NEW Juice recipes, Smoothie recipes…time to get back to it!

I am literally having a hard time typing on my laptop. It’s ridiculous. Is it possible to be away from your laptop for so long that you have to reacquaint yourself with the keyboard? I guess it is because that’s what I’m experiencing right now. I have missed my blog, missed eating healthy (mostly low fat raw vegan or 80/10/10) all the time and definitely sorely missed feeling healthy and vibrant. I guess being pregnant (not having an easy time with it) and taking care of a newborn can really throw you off your game. Well, y’all, I’ve gotten back on the saddle, I’m thoroughly enjoying the process of taking care of myself again and now I want to get back to talking, or rather, typing about it.

My sins. I have many of them this year. I literally shoved anything and everything down my throat while I was pregnant. I couldn’t eat and satisfy myself fast enough. I had an insatiable appetite 24/7. All the time. All the darn time. I woke up thinking about food (unhealthy food) and went to bed thinking about what (unhealthy) breakfast I would have the next morning. It was horrible and pleasurable all at the same time. I am incredibly hungry all the time now thanks to being a breastfeeding mommy but at least this time I’m shoving bananas down my throat and waking up excited to make a green juice. I thank the heavens above that I literally did not pay for my sins by gaining excessive weight while pregnant but my hormones are definitely waaaay out of whack which I can’t balance with any herbs till I’m done breastfeeding. I gained 19lbs and lost all of it by the time I was 10 days postpartum. THANK YOU GOD. All that being said, I look forward to a healthful postpartum journey and I want to take you with me whether you’re happy with your weight, want to lose weight, want to feel energized by your meals, lower your cholesterol, control your blood sugar or just love to prepare and enjoy delicious new healthy recipes. I can guarantee it’ll be an interesting ride!

Here are a few juice and smoothie recipes that I have made in the last few weeks that have really gotten me excited! I mean…really excited!! 🙂

Blueberry Delight Smoothie Recipe

• Blueberries, 1 cup
• 1 banana
• 1 orange
• Handful of spinach
• 1tbsp of flaxseed meal

Simple Strawberry-Mango-Orange Smoothie Recipe

• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 orange
• 1/2-1 cup of mango

Great Green Juice Recipe

• 3-4 stalks of celery
• 1 cucumber
• 2 apples
• 1 kiwi
• Handful of cilantro
• Handful of parsley
• 1 lemon
• knob of turmeric 

So there you have it folks! Those are 3 pretty good recipes worth making….right now 🙂 If you can’t wait 500 months for my next post, do check me out on IG (Instagram). I’ve been posting great recipes there pretty often the past few weeks. Do scrub those veggies really well and choose organic ones if available/affordable. I made my smoothies with the all-too-amazing Vitamix and juiced with the Omega J8006.

~Happy Juicing Y’all!~

Make a Green Juice and Feel Better NOW

Do you desire greater health? YES! YES! YES!

Are you constantly making excuses? YES (It’s too cold, I’m too tired etc)

Is there always something seemingly more important to do in the moment? YES (fold the laundry, pay bills, clean the kitchen, buy groceries etc)

I figured I’d just answer the questions for myself. I’ve somehow put so many other things ahead of the list in my life when all I really wanted to do was just make and enjoy a homemade organic green juice. So while I stare at the pile of laundry next to me I’m sipping my green juice, blogging and feeling happy. Making and drinking green juice as I usually do, in the quiet of my home, early in the morning, has an extremely cathartic effect on me. I feel calm, refreshed and approach all the tasks of my day in a more relaxed manner. All the noise that was going on in my head about all the things that need to get done today that was truly making me feel overwhelmed is gone! All I did to make it stop the ‘noise’ was to do something I love that took less than 15 minutes from start to finish. So while I think everyone should make a green juice especially because it sets the tone to make healthier choices the rest of the day, the moral of the story is to just hit the PAUSE button as soon as your day begins and perform a task that is calming. For me, this morning, it was prayer and a green juice, what will it be for you?

