Green Smoothie Bowl

While I love the simplicity and health value that a smoothie holds, sometimes I want to chew my food. I still need simple, but occasionally like to step it up a notch, my choice: smoothie bowls. Have you ever made one? It's not rocket science. It's just a smoothie poured into a bowl with toppings. You can get excessively fancy or keep it simple.

You can get so much get nutrition into a smoothie. If you are not making them, then you are missing out. Yes, I can get smoothied out and I do take breaks when I get bored. I think it's thoroughly important to be mindful of our emotions and thoughts because they can trick us and tempt us into doing something that is not advantageous such as going through the drive-thru. While I believe in eating to live and not living to eat, there's nothing wrong with enjoying our food. So when boredom sets in, then it's time to do something different. Choose life!

I've made many different smoothie bowls. As I make more I'll take pictures and share my steps and ingredients. I really enjoy taking advantage of utilizing superfoods in my smoothies. They make it easy to maximize my nutrients.

In the picture above you can see the ingredients that went in the blender. 

Smoothie Ingredients:

2 Cups Tightly Packed Organic Kale (Costco)

1 Frozen Organic Acai Packet (Trader Joes)

2 Cups Filtered Water

1/2 Cup Frozen Organic Cherries (Costco)

1/2 Cup Frozen Organic Mango (Costco)

1/2 Banana

1 Tsp Organic Gelatinized Maca Powder (Trader Joes)

9 Sunfood Chlorella & Spirulina Tablets ( Thrive Market)

1/4 C Hempseed (Costco)

1 Tbsp Chia seeds (Costco)

1 Medjool Date (Costco)

Ice if desired

2 Drops Young Living Lime Vitality Essential Oil

I don't put the same items in every smoothie because I do like to change it up. I do love the ingredients above though so I thought I'd share why. Acai berries have an extremely high ORAC score. That means they contain an abundance of antioxidants, which means we are healthier. I like adding maca because it's great for hormonal balance. A key to life and vitality is consuming chlorophyll, basically, plants own superfood. Chlorella and spirulina are both algae packed with chlorophyll. They support natural detox and cleansing in the body as well. 

Directions:  

Put everything in the blender and blend, really difficult, right?! Pour it into a pretty bowl, and then top it.

The topping choices are endless. Choose what you like. Pictured above is dried unsweetened coconut, 1/2 banana, organic raw pumpkin seeds, Purely Elizabeth Blueberry Granola (I buy it at Thrive Market, or either Target or Whole Foods when on sale). I don't usually buy granola due to the fact that it's usually really unhealthy. This brand is fairly impressive with a low glycemic sweetener being coconut sugar and a healthy fat with organic coconut oil. It's organic and certified gluten-free...so happy!

If you have questions about the ingredients, need any tips, or want to share your favorite smoothie recipe, please comment below.

Helping you to be a good steward of your health,

Marie A. Brock, HHC

How to Build a Smoothie

                    

Do you struggle with getting enough veggies in yourself or your family? A simple way to help your body get the veggies in for the day are smoothies. Maybe during the cold weather you weren't interested in smoothies, well now is great time to start them! 

The fiber and nutrients in the smoothie each day will give you energy and vitality! Since the blender breaks everything down, that makes a smoothie a perfect first daily meal since it's easy on the digestive tract. It's fast and easy to put together if you are just running out the door as well!

The important part is knowing how to build your smoothie. You need a few factors to be aware of:

1) Nutrition: you'll want a good selection of veggies and fruit; more veggies than fruit, especially leafy greens; that's the bonus of a smoothie, getting all of those nutrients in easily; 2-3 handfuls of leafy greens; also rotate your greens in your smoothies for optimal nutrition, that's really important. Too much of a good thing can turn bad, think wide variety.

Do not limit yourself. Try all different fruits and veggies in your smoothie. Keep in mind some are better cooked a bit first. Use fresh and frozen.

For leafy greens try: kale, baby spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, Swiss Chard, bok choy, or lettuce. Always buy your greens organic, they are heavily sprayed with toxic herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides.

Have some fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro in the fridge, throw them in there! Herbs are super cleansing and good for you! 

To sneak in even extra vitamins and minerals, you can try superfood powders. These include a multitude of dried greens like kale or broccoli, as well as foods like Camu Camu, goji berries, and often probiotics and enzymes too, all good for digestive health. Make sure it's certified gluten free if you are sensitive. Do NOT do superfood powders if you are allergic to grasses. There's usually quite a bit of them in there, so do avoid them if that is the case for you. I really like Healthforce Nutritionals Vitamineral Green, Ormus Greens, and Green Smoothie Girl. 

I add 1-2 tbsps of organic unrefined coconut oil in mine for healthy fat, detoxification, and fat burning. 

2) Taste: understanding what flavors compliment each other is helpful; Everyones tastes are different though. 

Know berries are great for flavor, but not sweetness. Tropical fruit like bananas, mango, and pineapple have more natural sugar, and it doesn't take much of those. 

