A Different Kind of Smoothie

Always striving to get more veggies, I've been experimenting with smoothies.  I love incorporating healthy fats like almond butter, avocado or coconut milk (to offset a potential glycemic spike) but this morning my appetite took its time waking up, so I opted for something less chewy. I grabbed a couple of purple carrots, a celery heart, a broccoli stem and a few red grapes.  Because of the grapes, fat was important, so I used a tablespoon of very good extra virgin olive oil.  The smoothie was mild and lovely, light and easy to drink.  It wasn't bulky enough to coat the stomach for all my pills, so I took them a little later after my second breakfast (I'm sounding like a hobbit).  This was a nice way to ease slowly into the day.

Curried Fruit Smoothie

Always striving for more fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, I thought outside of the box and came up with this gorgeous concoction.  Turmeric and cumin, both from the spice curcumin, are fantastic in combatting inflammation of all kinds, and have been purported to help with everything from head and neck cancers to major depressive disorder.  The warming ginger aids digestion and circulation and the black pepper makes the spices more bioavailable.  You can use whatever fruit you prefer.  Papaya was wonderfully tropical and mild in this.  I always aim to have more veggies than fruit, and this combo was so delicious.  Enjoy!


Curried Fruit Smoothie

1/2 cucumber
2 celery stalks
1 large carrot
1c. papaya
a small handful of raisins
1 can full fat coconut milk (I like this brand)
1tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. turmeric

Blend in a vitamix or other high powered blender.  Add a little water if you want to thin it out.  This is very nutritious and filling and provides 2-3 servings.  Sometimes I store some in a jar for later in the day, then whirl it up again with some ice when I need a pick-me-up.  Always finish fresh smoothies within 12 hours or so.

Pretty, Simple

This lovely hue was achieved in a Vitamix:  a beet, a carrot, a cucumber, a couple of shakes of dry ginger, 1/2 cup coconut milk, water and ice.  This was such an easy way to consume more root veggies, but I've found beet sugar makes me a little crazy and "buzzy", even though the beet was only the size of a golf ball.  Roots are very grounding, so it's ironic the sugars are so overwhelming.  I had to drink this very slowly to stretch out the rush.  Because the effects were so powerful, beets will be part of my smoothies only occasionally.  Still, it was nutritious and delicious -- and pretty!

A Waste of a Good Bunch of Mint

Fresh mint is so lovely in salads, spicy stews and smoothies.  I love the combination of lemon with mint in a smoothie and crafted one recently that had a wonderful start with these organic grapes, some coconut milk, cucumber and romaine.  Then I went too far and ruined the whole thing with another ingredient:  matcha green tea powder -- just a teaspoon of it.  Yuck.

I knew the smoothie would be ugly because purple and green make beige, but I didn't know how bad it would taste.  I didn't waste it -- I choked it down over the course of an hour or so because of the nutrition, but I didn't enjoy it either.  I love tea, except green tea, and I especially dislike matcha.  I'll get my antioxidants elsewhere.

I'm glad I took this pretty photo before my planning went south.  You win some, you lose some, that's how we learn.  I won't make this mistake again!

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!

Rum Raisin Smoothie!

Yes, another smoothie!  I'm aware my photos of late are monotonous with one glass after another, but you'll thank me for this one, I think.
My doctor tracks my nutrient levels very carefully every few months and a recent blood test revealed low iron for the first time in recent memory. I'm not crazy about the nausea that ensues from iron supplements, but half a tablet doesn't bother me, so I've added that to my arsenal of meds.  My doctor also provided a list of foods that may improve the iron situation with bioavailability that surpasses what I can get from a pill.  It turns out that raisins are an excellent source!  So I began to experiment . . .

I really think of this smoothie as a special treat since it is pretty sweet.  It tastes like rum raisin ice cream to me, but there is no rum.  There's a scant bit of alcohol from the vanilla extract but you could leave that out of the mix if you prefer and I bet it'd still be luscious.  Here you go:

Rum Raisin Smoothie!

1 1/2 cups almond milk
1/2 a frozen banana
1 Tbsp. almond butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
a generous shake of nutmeg, with more on top, if you like
a shake of cinnamon
a small handful of organic raisins
a couple of ice cubes

If you don't have a high-powered blender, soak the raisins in the milk for 15 minutes or so first.  Otherwise, no pre-soak needed. Blend all ingredients until most of the raisins are minced finely.  Enjoy -- this makes about 2 cups.

It's definitely worth it to splurge on the organic raisins, which are superior in nutritional value, and they are juicier and more flavorful too. I'm a huge fan of nutmeg, so I use a lot of it.  You can obviously tweak this recipe to suit your preference.  If you'd like it a little sweeter, you could use a whole banana and/or more raisins.  I've just learned there's a whole subset of folks who don't enjoy autumnal spices, so if you are one of those, this smoothie probably won't appeal at all.  For all the rest of you -- you're gonna love it!

The Very Best Chocolate Milkshake!

We've all had great success experimenting with juices and smoothies, but this smoothie was so simple and delicious I'm sharing it. It was the most satisfying chocolate milkshake I've tasted -- pre- or post-vegan.

My Functional Medicine M.D. has prescribed supplements to help  me manage my MS, and one recent addition is Dr. David Perlmutter's "Brain Sustain" It's a vanilla powder featuring lots of healthy fats with plenty of DHA -- the kind of fat the brain needs to regenerate. Since we have eaten high on the figurative hog these last few days with my Dad here visiting, I wasn't very hungry this morning, so instead of having breakfast, then swallowing the supplements, I elevated my supplement powder to the status of breakfast thus:

The Very Best Chocolate Milkshake

1 Scoop "Brain Sustain" or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. Raw Cacao (not cocoa)
1 banana (frozen if you plan ahead)
1 c. dark chocolate almond milk
1 large leaf of kale, stem removed
4-5 ice cubes, if the banana's not frozen, fewer if it is

Blend on low speed in a Vitamix or other high-powered blender. Enjoy.

When freezing bananas, peel them first and make sure to use a freezer bag, and squeeze most of the air out of the bag. This is a great way to avoid wasting overripe bananas. If you don't have a supplement or protein powder, you may want to add more substance to this shake with a tablespoon of almond butter.

Besides being decadent, this milkshake provided grounded energy, strength and focus.

P.S. -- I refinished those kitchen cabinets several years ago -- I'm still proud of myself. It was quite a feat!