Mangolicious Green Smoothie Recipe

In order to start my green smoothie day off right this morning I decided to a little experimentation. I had a fresh bunch of Rainbow Chard that I was determined to use. Honestly, swiss chard is not my favorite green. I think it has a bit of a funky aftertaste. That being said, I believe in rotating my greens, and Rainbow Chard is so pretty it is hard to pass up. The smoothie I made this morning had absolutely no aftertaste, though, and I may find swiss chard a more regular part of my green smoothie regimen because this one was VERY YUMMY!

I cut up about 1 - 1 and a 1/2 cups of chard, a very ripe mango, a banana, a slice of lemon, and the brown stuff in the pic is tamarind. This is a fruit I discovered just this summer and to me, it tastes like a mix between an apricot and a prune with just a hint of sour. I put all of the fruit in the Vitamix with a cup of water and a cup of ice and blended it until smooth. Then I added the chopped chard and blended again.

Try it -- You will like it!

Great Green Smoothie Day!

I have had a great green smoothie day! They really make me feel so good! For breakfast I had a mango, banana, spinach smoothie -- just add ice and a little water and blend in the VitaMix. Then for lunch I had a Thai green soup from Victoria Boutenko's book Green Smoothie Revolution. Both were very yummy. I am hoping all those live greens will help me work out some of this muscle soreness. My poor quads and hamstrings are aching from boot camp.

I also found a really good website today for those of you who are trying to keep track of your calories. It is www.caloriecount.about.com -- I really like it because it also gives you an analysis of carbs, protein, and fats as well as the nutrients you have consumed over the day. That is really important for me because of my calcium issues, and this way I can see exactly how much dietary calcium I am getting. Check it out.

On a totally separate note, I have to get on my soap box for a moment. I have been reading about the Texas Board of Education's decision to change our history textbooks in order to rescue their language from liberal academia. How RIDICULOUS! This is the 2010 version of burning the books we don't want our teens to read. I never knew it was such a shame to be educated about capitalism, imperialism, and the consequences of how we have chosen to live. How will we ever learn from the past if we can't own up to the present?

Va-va -va-voom!

I've been a little under the weather. Yesterday I had a fever, aches, sore throat, chills, the whole thing. This morning I went to the doctor just to make sure I didn't have strep or H1N1 -- but I did not. YEAH! I just have an upper respiratory infection and I am already starting to feel a little bit better. I've been drinking a lot of green smoothies and water and juices trying to flush it out of my system. My new favorite smoothie is pineapple, raspberry, lime, and spinach. It is so good! I just throw it all in and turn on the Vita-mix. You know how it is when your nose is stuffy and you can't taste very well, but I can taste this smoothie with all of the tangy flavors. I call it va-va-va-voom.

I must credit my breast doctor with part of the recipe. Dr. Jekot is a breast cancer survivor and although she is not a raw foodist, she eats "mostly vegetarian" and does everything she can to stay healthy. While she was doing my biopsy last week we were exchanging smoothie recipes. She has not ever had a green smoothie, so I was doing my best to convince her that it was good. She had the pineapple, raspberry, lime smoothie recipe and I just added the spinach. You really can't tell a difference in the taste. To be honest, the color is kinda nasty, but put it in a solid color cup and you would never be able to tell what color it is anyway.

I am attaching a picture of me in my leggings today, too. Ever since I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago I have been hearing from several of you saying, "It is time we see those leggings." I am "Back in Black." Sorry, I know that it a little corny, but I am a bit corny and a product my generation. A little AC/DC never hurt anyone.

Cow Eyeball Dissection

We woke up at 5:00 this morning to drive 2 hours in the POURING down rain in order to go to Glen Rose, TX and dissect a cow's eyeball. We listened to The Story of the World (a wonderful history book for children on CD) on the way. It was really fun! We listened to the story of Gilgamesh, the story of how silk was discovered, and learned about the citadel cities in Africa that mysteriously disappeared. Very interesting.