Here are 2 green juice recipes that hopefully inspire you to take time for yourself each morning so you can feel better NOW 🙂

• Cucumber (1)
• Celery (2-3 stalks)
• Apple (2 apples)
• Lemon (1)
• Romaine Lettuce (1 head/heart)

Green juice recipes don’t get easier than this…

• Celery (3-4 stalks)
• Apple (2-3 apples)
• Lemon (1)
• Spinach (2 large handfuls)

 

~Make and enjoy a green juice for a better start to your day!~

Beet and Orange Juice, Raw Vegan Reflections

Half of 2014 is already gone! I can’t help but feel that I should be reflective on what has transpired during the first 6 months of this year as it pertains to my new mostly raw vegan lifestyle. In summary…IT ROCKS!!!! It’s amazing, it’s fun, it’s filling and fulfilling, it’s energizing, it’s everything I dreamed it would be and so much more. Let me make it perfectly clear that I have not been 100% raw vegan the entire time, if I had to give it a number I would say 90% on average with very very very many 100% days. I went with ‘the flow’ as they say and I did not beat myself up for indulging in unhealthy eats. What I found instead was that after eating ‘clean’ my body became hyper sensitive to processed/unhealthy food that I naturally didn’t want any of it. I often felt sick, had an upset stomach and severe acid reflux after eating such food. I still really struggle with social gatherings. There are often absolutely no options to eat a raw, fresh fruit and/or vegetable meal in restaurants and even in people’s homes which I think is really sad. I have to say that eating this way has brought me so much JOY and I have experienced enormous benefits from eating this way. I will try and outline some of them below.

• Grocery shopping is effortless and fun. I don’t need to look at labels. I simply purchase organic, whole, fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. That’s it! A few other things I also buy are dates, ground flaxseeds, hemp seeds and dehydrated unsweetened coconut. A plant-based diet made up of whole foods (fruits and vegetables) is the way to go!
• Meal prep is so fast and there are no stinky lingering oil/cooked food smells in the house. Every meal/dish is always so colorful. Radiant is the word actually!
• Fruits and Vegetables are delicious in their most natural state. There is nothing like a ripe fresh mango, crunchy & salty celery, a sweet & juicy orange or smooth & creamy avocado. Nature/God is PERFECTION.
• I have boundless energy all the time and I have released (lost) 20 pounds 🙂 which is FANTASTIC. I truly feel like my body is healing itself from the inside out with fruits and vegetables. I have indulged in the most delicious juices, smoothies and salads the past 6 months and I can’t wait to see what the next 6 months brings. The weight loss was a nice bonus. My creative side has evolved and I feel so inspired when I’m in the kitchen now so much so that I made this new recipe this morning and I’m calling it BEETASTIC! Try it y’all. I know you will love it.

BEETASTIC JUICE

1 Beet and 2 Oranges. That’s it! 🙂 As always, use organic ingredients if possible.

 

~Juice, Try Something New & Enjoy!~

Orange, Apple, Pineapple and Lemon Juice

I really enjoy my super green juices but sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than a sweet juice, especially for breakfast. I was a little bored with my usual orange juice so I came up with this blend and added 1/4 lemon to make it tart and not overly sweet. This juice is loaded with Vitamin C and will give you energy to get (and keep) you going all day! This juice is also a crowd pleaser so feel free to make and share this juice with your family and friends. Use all organic ingredients if possible 🙂

• 3 oranges
• 1/4 pineapple
• 2 apples
• 1/4 lemon

~Juice&Enjoy!~

Romaine, Celery, Apple, Spinach, Lemon and Mint Green Juice

This green juice is AMAZING. It is award-worthy, dream-of-it-in-your-sleep AMAZING. I’ve never had a green juice like it and I can’t help but get incredibly excited when the ‘magic’ happens in my kitchen. I live for these moments. If all else (material possessions) fades away, I only need my juicer and my greens to remain. Life has felt especially busy these last few weeks and I feel like I’m constantly playing catch up. I revel in simplicity, quiet and consistency in my life. I have a stay-cation coming up and I look forward to catching up mentally, emotionally and physically with myself. It sounds awfully strange but I’m sure someone out there gets it! This past Saturday morning I had one of these beautiful moments and this recipe was the outcome. I made this in my Omega J8006.

