This delicious, regenerating smoothie is also vegan!]

After a week of striving for the Wahls' 9 cups of veggies and fruits per day -- I'm sold!  On the days I was able to get close to 9, I felt amazing and many of my persistent symptoms (skin pain and numbness, fatigue, brain fog) began to disappear again.  Other autoimmune skin issues disappeared instantly, my facial skin improved freakishly fast (it seems tighter and pores are smaller, tone is more even).  Since I doubt healing is only skin deep, I'm hoping the benefits to the CNS are even more dramatic.  A couple of days I ran out of time and was only able to squeeze in 6 veg servings and the old symptoms began coming right back again.  Immediate palpable evidence is so rare as we spoonies strive to find what's best to include in our healing arsenals.  What a treat to have anecdotal evidence to match Dr. Wahls' clinical results.

Since I adore freshly made juice, and Dr. Wahls didn't recommend it in The Wahls' Protocol because of the glycemic index spike it could cause, that was one of the reasons I stopped pursuing the Protocol last year.  I never thought I'd like smoothies as an alternative to juice, because of the texture.  Now, looking back, I wonder why I was so hard-headed about this.  It seems crazy that I didn't even try veggie smoothies as a way to up my veg doses for the Protocol.  It's so much easier to eat more vegetables when some of the servings are pre-digested in smoothie form.  I've had the Vitamix all along, and am now really putting it to good use -- every day!

I've really enjoyed the recipes in Dr. Wahls' new book, but this one is my original recipe.  It was amazing, and provided at least 3 cups of my required servings, along with wonderful healthy fats and protein.

Almond Butter and Jelly Smoothie
1 c red organic seedless grapes
1/2 cucumber, peeled unless organic
2 organic purple carrots, unpeeled
2 Tbsp. organic almond butter
1 Tbsp. MCT oil
1 c filtered water/ice
a shake of nutmeg
a shake of powdered ginger
freshly ground black pepper - 1 grind

This recipe made about 3 servings, and this is how I portioned them.  I initially put the mason pint jar in the fridge and I sipped it later on in the morning.  So I had all three servings -- sort of a brunch situation.  The smoothie was substantial enough that I needed no additional breakfast, and had no problems with nausea from supplements and medications.  If I don't have enough on my stomach I do sometimes get a little ill when I take my pills.  Not in this case!

I feel so happy to have found one piece of my wellness puzzle!

Parsnip Salad/Chutney/Compote

This lovely concoction came from improvising one of my favorites, "Parsnip Tabouli" from Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Kitchen.  Kris' recipe replaces couscous with raw parsnips and the result is shockingly lovely and delectable.  I didn't have most of the ingredients but had recently found some amazing organic parsnip specimens, so I tossed one into the food processor with Italian parsley, a few raw garlic cloves, sea salt, lemon and olive oil.  Amazing!  The flavors were perfect the first day, but the lemon continued to intensify as time went on.  I think I'd squeezed a whole lemon into this.  I'll use a little less next time.  Nevertheless, once I shifted my thinking on these leftovers (chutney or compote instead of salad), this was amazing mixed into fresh arugula with another drizzle of olive oil, stirred into a gorgeous, brothy vegetable soup, piled atop a sprouted english muffin, and also stuffed into a baked sweet potato!  One giant parsnip made all of this and I'm still eating it on everything.  What a great way to amp up the raw veggie representation!

I have a couple more giant, organic parsnips, which will also be amazing in a puree -- so much more silky and decadent than mashed potatoes.  For that, I'll just roughly chop them, boil them for about 15 minutes, then blend them in the vitamix with a little "butter" and nutmeg.  Mmmm.

Veg- Forward

Every once in a while I just want a big plateful of veggies and more veggies.  Last night's dinner fit the bill.  Lentils with fresh thyme paired perfectly with baby bok choy, garlic and mushrooms sauteed with a little of my fresh pickled cabbage.  This was delicious and health-affirming.