Then we got to Fossil Rim and got our cow eyeballs. Jake and Emma just sat and stared at it first. No one wanted to touch it, let alone make the first cut. Jake finally picked up the scalpel and just kinds poked at it until he figured out he was actually going to have to hold the eyeball in his hand to make an incision. Emma just sat there saying things like, "gross," "eeewww," "this is so nasty," until I made her take a turn and finish cutting the rest of the cornea off. The class was GREAT and the instructor walked them through every step. By the end of the lab they were comfortable and even having a good time. It was a good day for home schooling. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to be with my children every day and expose them to so many different learning experiences!

Since we left so early this morning I did not have my green smoothie for breakfast -- I did not want to wake Phillip with the Blender. I made one for dinner, though and my dog, Clyde, was so excited to hear the blender start up. I think he enjoys the green smoothies as much as I do. My mom thinks it is hilarious that he comes running when he hears it.

The difference between vegetarian, vegan, and raw

I believe I mentioned in an earlier blog that I became a vegetarian for a short time before going raw. My doctors recommended the vegetarian diet due to some kidney issues. I think being vegetarian made it easier to transition to a raw food diet because I was already past the cravings for red meat, chicken, fish, and eggs. When I decided to try a raw food diet I also cut out milk and milk products. That made me a vegan. Additionally, I cut out all processed foods (yes, that means I don't eat rice, bread, pasta, etc). Many processed foods contain animal products anyway, so many vegans eat this way as well. However, raw foodists don't heat their food above 104 degrees. If you think about it, that is not really hard since I am not eating meat of any kind, dairy products of any kind, or processed foods. Fruits and veggies taste best in their natural state. I do sometimes warm my food in the Vitamix, just not above 104 degrees. I warm only soups that I make, and not all of them. Usually I don't get anywhere near 104 degrees either.

Yesterday I gave a shout out to my friend Liz. Today she emailed me regarding her daughter, "She loves the food and says that she "notices" her food more. She also said that she has

more energy and her "mood seems more level." Your readers should know that she has been vegetarian since she was about 10 years old (and she is 33 now)...so raw is even making a difference with her!"

I am so happy to hear that other people are experiencing some of the same benefits I have experienced.

Music to my ears!

I went to the grocery this morning. The kids helped me unload the care because we planned to eat lunch and watch Beowulf together. They just finished reading Beowulf and I promised them that when we finished studying it they could watch the movie. Anyway, they were helping me unload the groceries and Emma said, "Mom, all you bought was fruit and vegetables." She said it in a half whine. I just commented happily, "That's right, they all just looked so good!" She started reaching in the bags to see what all was there and I hear her say, "Yeah! Broccoli! Yeah! Apples! Oh good, look Jake, mom bought pears! Thanks mom for buying my favorite kind of salad." Jake was in the kitchen by this time going through the bags as well. He said, "Mom, thank you, thank you, thank you -- I love dried cranberries! Did you get me any papaya spears?" I had to smile to myself listening to their comments. I did my "happy dance" while I sang, "Go Mommy! Go Mommy! Go Mommy!" Can you hear the bass?

It is good that we had a nice lunch because Beowulf was very disappointing to all of us. Jake and Emma couldn't wait to see it (partly because it is PG-13) and they kept saying over and over again, "that's not what happened in the book! How can they change the story that much mom?" They were right, it really wasn't much like the book at all. When it was over Jake said that if he ever became a movie producer he would like to make a movie that was like the book because the book was so much better! Emma enthusiastically agreed adding all of the things the movie left out. I just sat back and listened -more music to my ears!

