Super Green Salad Juice

Super Green Salad Juice

Have you thought of drinking your salad? If you're familiar with detoxing, you probably have. This was a great tasting super green boost of a juice.

Ingredients:

1 celery rib

1 lg. cucumber

1/4th head of cabbage

3 pears

1 apple

3 parsley sprigs

4 oz organic spinach leaves

1 lg. Swiss chard leaf 

Cut/slice all ingredients into pieces to fit your juicer and juice!

Inspiration for this recipe comes from a similar recipe in Juices & Smoothies

   

It's Detox Time! 3-Berry Smoothie

It's Detox Time!

For the past month I've made fresh vegetable/fruit juice just about every day. My husband and I have been trying to replace at least one meal a day with juicing. It's been a precursor to the detox diet that we started 5 days ago, and it's going great!

I liken our detox diet to the Hallelujah Diet of which I am familiar, but without the BarleyMax (I use my own powders/supplements). They promote an 85% raw, 15% cooked diet, made up of vegan choices. And glance at their testimonials and you'll see what a blessing it is to eat this way—for life!

But I'm not espousing a particular diet really, just whole "vegan and gluten-free" foods, mostly raw, and with no meat products for this time of detoxifying. And of course, fresh juicing to maximize our daily nutrient content and give the body something to enable us to heal.

What our detox includes:
Drinking a variety of fresh juiced vegetables and fruits
Healthy fruit and green smoothies
Raw fruits, vegetables and dehydrates
Big green salads
Steamed vegetables (been eating a lot of Brussel sprouts)
Homemade vegetable soups
Herbal tea
Fresh lemon/limeade
Nuts (no more than a handful)
Coconut oil

You're not ready, until you're ready!

Hubby and I both are beyond middle age. We're still young-at-heart, and so it's not fun when health issues interfere with life's enjoyment and our abilities. I feel like if I don't get serious now about true healthy living I might as well give up. I know we'll be making sacrifices—albeit good ones, as we change to better eating habits. I'm determined to—once and for all! I'm ready already.

I'd like to eventually proceed forward and make it a juice only detox, so I'm really preparing myself for when I feel the time is right. I'm inspired by documentaries like Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead and Hungry for Change. I find that a big part of making a lifestyle change or going on any diet for that matter, it takes the right timing, the right mental focus, and the right environment to make it a successful journey. I knew that now was the right time to begin. And having hubby on board makes it much more doable.

Our very first juice on day 1 was:  

Apple-Broccoli Juice

4 Granny Smith apples
1 lime
4 celery ribs
Bunch of cilantro
1 head of broccoli

I had never juiced broccoli before, but since I had plenty in the fridge I wanted to make good use of it, and I saw a recipe for Green Apple Pie Juice that stirred my interest. My Apple-Broccoli juice was so GOOD! I'm getting used to the taste of cilantro and it's useful to draw out heavy metals in the body.

This week I made another awesome smoothie recipe using blueberries (since we got such a great deal on frozen blueberries):

3-Berry Antioxidant Smoothie

This was a great tasting and so-good-for-you breakfast smoothie that utilizes three different berries: blueberries, blackberries and cranberries. One of the best sources of antioxidants, berries help to fight against aging and the chronic disease processes that many of us know about first hand. Even the American Institute for Cancer Research admits that blueberries are “. . .  substances that can slow the aging process and reduce cell damage that can lead to cancer.” Here are 7 Berries You Should Eat Everyday.

Not included in that list of 7 are cranberries, which when consumed in their raw form or juiced, have huge health benefits warding off urinary tract and yeast infections, dental plaque, and helps with blood sugar issues such as insulin resistance. See Cranberry juice benefits made simple.

3-Berry Antioxidant Smoothie

by Kathy's Kitchen

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: juicing raw gluten-free raw vegan

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A so-good-for-you antioxidant fruit smoothie that utilizes blueberries, blackberries and cranberries.