I also like dates, a little raw organic local honey, and organic liquid stevia. Go for fruit to sweeten though when possible for the fiber. Fiber slows down that sugar release in the body. 

It's also fun to include other items for flavor like organic raw cacao (raw chocolate powder), organic ground cinnamon, ginger root or organic ground ginger, organic ground cardamom, or organic ground pumpkin spice. 

3) Texture: So most people want their smoothie a little creamy. Good add ins are bananas, avocado, nut butters, chia seeds (awesome nutritional bonus for fiber, calcium, and omega 3 fatty acids), whole organic coconut milk, whole organic coconut cream, and fresh coconut meat/flesh.

4) Liquid Base: You can really get creative here, but a liquid is definitely needed for all to move in the blender. My favorite is water because it's always there and it's inexpensive. 

You can also use milk, dairy based or not. Keep in mind store bought non-dairy milks have a lot of yucky additives unless they are homemade. I will use whole, organic store bought coconut milk by Native Forest. Whole Foods has it, but you can buy it cheaper here. 

If you go for a dairy based milk choose raw, grass fed if you can, and if not, grass fed, whole fat, only pasteurized (never homogenized and ultra pasteurized. Read why here.) You can also use organic, raw coconut water, or even herbal tea. 

5) Protein: So unless you are a wizard at combining just the right amounts of amino acids with your fruits and veggies, you'll need to add a protein if this is a meal replacement. 

My three favorite protein choices are hemp seeds, grass fed gelatin + raw almond butter, and Green Smoothie Girl Protein Powder. 

I love my Green Smoothie Girl Protein Powder because it's USDA organic, gluten free, sugar free, soy free, vegan, Paleo friendly, and raw. So it's completely junk free and only has 3 ingredients: pea protein, hemp protein, and Maca root! You can get it here.

6) Blenders: Well the most important thing is that you have one! I have a Vitamix and I love it. You'll never buy another blender again. A Vitamix is in a class called high speed blenders. All parts, labor, and customer service are sourced in the USA, if that kinda thing matters to you.

No, a Ninja or even a NutriBullet are not high speed blenders, they are good choices, but not high speed, no matter what anyone tells you. 

Another high speed blender is the Blendtec. My close friends have one and love it. 

Just make sure you have a blender. The biggest difference is with smoothies on a regular basis, you may burn out your regular blender. 

Hope that simplifies things for you and doesn't complicate them. Just throw stuff in the blender, experiment, and have fun! So proud of you for trying to eat well!

Helping you to be a good steward of your health! ~Marie A. Ligorria, HHC

Ladies, need help getting healthy? Need a friend, accountability partner, a helping hand to get your gut right? Check out my health coaching options here.

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Spaghetti Squash Crust Quiche

Over the Christmas break a good friend of mine asked me if I would make a recipe that she had found to see if I liked it. I leaped at the opportunity because it just so happened that I was looking for a creative way to use the spaghetti squash I'd just cooked.

As previously mentioned in a recent article, we love to eat quiche at this house, and I love to make them. They are easy to make, nutritious, fairly quick to bake, and an awesome way to use up leftovers. 

The original recipe was from: kitchenaid.com

I will start off saying kudos to the creator of the idea to use the spaghetti squash in this way. I'd recently been playing with it in the kitchen, so this was perfect timing! I would make it again. It stays together really well. It's nice and crispy where the egg doesn't touch, but does stay soft where everything comes together. I really enjoyed the flavor. It's an awesome way to get more fiber in those kiddos.

Ingredients:

I used a variety of leftovers in mine that were in the fridge. That's the beauty of quiche, almost anything goes! I used left overs for this so my measurements are not exact. I threw in:

black beans, cooked

spinach

onions

peas

butternut squash

shiitake mushrooms

quinoa, cooked

goat cheddar cheese

garlic powder

ground turmeric

Celtic sea salt

ground black pepper

Oh did I need to say spaghetti squash and eggs? Hopefully not, but just so you know, eggs and spaghetti squash. I used 8 eggs. You may need 10 depending on size of pie plate/dish, and other ingredients. I used most of a cooked small-medium sized spaghetti squash. Don't know how to cook it? Read here.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Push the spaghetti squash against the bottom and sides of the pie plate. I greased it a little with organic unrefined coconut oil.

My suggestion is to lightly sauté any veggies you throw in there first before adding them. Then put them on the squash.

Whisk the eggs with any herbs and spices in a big bowl. Add them on top of the veggies.

Last, if you eat cheese, add it now, and be generous. If you don't, then don't worry about it. You could add a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast to whisk with the eggs for a cheesy flavor if desired.

Bake it for 40-45 minutes. Give it 5 minutes to cool a bit, then serve. Along side soup and salad it's a perfect cold weather meal for any time of day! If you have a larger family just use more ingredients. This would make a great New Years breakfast or brunch!

Be healthy and blessed! Helping you to be a good steward of your health!~Marie A. Ligorria