Green Smoothie Love

This morning I had tons of fresh fruit so I quickly cut it all up and put it in the freezer to "flash-freeze".  I left it in for about 1 1/2 hours, which is perfect timing for me to finish my coffee first.  I drink a cup or two of coffee every morning before I drink my smoothie. 

This is how I put the fruit in.  I used a cake pan only because I had just made a cake for my son's birthday party.  It worked out nice actually!

 

When I took it out of the freezer, I just dumped it right into my blender.  Here are the rest of the ingredients I used:

 I used about 2 cups of Almond Breeze (unsweetened/30 calories).  I threw in 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach, a large drizzle of honey to sweeten and about a teaspoon each of Ground Flaxseed and Chia Protein Powder.  I put it all in together and blended until smooth.  I like to blend it for about 2 minutes to make sure it's all smooth.

 And here's the finished product.  Yummy!  It was icy, but not thick.  I had two cups.  This is all I had for breakfast and it kept me full all morning.

I like to start my day with a green smoothie.  It makes me feel like I've started the day off right and I've already had some greens!  Try it!  You can't taste them I swear!

 

Have a wonderful morning!

Keeping it clean on vacation.

My family and I just returned from a week-long vacation to Vermont.  We stayed in a beautiful house shared by 5 families (my in-laws and their families).  It really was breathtaking.  Almost every bedroom had a view of the lake.

My family as you know eats pretty well, meaning organic and as healthy as possible.  We knew that going on vacation meant that we'd be letting the rules slide a bit so that we could eat with the rest of the family.  It was harder than that though.  My kids are 6 1/2, almost 5 and 21 months.  Their "cousins" were 15, 13 and 10.  They had a few things in their diets that we don't normally touch: Gatorade, Fruit Loops, Tootsie Pops and juice.  We do give the kids juice, but usually 1 a day and it's organic.  It was soooo hard to say no to the kids while the other kids were eating these snacks in front of them.  It was even harder to explain answers to their "why" questions in front of these other kids and/or their parents.  I didn't want to be rude or stuck up by saying something to the effect of, "we don't eat that type of food because it isn't good for our bodies" or "that has too much sugar in it" or " that has dye in it".  How awful does that sound?  It's like saying they don't have good parents!  Or that their parents feed them food that isn't good for them.  It was interesting to say the least. 

I was able to stay away from the Fruit Loops because of the dyes.  I just said, "no but you can have....".  They ended up having a few Tootsie Pops with the other kids.  I also let my son, who is 4 and 3/4 try a few sips of clear Gatorade.  He liked it of course!  Oh and I bought my own Nitrate-free hot dogs even though we bought a whole container of regular hot dogs for the rest of the family.  I felt guilty but I had to do it.

As for myself, I ate as well as I could.  I had greens at almost every meal and drank lots of water.  I bought a green smoothie at the store and drank a bit every day.  It made me feel better about the over-eating during meals.  My body definitely felt a little "off", but since being home it's getting closer to normal.

The kids had crazy bedtimes on vacation, again because the older kids didn't go to bed until much later.  Sometimes it ended up being 10pm before we got them to bed (the baby stayed pretty consistent though with a 6:30/7pm bedtime).  We have been home two days and already are on a much better schedule. 

There is no place like home.  It's so good to be back.

Do you feel as if vacations send you spiraling into unhealthy eating? 

What are they feeding us?

Good morning!  I picked up some new reading material yesterday and dove in to, "What's Eating Your Child?" by Kelly Dorfman, MS, LND last night.  I am loving it so far!  Eating "Real" is so easy and just makes so much sense.  Why would we eat all of that other crap (processed foods)?  I have been slowly getting rid of most processed foods, especially if they include dyes.  It is so amazing and disgusting that dyes are in most children's foods!  We no longer eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese because it includes Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 in it.  Dyes have been linked to hyperactivity in children, allergies and even cancer!  Yet petroleum-derived artificial coloring is in most foods, from cereals, Popsicles, and even yogurt.  Why do we have to use dyes when there are foods that actually makes these colors.  They might not be as vibrant, but is it worth the risk?  Not in my opinion.  It's hard to take my daughter to the grocery store because she just wants cereal that looks fun and yogurt that is neon blue.  I just can't buy them for her.  I've been getting a lot of, "but my friends have those in their lunches".  That one is so hard to answer.  I just say, "this one is healthier for you".  I don't want her going to schools saying, "my mom says that's bad for you".  Haha, I don't want to go making enemies, but it's just how I feel about food now.  The more I learn, the less I want them to eat.  Food needs to change!