Ingredients

• 1 cup blueberries (raw, frozen or partially thawed)
• 1 cup blackberries (raw, frozen or partially thawed)
• 1 cup cranberries (raw, frozen or partially thawed)
• 1 Tbs. coconut oil
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 Tbs. lime or lemon juice
• 1 tsp. spirulina powder (optional)
• 2 Tbs. green powder supplement (optional)
• 2 tsp. coconut sugar, maple syrup, or other sweetener

Instructions

• Add all ingredients into a high powered blender (like VItaMix) and using the tamper, blend until well combined. Pour and serve.

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Right now I've got naked kale chips in the dehydrator and when I get some more sunflower seeds I'll make some red hot snackers crackers, but I won't indulge, and now at day five I'm feeling past the terrible late afternoon cravings (thanks to the wonderful nutrients I'm giving my body and cells). I'm not having the sugar and chocolate cravings but hubby is still dealing with it, and at 270 lbs. he requires more food than I do so he eats a tad more. (I don't scold, I'm very glad and proud of him and he's losing weight faster than I am!)

So today, I look forward to feeling good, staying active, and slimming down. How about you?

Linking up with Gluten-Free Cat and  Raw Foods Thursdays 

Blue-Green Smoothie

This Blue-Green Smoothie

tastes WONDERFUL!

I LOVE blueberries, and I love adding greens into smoothies where it doesn't change the taste! For this treat, the greens used were raw spinach and spirulina powder—an antioxidant delight!

We had an excellent buy on large packages of frozen blueberries, so I eagerly threw some into my Vita-Mix and made this delicious blue-green drink. Actually, I spooned each mouthful, relishing the taste like I would an ice cream sundae!

Blue-Green Smoothie

by Kathy's Kitchen

Keywords: gluten-free raw

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A raw smoothie to enjoy like a blueberry sundae, but disguised with healthy greens.

Ingredients

• 2 cups organic apple juice (fresh juice preferred)
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 Tbs coconut sugar or preferred sweetener (optional)
• 2 Tbs hemp seed (optional)
• 1 tsp spirulina powder
• 1 Tbs coconut oil
• 3 cups frozen blueberries (thawed or partly thawed)
• 2 large handfuls of washed raw spinach leaves

Instructions

• Combine the first six ingredients into a high speed blender like a Vita-Mix and blend well.
• Add the blueberries and use the tamper to mix together.
• Add the spinach and use the tamper to mix while blending.
• Pour and enjoy!

Not familiar with spirulina powder? Dr. Mercola explains what this ancient plant is—a form of blue-green algae with "miracle" benefits: 

• detoxifying
• protein rich
• immune boosting
• allergy relief
• normalizes blood pressure and cholesterol
• reduces cancer risk

Caution: You may need to be careful with spirulina powder and work your way upward, starting with a small amount (like in this smoothie). Spirulina is safe to consume, but some people may have a reaction to it depending on their state of health.

Kale Chips and a New Favorite Raw Cookbook!

Kale Chips—

Where Have You Been All My Life?

Potato chips . . . you are no longer longed for . . .

My friend Lynne, makes some of the best raw food snacks, including her yummy, crunchy kale chips. My cousin, John, who basks (and probably does other things) in Hawaii and grows his own kale among other green beauties, recently posted on Facebook about eating homemade kale chips. Well, instead of admiring them from afar, it was finally time to make my own!

You all know the benefits of eating your greens, and this is a most delightful way to do it—RAW, no less!

I bought two different types of kale, a standard dark green curly type, and a new variety with some pretty purple splashes of color. For this occasion I made two different recipes: Pizza Kale Chips (in the photo above) and Naked Kale Chips (pictured below). 

The recipes were from my new favorite raw food cookbook: Practically Raw by Amber Shea Crawley. Get this—she devotes a whole chapter to kale chips! After reading those recipes I decided that I could not let another week pass by without making my own.

FYI:  Amber's recipe for Pizza Kale Chips is online so there's no need to share it with you here. I left out the fennel seed and I substituted a tomato for the red bell pepper. I picked a few basil leaves to add as well.

 

Naked Kale Chips!

