There is an easier way to get your greens….

(Yes, eating greens is important. For a lot of reasons.  I get into those here <—–top 10 reasons to eat your greens)

That being said, DRINKING them is an awesome option!  I’ve been drinking green smoothies since college when my Mom bought some new green powder.  A long time smoothie fan, I thought why not throw some of the powder into the mix.  WOW!  I knew something must be up with these things when I felt a boost of energy after drinking them for only a few days.  PLUS, those days my diet was far from ideal, so I knew it had to be the smoothie kick starting my energy.

My roommates used to gag and and ask me “HOW are you DRINKING that?” with looks of disgust on their faces.  They didn’t know the secret……

Confession: I didn’t know it either!

{*Pssst!* Secret is: They can actually taste good!}

The ones I used to blend up in college didn’t taste so great, so I didn’t dare say, here try it!  I’ve come a long way and now (usually) they taste really good!

About Project Green Smoothie

After watching a video about a guy giving away 30 presents for his 30th birthday, I came up with the idea to share my green smoothies with unsuspecting morning walkers/ beach goers!  They always make me happy in the morning, so I’m passing it on!

Day 1

I set off with green smoothie in hand (Day 1 recipe: frozen berries, banana, coconut water, spinach).  After offering to unsuspecting person #1, he passed saying  he felt like he was about to throw up,  in his worlds ” …not because of what you just told me is in that smoothie….”

UMMM, Operation Green Smoothie was off to a rocky start…

Things took a turn for the better when I offered the smoothie to Laura.   She had never tried a green smoothie, and to her surprise, she liked it!

Here she is with two dogs, Cowboy and Peanut, enjoying her smoothie on a sunny St Pete morning!

where our plastic bags end up...

• People consume over 1 MILLION plastic bags per MINUTE

• Hundreds of thousands of marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags that they mistake for food.
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade. This means when in the sun, they break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways as well as entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest the bits.

Oh my!

Garbage Island? 

Plastic bags are just the beginning.  Plastic water bottles fill up our landfills and oceans in epic proportions.  In this video clip, Oprah talks about the tragic consequences to our marine life (and ourselves) due to accumulated plastic waste.

This video clip (only a couple minutes)  is a must watch, especially if you have never seen garbage island (twice the size of Texas in the Pacific)

So what can we do?

• Bring reusable shopping bags to the grocery store
• SKIP plastic water bottles and go reusable! Read more on the top brand choices here

This past weekend my friend Heather celebrated her birthday. We got together to celebrate by stuffing our faces with sushi and fried ice cream. Good times!

Although this is not my every day diet, from time to time I allow myself to indulge in tasty treats that may not be perfectly healthy.

While there is a way to healthfully prepare sushi rolls, I have not found a way to do the same with fried ice cream…

The thing is, trying to maintain a perfectly healthy diet 100% of the time doesn’t work.  Some people may last a few days, some a few months. However, at a certain point, no matter how strong our will power, certain foods that we’re avoiding become more and more appealing.

I’m not really into food rules but one I do follow is the “90-10 diet” rule. Basically 90% of the time I eat what is healthy for me and 10% of the time I eat whatever I feel like eating.

I have seen first hand that when people try to stay on their chosen diet program 100% of the time, it often causes stress and can result in feelings of failure.  Having guilt and fear around food isn’t healthy and can actually sabotage dieting efforts.  Studies have shown that reducing stress can directly impact weight loss.  So let go of the guilt and the stress as best you can.

Here’s an example from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition:

Instead of going guiltily to the fridge at 2 AM for a pint of ice cream, get an ice cream cone and enjoy it outside on a beautiful day with friends.

When you allow yourself a 10% range of flexibility you can indulge yourself without guilt and maintain a basically healthful way of life.

For more healthy body tips, check out my previous blog post Peaceful Weight Loss

cook like granny

Make that GREAT Granny…

And don’t just cook like her, SHOP (as in grocery shop!) like her too.

Here’s why:

When our Great Grandparents were around there was nothing BUT organic food (organic meaning REAL natural food- no chemicals added).

They didn’t have row after row of Super Stores to wander through and over a 200 types of cereal to choose from.  Most of this so called “food” simply didn’t exist!