I started a 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge from Unconventional Kitchen, one of the blogs I follow. Here is the face book page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unconventional-Kitchen/292893540764213?fref=ts .  Since I've already been drinking green smoothies daily, I am following the recipes as close as I can but I've already come to know what I like in my smoothies.   I'm excited to try some new ones though!

Since I have started drinking green smoothies in the morning, (which replaces breakfast) I have lost about 4 lbs. and my stomach is looking much better!  It's only been a few weeks too.

Here is the smoothie I made this morning (pictured above):

I had to change the one in the challenge a bit.  It called for apple juice, but since I didn't have any I used what I had.

2 handfuls of kale (no stalks)
3 ice cubes
1 1/2 frozen bananas
earth's pride organics, orange, peach, mango juice (from BJ's)
1 spoonful of Ground Fax Seed
1 spoonful of Chia Seed Protein Powder
A little honey for sweetness

I threw it all in together and it was very yummy and smooth.  My kids liked it (even though it wasn't pink like they had wanted).  It tasted mostly like juice, but obviously so much better for you than juice.  I allow my kids one cup of juice a day.  The baby doesn't drink any (unless it's in a smoothie!).

This is my life

My name is Katey.  I am 34 years old and have a wonderful husband of almost 8 years and 3 adorable children.  Emily is 6. Boden is 4 3/4, and Drew is 18 months old.  I am a photographer and have worked with and for my father for 7 years.  He owns a successful photography business called Hansen Photography (www.capephotographer.com).  I love what I do.  I have always loved taking pictures, even as a child.  I love looking at pictures I've taken.  It gives me great satisfaction.  I love capturing the beauty of what this life is all about.  That being said, the picture taken above was a poorly planned picture taken on Easter this year right as we were about to leave for our 3 hour trip home to Cape Cod.  The baby hadn't had a nap to speak of all day. Oops.  He had a lovely nap right after this.  This is my life! 

When I am not working, which right now is only part time, I am spending time with my youngest son and I read a lot of blogs and books about living healthy and green.  It consumes me, which is why I am going to write about it.  Right now my obsession is smoothies.  I am looking up recipes to try because I have discovered that they are the best thing EVER!  I have been drinking one every morning for about 2 weeks now and I haven't felt this good in years.

My smoothie today was this: 2 handfuls of Organic Baby Spinach
                                               A bunch of frozen strawberries and bananas
                                               Skinless apple slices (left over from making lunch this morning)
                                               1 1/2 bananas (no reason for the 1/2 other than not to waste)
                                               Almond Milk Vanilla
                                               Coconut Water
                                               2 tsp. Ground Flaxseed
                                               Drizzle of honey
                                               3 ice cubes

It was delicious and nutritious.  It was my breakfast.  I do have one cup of coffee before my smoothie.  Coffee is an addiction for me and a hard one to kick.  I used to have at least 2 cups in the morning before starting this smoothie addiction.  Now I crave my smoothie instead of a second cup :)  Yay!  I just listed my ingredients, but I don't even measure anything really.  I just throw in a little of this and a little of that.  Whatever I have I my house basically.  I don't measure the almond milk or coconut water.  So it's so easy and so good for you!  Try it please!  Yum.  My kids even love them and I have to make larger amounts so that I can have my own portion.  Otherwise there isn't much left for me.  I am trying to get my husband to get into them.  He is a non-breakfast eater, which I am reading is not a good thing.  So I may have to start my smoothies earlier so he can take one to work with him.  I should have take a picture for you to see, but my "good" camera is at the studio and I hate taking pictures with my "little" camera.  Embarrassing!   It looked green and smooth.

I feel great and would rather work out than take a nap.  This is HUGE!  After 3 kids, I thought I had been conditioned to, "nap when your baby naps", even though my baby is 18 months old now.  I got nothing done!  Now (and this is very recent) instead of napping as I did, I am cleaning the house and writing blogs (hehe).  But the point is, I feel good!  Food was my problem and I know that now.  The more good things I eat, the better my body and mind feels.  This is my revelation and I'm sticking to it.  I am excited to start living again.  I have been in a slump since having kids and now I'm going to dig myself out and share it with the world.

And this is all the introduction I can muster today because my napper is not napping any longer.  I hope to inspire others to eat healthfully so that they can feel good all around.  Are you with me?