Practically Raw is a unique cookbook or uncookbook. Let me tell you why I'm so enamored with it. This beautiful book is filled with full-color photos. I love to see the pic of the dish I'm making, don't you? 

The innovative side of this book is that it has instructions for two ways to make each recipe—a raw version and a baked version! I own many raw food prep books and I've never seen this before. Plus, there are recipe variations and ingredient substitutions for every recipe—quite useful, for the way I use recipes these days. Plus it has even more features that I love like health and nutritional information, menus, and a resource list.

 
As I read through the chapters of this book I kept a running list of recipes that I had to try. My list is at around 40 recipes at this point, and I'm not quite finished looking through the book yet! That's not the typical response I've had with many other recipe books I own! So many yummy sounding, stress-free recipes that I'm wanting to make—yippee!

Just a few on my list are raw Graham Crackers, Basic Nut and Mexican Cheddar Cheese, Flaxjacks Pancakes, Brazil Nut Bread, Coconut-Vanilla Kale Chips, Spinach-Walnut Pesto Pasta, Almond Butter Sesame Noodles, Stuffed Peppers and Wild Rice—all RAW of course! But if I want, I can speed up the process and use the cooked version.

Did you notice the Coconut-Vanilla Kale Chips mentioned above? You should see the dessert type kale chips you can make! There are Chocolate and Maple-Pecan also!

Pizza Kale Chips ready for the dehydrator

Naked Kale Chips ready to dehydrate

The Naked Kale Chip recipe was a little simpler to make and less mess. One thing about making the Pizza recipe is that the coating is made in a blender and it is very thick, so thick that some sticks in the blender and you really can't get it all out.

Naked Kale Chips

by Kathy's Kitchen, Health, & Nutrition

Keywords: dehydrates raw vegan snack

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For Naked Kale Chips you just stir the following in a large bowl:

Ingredients

• 1 Tbs of olive oil
• 1 tsp. of fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp of sea salt

Instructions

• Then add this mixture with your washed and chopped big bunch of kale leaves (with hard stems removed), massaging into all the leaves. Place on Teflex lined dehydrator sheets and dry for 8 or more hours. I made mine in the evening and let them dry til morning.

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Then, like my cousin in Hawaii says: 

"You eat them all in a single sitting." 

And that's pretty much what happened to ours.

Enjoy Kale Chips, your way!

For more kale delights and kale information visit Diana Dyer, MS, RD at 365 Days of Kale, also from where I borrowed this pic:

Linking up with Gluten-Free Cat and  Raw Foods Thursdays!

Starting Tomorrow—ALL RAW—One Week a Month!

Tomorrow's the day! 

I'm kicking off a NEW healthy habit by consuming ALL RAW for the first week of every month. 

Don't tell me I'm crazy or that I can't do it. For me, it's often easier to act on the "all or nothing" principle. Somehow that makes it easier. And I really want to kick-start my metabolism and literally pour in the juicy nutrition to my less-than-healthy self.

I'm excited about this! I think since January I lost some of my momentum so this will kick it up a notch. It'll mean a lot of fresh juicing, some cool fruity (and green)
smoothies, and my usual big salads but none of the no-nos! Fresh fruits and veggies for snacking. Raw nuts, seeds and oils are OK, but only on a minimal basis. I intend to keep it simple. BTW my hubby is going to do it too, but I have the feeling he may need some extras thrown in. I'll be prepared.

In case you are interested, at the end of this post I'll share just a bit of my Healthy Habits Journey thus far. For the rest of my blabbering I'm listing several superfoods (and some of their wonderful benefits) that I'll be focusing on in my raw diet this week.
 
Here's a great juice recipe that will help me avoid migraines:

I LOVE beets and their anti-infammatory response 

and immune system boosting benefits!

I just noticed that part about its being called "nature's Viagra"—well OK, that too!

This is a neat chart that I'll keep in mind.
















Lemon juice is consumed year round on a daily basis in our household. Lemon or lime juice goes in almost all our juice recipes. I adore lemon!

I love the taste of ginger and it's often 

in my juice recipes as well.  