• 1 romaine Heart
• 4-5 celery stalks
• 1 green apple
• 2-3 cups of spinach
• 1/2 lemon
• 4-5 mint leaves

Perfectly green, perfectly organic, perfectly sweet, perfectly refreshing, just perfect in every way.

~Juice, juice, juice & don’t stop juicing!~

A green juice (recipe #33) a day keeps the doctor away

It’s midnight and I should be fast asleep but I just had to put up this green juice recipe. It was a superb tasting green juice and I would definitely make it for any first timer. I’m seriously drowsy 🙂 so without further ado here’s the recipe…

• 3 large organic celery stalks
• 1/2 head of organic romaine lettuce
• 2 pears
• 1 large handful of cilantro
• 3 cups of organic baby spinach
• 1 organic lemon

~A green juice a day keeps the doctor away!~

Feel free to follow me on Instagram (@mapleavenuejuice) for these and other recipes. I’m new to it and it’s a fun place to connect with so many other like-minded individuals. There’s so much creativity, talent and inspiration out there!

 

Green Juice Recipe (#32) and 3 Easy Healthy Habits

I love healthy habits and I love them even more when they just happen naturally. It’s not fun to always have to work at creating them but when you’re finally there, at that effortless space where it just happens, it’s magic, it’s fun and you enjoy the benefits. I realized this past Saturday that anytime I’m off on a Saturday (I work some weekends), I make a huge batch of green juice, sit on the couch (or in bed) in complete silence preferably and savor every last drop of my juice while doing absolutely nothing else. It’s meditative and I enjoy every second of it. I juice several times a week but for some reason I really look forward to my next Saturday morning juice feast. I’ve worked annoyingly hard to create other healthy habits, many of which haven’t stuck, so it was fun to realize I had incidentally created this one. So since healthy habits don’t always happen effortlessly for me or many others I thought I’d come up with a list of 3 other healthy habits I’d like to practice. Feel free to join me.

1. Going to bed and waking up at the same time. I love sleep, who doesn’t? My problem, like many of you probably, is that on my days off I tend to stay up late, not being very productive, and wake up late. When I wake up later in the day, by the time I’m dressed and ready to conquer my day I’m annoyed with myself because I feel like half my day is gone. If I made an effort to sleep at the same time, wake up at the same time and physically get out of bed I’m sure I’d feel a million times better. Although, truth be told, there’s nothing like having a day once in a while spent in bed 🙂

2. Exercise at least 3 times per week. I know y’all saw this coming. I have serious working out issues. I go through phases where I live and breath my workouts and then it all comes to a screeching halt when I have a break in my schedule like a 3 day holiday out of town or heavens knows what! It’s sad, it’s pathetic and I want to be in the space where working out at least thrice a week just happens, like going to work, like juicing, like taking out the trash. Aaaaaarrrgghhh, can I just be there already?

3. Have (more of) an attitude of gratitude. I used to be a master at this. This used to be my constant state of being and then my job happened, more bills happened and more, more, more nonsense. They’re all excuses really. When you consistently practice having an attitude of gratitude no matter what happens in your day, you are happy, you are calm, you feel abundant, blessed and only more wonderful things/experiences come your way. It’s a fact. It’s really simple and I intend to practice it more. You can make a list every morning of what you’re grateful for, you can do it at the dinner table with your family or you can do it in the car while sitting in traffic. Anytime is the perfect time to have an attitude of gratitude for any or every thing in your life.

So here’s the juice I made this past Saturday morning. It was lightly sweet, it was a gorgeous green and I was grateful for every last drop of it.

Saturday Morning Green Juice

• 2 very large organic European cucumbers
• 4 organic apples
• 1 organic lemon, peeled
• 3 cups of organic baby spinach

I used my Omega J8006 to make this green juice and it juiced my spinach so well. All the pulp was bone dry! Unlike the Breville though, it works better if you peel the lemon which is fine because it only takes an extra 15 seconds. Check out Types of Juicers if you still haven’t decided what juicer you think would work best for you.

 

What healthy habits do you have that you appreciate? or would like to start? Kindly share…

~Juice & Start A New Healthy Habit Today!~

Here’s a Juice, Smoothie and Salad Recipe you’ll love!

