Healthy, Simple Raw Lunch and Snacks

Here’s a healthy and simple raw lunch I have just finished preparing and packing to take with me to work tomorrow. I get such a kick out of preparing my lunch and snacks especially when they look this yummy 🙂  It reminds me of my childhood and being a student in primary school. I hated the lunch my school served so I packed my own lunch (most days) and snacks. School lunch was usually under or overcooked and lacked any flavor whatsoever but it was prepared from scratch with real whole foods. In hindsight it was definitely so much healthier than what most public schools serve children here in the US, hence the childhood obesity epidemic. If only everyone listened to Jamie Oliver. Snack time & Lunch time, at work now, are still one of my favorite parts of the day so why not take the time to prepare something tasty and healthy for the day ahead or early in the morning if you can manage that. A longer work day means you should pack even more food so as not to succumb to temptation. Don’t forget to hydrate 🙂 with water and your favorite no-fuss juice recipe.

Breakfast: I’ll make this green smoothie recipe early in the morning in the Vitamix before I head out the door! I LOOOOVE that Vitamix. It is so incredibly powerful, fast and easy to clean. I have gotten so much use out of it! Can’t imagine our kitchen without it. *Thanks babe*

Snack time #1: Peeled and quartered juicy oranges

I bought a huge box of these oranges wholesale at Costco and to be honest they are the juiciest and most delicious oranges I’ve ever had. Hubby & I finished a box in a few days so I joyfully took at trip back to Costco last Friday for box #2 . Let’s see how long they last this time…

Lunch time: Large Green Salad with your healthy dressing of choice

• organic mixed organic greens
• cherry tomatoes from mummy’s garden
• mini bell peppers from my other mama’s (MIL) garden
• sliced cucumber
• organic baby carrots

Snack time #2: Mangoes & Strawberries

Are you salivating like I am?

Bonus snack: Trail mix

*nuts are all raw and measure half a cup all together

• cashews
• pumpkin seeds
• almonds
• sunflower seeds
• 1 heaped tbsp of dried cranberries

Ready to go!

What are your favorite easy peasy healthy and simple snack and lunch ideas?

Creamy Dreamy Green Smoothie Recipe #9

I can’t believe I’m about to post a smoothie recipe with avocado in it. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE avocado, but the idea of it in a smoothie was crazy to me before now. I despised avocado as a child but I somehow fell in love with it as an adult and I ‘treat’ myself with them every once in a while because they tend to be pretty expensive. You can imagine my excitement then when my mother-in-law gifted me with a juicy and perfectly ripe avocado among very many other garden-fresh fruits and vegetables. I knew I wanted to create a recipe I had never made before with the avocado so when I woke up last Saturday morning with a craving for a delicious healthy green smoothie I knew I just had to use some of the avocado. I threw all my ingredients in my oh-so-powerful Vitamix and said a prayer! Well folks, it was delicious and the perfect breakfast smoothie. I couldn’t believe how amazing it was. I feel so silly now 🙂 .It was creamy, dreamy and delicious. Did I say it was delish? I will absolutely be making this recipe again and again and again. Ladies and gentlemen…dare to do something different with your smoothies, you just might create a winner!

CREAMY DREAMY GREEN SMOOTHIE

1/2 an avocado

1 frozen banana

1 date

Handful of organic spinach

1/2 cup of water

ENJOY 🙂

Here’s a picture of some of the peppers we got from her. Thanks mama! I will NOT be making a smoothie recipe with these hot as Hades habanero peppers. I’m not that crazy. Aren’t they gorgeous though?

Updates on Week 1 of my “New Year, New Me 6 week plan”

Happy New Year everyone! Week 1 was an absolute success! Yay! A part of me was terrified that it would be painful and tortuous, which parts of it were, but overall it went really well. I don’t know why or how, but I have experienced a mental shift of some kind just like I did back in 2005 when I read Never Be Sick Again by Raymond Francis. I just know that I want to experience newer heights in my health and this 6 week plan so far has been the best way to begin this journey. Thanks to Dr. Fuhrman and his awesome book Eat to Live! I LOVE books. They say madness is doing the same thing and expecting different results, right? It’s safe to say, I’m not crazy anymore! Some would say that I’m only crazier now but what do they know? hummph!

Let me begin by saying that truly the only challenging thing about week 1 was coming up with new and interesting ways to make vegetable dishes and not including meat anywhere. There is an abundance of wonderful blogs with great recipes so I hope to remedy that by spending some time finding a handful of recipes to try each week. My main menu on a day-to-day basis this week was as follows:

• Breakfast: Green or Fruit Smoothie / Fruit Salad / Veggie Juice *this did not change for me, this has been my standard breakfast for a long time now.
• Lunch: LARGE green salad. I learned very quickly I need to make my salads larger than usual to fill me up and to change my mix-ins and dressings daily so I don’t get bored. 
• Snack: Nuts and/or Fruits *this did not change either
• Dinner: Veggie stews with sweet potato/brown rice, Bean stews, Spicy veggie medley soup

Please note that it would vary from day-to-day in that I would sometimes have the stews and soups for lunch and the large green salads for dinner. Some of the benefits I have experienced this week are that I am much more conscious about every thing I eat and feel lighter. Transit time for my meals is much faster! The best benefit I have experienced at this point is the feeling on a sub-conscious level that I am doing right by my body. I am so glad I don’t have my scale in the house right now because only God knows that if I weighed the same I would be missing out on the wonderful feeling I have that this is the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I know I mentioned my hubby was joining me on my plan but he is definitely just a cheerleader at this point! Lol! I am very ok with that though. He makes a great cheerleader. I really would have loved for him not to ‘cheer lead’ yesterday while devouring his take-out BBQ chicken in my face.