So many of you commented on the pics I took last week of my dinner that I included one today. I made raw tacos tonight. SO GOOD! First I made a salad: 2 heirloom tomatoes (I used 1 red one and 1 yellow one because I like to mix the flavors and I think it is pretty), 1 red bell pepper, half a small purple onion, 2 avocados, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp chili powder, a garlic clove (crushed), Himalayan salt to taste, and cayenne pepper to taste. I chopped all the veggies and put them in a bowl and then added the spices and herbs. The "meat" was 1 and half cups soaked raw sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup soaked raw almonds, 1 package of sun-dried tomatoes soaked for 15 minutes, 1/2 TBSP of cumin, 1/2 TBSP chili powder, 1/2 TBSP onion powder, 1 clove of garlic, cayenne to taste. I pulsed it in the food processor until it was mixed well and has the texture of ground taco meat. We don't use taco shells, instead we use romaine lettuce leaves and layer the meat and salad on the leaf. I hope you like it! The most time consuming part is chopping the veggies for the salad --- unless you use your Vitamix on low speed like I did. I hope you enjoy this recipe -- it is one of my favorites!!!! I love to top it with fresh cilantro, too!

What my food looks like

Let me be the first to say, I am NOT a chef. I am a regular person preparing raw foods in my home for my family. Oftentimes, dinner preparation in my house involves Emma peeling carrots, Jake chopping onions (he is the only one who doesn't cry) and me chopping other vegetables, using the Vitamix, or the food processor. Phillip is usually chasing the dogs through the kitchen with his hot wheels. It gets crowded and sometimes tempers flare if Phillip accidentally rams the car into someone's toe or one of the dogs gets too excited and jumps on someone. There may even be tears and/or yelling in my kitchen during meal preparation.

That being said, I am always surprised how most of what we prepare turns out beautifully! My ordinary, everyday kitchen, with mail piled on the countertop and trash that desperately needs to be taken out can still produce some of the most colorful, tasty, and healthy food that I have ever put in my mouth! I love the way our food looks and smells.

These pictures are from my dinner tonight. I made "raw family green soup" from Victoria Boutenko's book, Green Smoothie Revolution. It has chard, celery, parsley, lemon juice, water and avocado in it. As she suggested, I topped it with some grated carrots, dulse leaves, and sprouts. I attached pictures of the soup before blending and after I put it in the bowl. Believe me, if I can do this, ANYONE can do this. It is so easy! Victoria's books have been a life line for me!

I also made the kids a smoothie out of butter lettuce, pears, blueberries, water and ice. I didn't think they would like it, but they drank it all without complaint. I did not include a picture of it because it was gone before I could snap a picture. I adapted this smoothie from the same book. Boutenko users miner's lettuce, but I did not have any (nor do I know where I can find any around here).

I was also having a major craving for some chocolate. I think I mentioned in a previous blog that I have a sweet tooth, so I made some raw brownies to LIVE for! The recipe was from the book Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet. I think they took about 10 minutes max from the time I opened the recipe page until I put a brownie in my mouth. If you are just starting to enjoy raw foods I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed this book! They are so good! Jake and Emma LOVE them! There is a picture of what remains of the brownies.

Transitioning from a SAD diet to a RAW diet

A few of you have asked me how to transition from a SAD (Standard American Diet) to a RAW one. I went from a SAD diet to a vegetarian diet overnight. It took me about 2 weeks to become a vegan and about one more week to start eating raw. It was not hard for me at all, but I also had some serious medical risks that really didn't leave me much room for transitioning on the sliding scale.

Wayne, on the other hand, took the transition much more slowly. He started by eating meat about 2 times a week. Then he went down to once a week. His next phase was eating only fish (as a meat source) and transitioning the dairy products out of his diet. Once he actually tried the almond milk, he really liked it! The hard part was getting over the idea of drinking almond milk.

The easiest meal to change for both of us was breakfast. Smoothies are an easy and delicious way to transition. We started with mostly fruit smoothies at first (banana, orange, mango and blueberry, almond milk, with ice were some of our favorites).