I can’t believe it’s been 2 months already of eating a mostly raw vegan diet. I’m not a big fan of labels because I don’t want to deter anyone from my main message which is that fruits and vegetables ROCK!!! The more fruits and veggies you add to your diet the healthier you will be and feel… guaranteed! I do appreciate labels though for how important they are in having discussions of any kind. In my quest to attain greater health this year, those words (raw and vegan) are the IT words. My diet has sloooooowly evolved in the past 9 years (since I read Never Be Sick Again by Raymond Francis) and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve never gone cold turkey on anything. Cold turkey does not work for me. I am much further along than most people I know who for years have quit this, that or the other, announced it to the world and sworn by everything, only to be smothered in grease on a Friday night and decide that eating healthy is too hard. Nice and slow works, no need for torture 🙂 I know my why and that keeps me going. I’ve had a few cooked non-vegan meals (one or two a week on average) since this journey began but I’m not sweating them! I am focusing on how easy and delicious it is to have simple and fast raw vegan meals! Here are 3 new recipes I made in one day. I actually wasn’t trying to create new recipes, it just happened! and then of course I thought to myself… better run and get that camera so you can share this with everyone. Enjoy folks. Every recipe was deeeeeelicous 🙂

Juice Recipe #32: Orange Glow

I love 3 ingredient juice recipes, they’re so easy! This juice was sweet and had a great zing thanks to the ginger. Remember… go for organic ingredients if possible. This recipe is very reminiscent of this ABC and ginger recipe but it tastes and looks very different. I used my Breville Juice Fountain Plus instead of the Omega J8006 for this recipe because they were all hard ingredients that the Breville just juices faster.

• 1 large golden beet (this was my first time using them and they are gorgeous)
• 5 carrots
• 1 inch of ginger

Smoothie Recipe #9: Hubby’s Fruit Medley

I have a confession. This was my husband’s creation, not mine. It is THE joy of my life that eating this way (and sharing it with others) inspires anyone, and most importantly the people I love so deeply. Hubby has become quite the smoothie maker so when he came up with this winner I knew I had to share it. If you want to do it hubby’s style just throw everything in your Vitamix (blender) in whatever proportions you like, add ‘some’ water and voila! If you’re like me, you’ll use…

• 1 mango, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 large banana, frozen
• 1 cup of pineapple, frozen
• 1 apple
• 1 cup of water

It doesn’t matter what fruits are fresh or frozen, I just indicated which ones I used that happened to be frozen. I particularly love using only frozen bananas for smoothies. It somehow tastes better to me.

Salad Recipe

This salad was filling and out of this world good!

• 3 large handfuls of baby kale, chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• 3/4 cup of broccoli florets
• 2 large handful of a variety of sprouts (garbanzo, alfalfa and bean sprouts)

Salad Dressing: 5 strawberries, 1 orange and 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar.

Ok, so balsamic vinegar is obviously not raw but I loooooove the one I have and it is fantastic for making salad dressings. The recipe would actually be just fine with only strawberries and oranges so feel free to leave it out.

~Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet, juice and enjoy!~

Visit to Whole Foods Flagship Store in Austin Texas

I took a trip to Whole Foods. Ok, so I take a trip to WF all the time. In fact, I shop at my local Whole Foods approximately once a week to stock up on my delicious organic fruits and vegetables. I really have a great time while grocery shopping there. What I experienced last month though, at the Whole Foods Flagship Store in Austin, Texas was pure bliss. I went to Austin with hubby to visit family and when the opportunity presented itself on a Saturday morning to spend an hour and a half there, I took it. I pranced out of the hotel room, programmed the GPS in the rental car and sped down those vast, open Texas highways. I have never felt more care free and excited about a solo trip. Besides hanging out with my awesome family it was the highlight of my trip so I thought I’d share it with y’all. I took these pics with my handy dandy iPhone too. Didn’t want to look to crazy with a big camera. I was two weeks into my new journey of trying to eat mostly (90% or so) raw vegan so I needed the extra inspiration.