Here is a blog I found that I just love, AlmostRawVegan. Can’t wait to dig into it some more. I really love and appreciate the community of WordPress blogs. I have learned and discovered so much through them. It’s been a little while since I put up some juice recipes so you can be sure there’s a ton coming. Stay tuned!

Please share any great blogs/websites you love that focus on healthy eating below. Sharing is caring 🙂 

Smoothie Recipe #4: Emerald Green Smoothie

Breakfast today was a smoothie that had a beautiful deep green hue that (randomly) reminded me of emeralds. I literally filled my Vitamix halfway with baby spinach. I’m pretty sure I’m still subconsciously trying to make up for my over-indulgence on Christmas day. I seriously need to learn to rotate my greens though. I’ve been doing way too much spinach. In an effort to make my smoothies simpler, this breakfast green smoothie recipe only calls for 4 ingredients. Here goes…

• 2 extremely large handfuls of organic baby spinach
• 1 frozen organic banana
• 1 cup of organic frozen strawberries
• 3/4 cup of organic peaches

I blended all the above with 8 ounces of filtered water. It came out perfectly smooth, delicious and was about 24 ounces. Thanks Vitamix. I am so grateful for this kitchen appliance. I get sooooo much use out of it. Here’s to many more green smoothies in the new year and an  abundance of health 🙂

Check out the very first green smoothie I made with my Vitamix. Boy was I (and still am) a very happy girl. Vitamixes (is that a word?) ROCK!

~Blend & Be Happy~

My First Vitamix Green Smoothie :-)

Christmas has come early courtesy of my more-than-amazing husband! I seriously can’t even recall how many years it has been that I have wanted a Vitamix blender in my life. My desire (obsession) to have one recently grew along with my intent to prepare even healthier meals. I even went so far as to fall asleep on several nights with a Vitamix brochure I picked up my local Whole Foods last year and this was after having watched at least 3 or 4 videos on YouTube of folks using their Vitamix blenders at home. Crazy! I know. I have no idea what winning the lottery feels like but I can’t imagine it feels any better than the day my Vitamix arrived at my doorstep. It arrived on September 21st, 2012 at 2:14pm weighing in at 10lb 9 ounces and 20.5″ long. I wasted no time when it arrived and blended my first Vitamix green smoothie.

Ingredients were as follows (makes about 16 ounces)

• 1 cup of frozen mango
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup of plain coconut yogurt
• 2 organic kale leaves, thoroughly washed
• 6-8 ounces of filtered water

I literally just dumped all these ingredients in the Vitamix, turned it on and in less than a minute I had prepared what was the smoothest and most delicious green smoothie ever! Yes, I said it! E-V-E-R…EVER!! I’m not sure what planet I was on while drinking this smoothie but it wasn’t earth. God Bless the makers of Vitamix. It absolutely did not disappoint and hasn’t yet. I have used it every single day since then and can’t say enough great things about this kitchen appliance. My deal-finding husband purchased a refurbished one by the way and you would never know the difference (the 64 ounce container, tamper and lid are brand new). My breakfast of choice is a smoothie but now it’s always a GREEN smoothie thanks to the Vitamix.  I made green smoothies with my Ninja even though now that I own a Vitamix it does not compare. The path to a healthier lifestyle absolutely does not require a Vitamix or a Ninja, it just requires doing the best we can with what we have and know in the moment. If you can afford one though and love to make smoothies, soups, purees, nut butters, desserts, dressings etc go with a Vitamix. It doesn’t get any better.

If that wasn’t a darn good commercial for you folks at Vitamix I don’t know what is. You’re welcome 🙂

…and thanks babe! You da best.

~Happy green smoothie making!~

Here’s my baby… Isn’t she a beauty?

Smoothie Recipe #2: Green smoothie (mango, pineapple, banana & spinach)

Here’s the only green smoothie recipe I love and make right now. I look forward to making new green smoothie recipes but it’s pretty hard because I really love and make this one every single time I’m in the mood for a green smoothie.

1 cup of chopped frozen mangoes

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup of chopped frozen pineapple

2 handfuls of organic baby spinach

8 ounces of filtered water

Feel free to add any protein, flax seeds, coconut oil or anything that would boost the nutrient power of your smoothie.

It’s delicious, and comes out smooth and frozen with the help of my Ninja blender. The Ninja blender is my second favorite kitchen appliance after my Breville juicer of course! I have tried to make many a smoothie with my regular blender and while it works it, produces a less frozen smoothie as the blades heat up. It also requires more liquid and lots of shaking/stirring in between so I don’t bother! I love and appreciate my Ninja but I look forward to the day I bring home a Vitamix. This is actually our second Ninja, we received our first one as a wedding gift and it conveniently ‘died’ at 14 months, 2 months after the warranty expired. After using a regular blender for a few weeks, I couldn’t take the mooshy smoothies and used my 20% off BedBath&Beyond coupon to bring home a new Ninja. I’m still coming for you Vitamix 🙂

~Enjoy!~