Either tonight or tomorrow I'm making a carrot ginger soup (all raw) with a creamy base of avocado. I'm looking forward to it!

(How about if I share with you some of the awesome benefits of ginger when I post the soup recipe in the next few days?)

The Super Foods: Garlic

 

According to Natural News,  consuming garlic on a daily basis may be one of your best defenses against infection and inflammation causing disease.

Garlic is another important food item that is a part of our daily cooking and un-cooking experience. We buy it in bulk and use it in all sorts of ways. 

My husband and sons love it minced raw on popcorn with melted butter. I add a few bulbs to my juice recipes. In winter months when the flu is threatening you may find us eating it raw, sliced fine between two crackers. Lots of it goes in Italian dishes, in stir-frys, and on veggies. Garlic bread and garlic potatoes are two of our family's favorite side dishes. 

Eating it raw is rather spicy (depending on the garlic you have) and cooking it gives it more of a mild flavor. My husband has successfully used it twice to ward off a tooth infection. It's natural antibiotic properties are very effective!

 A New Energizing Focus

I started a new workout with T-Tapp that I'm very excited about. I purchased the DVD which makes the routines easy to follow. Since I'm an "older" lady (but young at heart) its focus on spinal alignment, neurokinetic flow, and lymphatic function working together in a whole-body system sounds just perfect for me. It's rehabilitative nature will be great for my knees, back, and neck, plus more. In just the short time I've been doing some of the exercises I've surely felt the difference as I'm using new muscle systems. It's a whole new concept to me and it makes a lot of sense.

Healthy Habits Update

Since it's the end of February I feel like I should be giving you an update on how I did last month. Here's just a little: 

I'm still food journaling but I'm no longer keeping track of the numbers. I've turned it into a list of items to check off and it works well for me that way.

• Drinking my greens daily plus additional water (still not enough—but improved)

• Enjoying daily Chia Fresca (lemon water)

• Exercising most every day (I missed about four days this week due to a minor injury)

• No weight loss in Feb. Could it be I'm gaining more muscle due to the exercising? (With T-Tapp I will be adding muscle.)

• I felt good overall but a bit tired some days (that's where I "pick myself up and carry on")
• No wheat or chocolate (I cheated—but just a teeny tiny bit!) 
• Snacking? (I'm still eating too often and I had some cravings for wheat, so instead I ate too many other snack foods made from wheat-less grains.) Maybe that's why no weight loss!
• During the whole month I only had one bout of several days with a bad headache. (Improved!)

I love so many things that Charlotte Gerson and the Gerson Institute says about health and disease. If you've never heard of her or her late father's famous Gerson Therapy mindset, you'll be pleased to check it out. There's so much to learn!

Our bodies benefit in a miraculously designed way that is healing to its whole. For example, I can aid my thyroid function, improve my gut issues, and eliminate migraines, arthritis and heart disease all at the same time.

I'm looking forward to the healthy benefits I'll have from my ALL RAW—One Week a Month Experience! Anyone care to join me?

Linking up with Healthy Habits Tuesday

and Wellness Wednesdays

Dandy-Lion Fruit Freeze

Dandy-Lion Fruit Freeze

You may know that one of my healthy habit changes I've made since January is to "drink my greens" every day. One way to do it is by juicing, another is to add some greens powder to water or a liquid, or I can add greens to a smoothie.

I purchased two large bunches of organic dandelion greens at our local Prairie Market that were marked down, yet perfectly usable for $1.50. I juiced about 3/4 of the batch and then used the rest in this delightful drink. Deandelion greens are so good for you (see info below). I particularly LOVE smoothies that taste like frozen treats!

Ingredients:

2 oranges (segmented or sliced & cut off the rind)

1/2 cup plain yogurt (optional)

2 large handfuls of frozen cut up fruit (I used banana, strawberries, apricots) 

stevia to taste

large handful of washed and torn dandelion greens (or other greens)

Combine and blend oranges and yogurt in a high-powered blender (Vita-Mix).

Add in frozen fruit 1/3 at a time with stevia (I used about a third of a packet) and blend. 