One thing I have found is that you can eat raw as simply or as complicated as you would like. I transitioned simply, eating mostly salads. I loaded them up with all kinds of veggies -- purple onion, red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, cucumber, zucchini, summer squash, and there are many wonderful raw food salad dressing recipes. I looked online for "raw food recipes" and came up with dozens! I also at a lot of trail mix. I found some raw food cereal at Whole Foods and ate that as well. I have a major sweet tooth so I knew I would need some sweets to get me through the transition. Thank God there are so many raw food cookie recipes online! Raw almond and Not Peanut Butter cookies convinced me that I wasn't having to "give up" anything! These cookies have become a staple in our house. I always have some in the refrigerator or freezer. If you know that you definitely want to change to a raw food diet or are pretty sure, I highly recommend 12 Steps to Raw Food by Victoria Boutenko.

Wayne transitioned with more complicated foods. Granted, eating raw was not his idea or something he ever thought he would do. When he saw how good I was doing and mentioned that he might try eating raw I wanted to make him things I knew he would love. That is when I started trying things like Raw Tacos, Raw Thai food, Spring Rolls, and vegetable Sushi. None of the things are very hard to make, they just take more ingredients (ones we weren't used to buying). Wayne is eating about 80% raw these days and he feels so good. I am very proud of him for opening his mind to trying new things! Now Wayne enjoys simple raw foods like salads and a piece of fruit, but he needed the fancy things to help him cross over.

Most people think eating raw is expensive, but once we stopped buying all of the other things we normally ate and stopped eating out the price was about the same. You can start with any blender you have on hand and then later, if you decide this diet is for you, you can invest in a Vitamix. I LOVE mine! It is the most used appliance in our entire house.

If you are interested in transitioning to a RAW diet, the most important thing to remember is to listen to your own body. You can make the move as quickly or as slowly as you would like. You will know when you are ready better than anyone else. My view is that any amount of raw you can add to your diet is probably better than what you were eating on the SAD diet. Some people never reach a 100% raw diet and don't really feel the need to pursue that as a goal. That is fine. Honor yourself. In my experience, the more intention and love you put into your body, the more you will get out. GOOD LUCK! Please keep me posted on your transitions.

Why Raw?

I have had many people ask me in the last few days why I decided to go raw. Here is the whole story. In March 2007 I was diagnosed with two thyroid tumors. After a biopsy, they determined that one of the tumors was probably cancerous and recommended I have a total thyroidectomy. Prior to being diagnosed my health changed and I began to feel tired all of the time, I had skin and nail issues, cycle problems, gained a lot of weight, and I would lose my voice every few days. It felt like I had a rock sitting on my throat. I was clearing my throat every few minutes. The tumor was pressing on my vocal cords.

The good news was that when they took my thyroid out the tumor turned out not to be cancerous. The bad news was that within 24 hours after surgery horrible things began to happen that would change my life. First I wasn't able to feel my lips and my legs kept going to sleep. Eventually my legs and arms started to spasm and draw up uncontrollably. My lips and eye started twitching constantly. They put me on a heart monitor and seizure watch. As I sat in my hospital bed I felt very scared. My parathyroid glands, though still intact, quit working. It is a rare complication of surgery. My 24 hour stay in the hospital turned into a week. Once I was released I had to get my blood drawn and my calcium levels tested every other day for about 6 months. Gradually it tapered down over the next year to 2 times a week, to once a week, and to once every two weeks. I continued to experience a great deal of numbness and extreme fatigue. Somedays it seemed getting out of bed and taking a shower would wipe me out for the rest of the day. Another side effect was depression. While I thought I had been "depressed" before, I had never even been close. I couldn't snap out of it. The doctors kept messing with the dosages of my medication trying to get all of the hormones right so that I could function. At one point I was taking upwards of 25 pills a day juts to control my calcium levels. That doesn't include my Synthroid or depression medications.