A beautiful array of organic and local vegetables at Whole Foods in Austin, Texas

Aren’t they arranged in the prettiest pattern? I wonder if I can make mine look like that in my fridge…

Sprouted & Raw nuts and seeds. I didn’t have time to sample any but they looked delectable.

You can make your own custom trail mix! nice 🙂

Sooooooo beautiful

I got a few reusable bags for souvenirs.

It was a few days before Valentine’s day so LOVE was in the air.

Whole Foods Raw (and some organic) JUUUICE!!! They were divinely delicious. I bought 3 of them and all 3 were out of this world good. Great job Whole Foods!

I’ll be back 🙂

My all organic Sunday morning hotel room Breakfast in Austin courtesy of WF: orange juice, strawberries, blueberries and bananas. Deeeelicious :-)) Go RAW!

Anyone else been to the flagship Whole Foods store? Has anyone had a fun fruit and veggie shopping experience out of town? Please do share… 

~Shop, Juice & Feel the LOVE~

I think I’m RAW, VEGAN and Juice Recipe #31

I’m not sure how in heavens name I have a blog and don’t own a laptop. It makes no sense to me, hence the lack of blog posts. I do intend to fix that sometime in the next few months and get a really nice laptop. Suggestions welcome. I have spent the last few months wisely though and chosen to make food my medicine especially since the latter part of 2013 came with lots of physical and emotional trauma. 

I have never planned any of my life’s major changes. I spend as much time as the next person setting goals but I almost always get side tracked. I probably intuitively ‘plan’ all of the changes that happen in my life by ‘day-dreaming’ about it, reading about it, talking about it, being truly grateful for where I am, excited about all of the changes that I am already experiencing and then WHAM! my life’s on a whole new path.

So my latest life change is that I’m my diet is now RAW and VEGAN. I have been reading and thinking about eating this way for a few years now. The urge to try this lifestyle became so strong that on the night of January 22nd I’d had enough and decided I just had to do it. My diet was already significantly healthier than the average American’s diet thanks to the changes I’ve been making in the past several years. I had (and still have) juices/smoothies for breakfast, fruits for snacks and delicious home made salads very often. I purchase organic fruits and veggies when available as they are my absolute favorite food. In spite of all this I felt like there was plenty of room to expand, not physically! 🙂 . I have since had a few cooked meals because my husband and I traveled out-of-state for 5 days. Boy oh boy! Traveling and trying to remain raw and vegan with only 14 days of experience at the time was haaaaaard. I’m back home now and its been much easier. I don’t want to ramble on and on about this so I will just outline some of the benefits I have experienced from eating this way for 3 weeks.

• I feel lighter after meals
• I have increased energy
• Meal prep is FAST and EASY
• Increased mental clarity
• Better and less sleep necessary
• Weight loss 

The hardest thing has been trying to eat enough. With this lifestyle, your food is digested much quicker so the best thing is to either snack more often or have larger meals if your stomach can handle it. Snacking more works better for me now. The cooked meals I had were at restaurants with family and I have only experienced TERRIBLE effects, not side effects… EFFECTS 😦

• I felt sluggish/lethargic after eating
• SEVERE acid reflux
• Nausea
• SEVERE Indigestion
• Excessive gas

No matter how small or large the cooked meal was I experienced ALL of the above effects ALL the time. I am now wondering…was I experiencing some/all of the above effects before and just totally oblivious to them? How sad is that? Or…did my GI tract love raw food so much (after only a few weeks) that it’s trying to let me know that cooked food is not the way for me anymore? I honestly don’t know what the answer is but I do know I enjoy eating raw and vegan for now and I will continue to do so to the best of my ability.

Here’s today’s breakfast green juice recipe.

New Beginnings GREEN juice recipe

• one large cucumber
• one head of romaine lettuce
• half a pineapple, peeled (do not core)
• one orange, peeled

It’s light, refreshing and on the sweeter side. I prefer stronger green flavors in my green juices but I craved something slightly sweet this morning and this juice satisfied that craving perfectly!

~Do something new, juice and enjoy!~

Anyone make any new (small or big) changes to their lifestyle in the past few months? Please share. 

Here are some pics from my raw food adventures. I took all of the pictures in today’s post with my iPhone so excuse the not-so-awesome quality.