Add dandelion greens last. Blend using the tamper tool to push greens down and accelerate blending.

 

Dandelion Greens

Why are they so good for you? In my post Pickin' My Greens to Juice I talked about dandelion greens: 

According to LeafLady, the health benefits  of dandelion are nothing short of miraculous. In fact, Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) means "Official Remedy for Disorders."

Taken as part of your daily diet it can:  

". . . prevent or cure liver diseases . . . purify your blood, cleanse your system, dissolve kidney stones, and otherwise improve gastro-intestinal health; assist in weight reduction; cleanse your skin and eliminate acne; improve your bowel function . . . prevent or lower high blood pressure; prevent or cure anemia; lower your serum cholesterol by as much as half; eliminate or drastically reduce acid indigestion; prevent or cure various forms of cancer; prevent or control diabetes mellitus; and, at the same time, have no negative side effects and selectively act on only what ails you."

Well, I know that any leafy green is going to be good for me, but in one important study, dandelions ranked in the top 4 green vegetables in overall nutritional value. They are rich in beta-carotene, high in fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin, vitamin C, micronutrients like cpoper, zinc and boron, and are a good source of protein along with Vitamin D. No wonder it's so good for us!

Enjoy!

Inflammation & Drinking My Greens: Apple-Spinach Delight

Apple-Spinach Delight

I've had a good week as far as feeling good—until last night and this morning. Another headache . . . but it wasn't a migraine and it's just about gone now. Some days I can just feel the inflammation in my body and I feel sick like I'm getting the flu, but it fluctuates. So I downed an extra CuraMed (potent antioxidant) and made sure I was well hydrated, and decided to do some juicing after I did my Jazzercise, (that I'm sure got my lymphatics flowing). 

I'll mention more about what I've learned about inflammation and its relationship to disease in a later posting, but it was neat that I picked up the Sam's Club Healthy Living Made Simple magazine that came in the mail and saw this article: How does inflammation affect cardiovascular health? 

Here's a quote: 

Many scientists now believe that inflammation, not cholesterol or saturated fat, may be the critical underlying cause of heart disease, which kills nearly 600,000 Americans each year.

 Exchanging an inflammatory lifestyle (that keeps the immune system on high alert) for an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, seems to make sense for everyone! The main causes of chronic inflammation listed in the article are: 

Cigarette smoking. 

Periodontal disease. 

A diet high in sugars. 

Lack of exercise. 

Stress. 

Obesity.

I don't smoke, but to a certain extent the rest do apply to me. That's additional motivation for me to "drink my greens"!

My efforts so far this week at drinking my greens have been fruitful! Here's what I made in the juicer this morning since I had an abundance of spinach:

Juice the following ingredients:

Big bunch of spinach

4 large Fuji apples 

4 large stalks of celery with leaves

1 lb organic carrots

Squirt of lime juice 

It's delicious! I don't bother to filter the foam off the top—as far as I can tell it's all good!

Goals for a Healthy & Happy 2013

For breakfast this morning I’m sipping a thick, icy, delicious, “green” apricot-peach smoothie topped with a dollop of whip cream as I write out my Health and Happiness goals for the coming New Year. I have an emotional attachment to food—healthy or otherwise—and that’s just one of many concerns I’m dealing with. But for now, I’m simply going to enjoy the pleasure of this marvelous treat! Ummmm.

We all have our individual bents and devices. Whatever yours are—they are unique to you, and you owe it to yourself to pay close attention. Our bodies are God’s temples and they deserve respect. Migraines, fatigue, insomnia, and thick fungal toenails do not make life enjoyable! I got myself to where I am today and there’s hope to living a better life, if I treat myself well and feed my body what it needs and craves. (No, it’s not Junior Mints, chocolate éclairs, or beef jerky.)

What will make you healthier?

As you know, or can guess, eating raw, enzyme and nutrient rich foods is a priority that I believe can help heal what ails me. Do some reading at Hallelujah Acres or the Gerson Institute and you’ll glimpse some of the amazing benefits of adding more alkalizing fruits and vegetables to your diet and their relationship to the disease process. But that’s just part of my plan, and no, I don’t aim to eat all raw foods , but I am desiring a healthy lifestyle change and mostly raw is a part of it (and I’ve been at it for awhile).