Year two after surgery I saw some improvements and was able to move my blood draws out to every 3 months. I began exercising again and lost some of the weight I had gained. Iw as starting to feel good again when I began getting kidney stones. I passed 2 on my own and found out I had 7 more to go. One was way too large to pass. I was banned from exercise. I had my kidney stones blasted and then passed two more extremely painful ones. Once they were able to analyze the stones they found the calcium had effected my kidneys and they were not filtering properly. I had extremely high levels of protein in my urine and the doctors feared I was moving toward kidney failure.

My urologist and my endocrinologist agreed that I needed to go on a strict vegetarian diet. No meat, no dairy, no whey protein. They told me an occasional egg or fish would be okay. At first, I thought I would never make it. Because my family still ate meat and I was the primary chef for the family I ate mostly salads and fruits. I bought a Vitamix because my blender broke and began experimenting with smoothies. I found some I loved! The kids wanted to try them and they started requesting their favorites as well.

I noticed that I was feeling a little better eating vegetarian. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, though. That evening I saw a clip on the local evening news about a woman who had breast cancer who went on a raw food diet. Her cancer had shrunk and her incurable stage 4 cancer was now thought to be curable. The woman was young and had three children. She looked so vibrant and excited about sharing her secret. I think she went to the Hippocrates Institute in Florida. I told Wayne, "I could never do that." He said, "You pretty much are already."

The next day I began to do some research on a raw food diet. The more I looked at the information the more excited I got. When I told Wayne I was going to do it, he thought I was a little crazy. He thought I was taking things a little far, but when I showed him what I had learned he was supportive. I even happened upon a link that said two prominent raw foodists, Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes were going to be speaking in our area that weekend and he agreed to go with me to hear them talk. After their talk, I was ready and went 100% raw.

Within one week I saw such an enormous difference! I had so much more energy! I had lost about 4 pounds and I felt great! I couldn't believe it. The next few weeks I lost even more weight, my skin completely cleared up, I was having no trouble sleeping, needed less sleep, and overflowing with energy. Although I haven't seen the endocrinologist again yet, my urologist told me I looked great and my kidney labs had improved (this after being raw about 1 1/2 months) and to keep doing whatever I was doing because it was agreeing with me.

I have been raw for about 3 months now and I have lost 25 pounds. I weigh less now than before I even had surgery! I feel 10 years younger and continue to have tons of energy. I see my endocrinologist next week so we will see what he has to say. Many of my family and friends have commented on the way I look, not just the weight I have lost, but my skin and hair, my confidence and my enthusiasm for life. I am happy and enjoying life again. I feel like I can do whatever I set my mind to do. Currently, my medications include my Synthroid and I take 1 pill a week to control my calcium levels, and I am not taking anything for my kidneys. Also, I no longer take anti-depressants. This has truly been a journey for me. I am eager to see what happens next.

Doctor's Visits

Today I had to take Jake to get a physical.  He was GREAT!  The doctor if he continues growing at the same rate he will be 6'4".  I can't believe that my first baby is so grown up -- he even had to turn his head and cough today.  They asked him how many cups of milk he drank per day.  Anyone who knows Jake knows that he doesn't really like to drink milk.  She encouraged him to drink more milk and then gave us a handout on calcium rich foods.  On the list were lots of things like yogurt, hard cheese, soft cheese, even macaroni and cheese.  I was amazed!  Also on the list were a few other things like cooked spinach and roasted almonds.  No raw fruits or vegetables.

Last week I quit buying milk altogether.  Currently, all of my family drinks almond milk.  I have bought some from the grocery, but really prefer making in the Vitamix.  It is really easy.  At first, Jake and Emma rolled their eyes and asked why they had to drink this stuff.  But, when they saw Phillip (who didn't know it a different kind of milk and is by far my pickiest eater) chug it down without complaints they decided to try it.  To their surprise they really liked it.  When we went to the grocery store Emma even said, "Hey mom we need more almond milk."

Jake asked me later if I thought he was getting enough calcium in his diet.  We came home and looked up all of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts that he eats on a regular basis and discovered he is getting more than enough calcium.  He was relieved.  It would be nice to see more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds on that list!