 This may seem simple, but seriously, if you follow this one simple guideline, your health will greatly improve for the better- GUARANTEED.

Granny’s Tips:

1) Read ingredient labels and if you can’t pronounce it or don’t know what in the world it is, don’t buy it!

2) Even better, skip the box altogether whenever you can! Think ONE ingredient foods- For example, Fruits, Veggies, Whole Grain, Grass fed Meat, Beans, Nuts, Seeds, etc.

3) Invite Granny over for dinner

Cafe Earth

Mama Nature KNOWS the best way to support us and consistently and regularly provides the food our bodies need at the right time of year to truly nourish us.

Spring is a powerful season of transformation and growth.  By eating Spring Foods you can tap into the magical energy of the season!

Check out this Spring Food Shopping list.  You can even print it out and take it with you to the grocery store!

Until the next post!

Be well,

Dana

PS. In the mean time, follow Smart Cookie on Facebook for Daily Top Tips

Chocolate truffles

12 oz of organic DARK (85%) chocolate

1 2/3 cup raw cashews

10 medjool dates, pitted and chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

¼ shredded, raw coconut, cacao powder or cacao nibs (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat chocolate in a double boiler (Boil some water and then put another pot into the boiling water.  The chocolate goes into the 2^nd pot.).  Meanwhile, chop the cashews using a food processor.  Reserve 2/3 of them in a separate bowl.  Blend the remaining cashews with 2/3 cup water and salt in a food processor until completely blended and creamy. Pour mixture into a separate bowl.

Add the dates to the food processor and chop until it becomes paste like in a ball.  Fold together melted chocolate, cashew mixture and dates.  Refrigerate until firm., approximately 30 minutes.  Stir halfway through cooling  to ensure even cooling.

Roll into bite sized balls.  You can leave plain, or roll balls in the extra cashew, shredded coconut, cacao powder or cacao nibs.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Try not to eat all the truffles all at once!

red pepper

My family came for a visit last week.  We were having a great time catching up, when it happened……

They ALL got the flu.  It started with my grandmother.  Next it hit my Dad, then my brother, followed by my Mom. YIKES!

As they headed home,  I couldn’t help but think to myself- “this health stuff WORKS. I didn’t get sick!”  Two days later I felt pretty tired.  I am usually full of energy so I knew something was off, but I drank a smoothie and took it easy.

My brother called the next day. Here’s a  snippet of our conversation:

Me: “I’m glad you’re feeling better. That was not good…”

Craig: “Yeah, it was like the plague..” (hehe)

Me: “I think I got the germs because my energy was low yesterday, but I supercharged myself with one of my smoothies”

Craig: “Um Dana,…. your smoothies are not going to stop this one.”

AND, he was right…

I  didn’t get the all out flu, but I did have a chills and fever kinda thing for a couple days.  Not fun.  Here’s what I did to get better:

1) Yoga nidra

This is the technical term for the deep relaxation part of a yoga class.  Sometimes while sick it’s hard to fall asleep. Doing a yoga nidra session (lying on the back consciously relaxing each muscle group) can help to relax the system and boost immunity.

2) Sleep

Nothing beats the healing effects of real sleep.  When I was sick, I gave myself full permission to sleep as much as I needed.

3) Drink lots of water and tea.

Here’s why.

4) Eat red peppers.

Red peppers are FULL of vitamin C- way more than oranges.  No kidding!

5) Echinacea

Echinacea works.  It is an  immune boosting all natural supplement.  I don’t take it daily, but I did take it when I was sick – 2 or 3 capsules three times a day and it helped.

More immune boosting tips

Give me more! Peary please

Snuggle up with this decadent AND good-for-you treat! 

Filling:

• 3 pears, cored and diced
• 1/3 cup pear nectar
• Juice of 1 lemon

Topping:

• 1/2 cup whole grain all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup maple sugar
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 3-4 tbsp. butter softened

Preheat oven to 375.  Place diced pears in a 9×9 casserole dish with pear nectar and lemon juice.  Combine flour, oats, maple sugar, allspice and sea salt.  Work softened butter into the flour mixture until it looks like crumbs. Top pear with crumb mixture. Bake 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.

Recipe from www.AndreaBeaman.com