Three months ago I fit into my clothes better than I do now, and eight years ago, I was 30 lbs. smaller and had kept it off for several years, but the weight slowly crept back up. I need more balance. Losing 30 pounds again is one of my goals, and I’m giving myself a whole year in which to do it, BUT, weight loss is not my main goal—Health is! Physical, mental, and spiritual.

I had an excellent Christmas 2012 with my family. 

I'm 5'10" though I look like a midget next to my very tall sons and husband.

 

I’ve outlined my goals, with extensive plans to implement them for the coming year, and part of my new plan here at Kathy’s Kitchen blog is to break them down, concentrating one week at a time on just a few individual things to put into practice. I’ve selected four category titles to concentrate on each week to share: Move, Munch, Motivation, and Mindset. You can follow me here and on Facebook to see what I’m up to and if you are joining in on the Healthy Habits Linkup fun and community accountability, I’ll be following you and gaining inspiration from you all as well.

My Simplified Health Goals for 2013

• Improved overall health (#1 priority)
• Look good / feel good
• Assert a positive outlook and attitude
• Increase knowledge of health, fitness, and nutrition
• Maintain excellent eating habits specific to my health issues (including anti-inflammatory diet + raw foods-based diet)
• Lose weight—30 lbs total for the year (2.5 lbs per month)
• Increase energy, strength, and flexibility
• Exercise routinely
• Minimize stress
• Experience less frequent migraines and untoward symptoms of disease
• Have a well-fitting, slimming, wardrobe
• Reach out and help others, sharing similar interests and needs while following the Health Habits Linkup and post my weekly response
• Experiment, update, and add new healthy recipes and information to Kathy’s Kitchen . . . blog

Let’s Start . . . Week One:

Move

Exercise! I’ve been lax with exercise recently, but I feel so much better and my energy level increases when activity and exercise are part of my routine. For me, this is crucial, so it’s a priority. I simply won’t drop an ounce if I’m lazy. I like to pop in a Jazzercise DVD and I’m just starting to do a yoga routine (Yoga for Inflexible People) which I find very relaxing. In nicer weather I need to start walking around my neighborhood again. My aim is for exercising five times per week, put my feet up and relax in the afternoons for 30 minutes, and otherwise make a conscious effort to keep moving.

Munch

Drink My Greens! I like to do fresh fruit and vegetable juicing, but it’s time consuming and I don’t do it but several times a week if it’s a good week! But I can make green smoothies kind of quick and I can put organic dried green powder into a cup of water (with lemon, and stevia) for a quick nutrition boost. The plan is to drink my greens every day—fresh juicing, added to smoothies, or just in a cup. (Scroll down this page to see my basic smoothie recipe from an older post titled Breakfast in the Raw.)

Motivation

Something new! I’m excited to be alive today—the first day of the New Year, and I’m looking forward to this opportunity to renew my promise to love and care for myself, while working on some healthy habit changes along with other ladies through a Health Habits Blog Hop. Thank you, Dollie at Teacher's of Good Things for sponsoring it!

Mindset

Baby steps! I know the right answers; it’s implementing them that are the tricky part. Taken in steps, I can accomplish much and so can you. It’s like I’m starting over . . . One thing I am good at is that if I blow it, I will start again. So, while I’ve come a long way in changing my lifestyle and eating habits . . . say in the last 10 years, there’s much more I can, and want to do and learn.

Some sweet day in the future, maybe I’ll be able to share with you some before and after pics (I love those, don’t you?) but if you want added inspiration and care to read some very encouraging stories check out this link: http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/before-and-after-photos.html Two ladies that have positively motivated me to take a closer look at the way I eat and the choices I make (included on that page) are Angela Stokes and Tonya Zavasta! Keep in mind that we are not all Angelas or Tonyas but there are lots of things we can learn from others.

Excuse me while I pop in that Jazzercise DVD!