Green Smoothies Will Revolutionize Your Health (+ 3 Popular Green Smoothy Recipes)

Green Smoothies Will Revolutionize Your Health (+ 3 Popular Green Smoothy Recipes)

Though it may seem like hype, the emphasis on all-green-everything in today's modern healthy diet is well founded. Greens like kale and spinach are the most nutrient dense vegetables you can get your hands on.

They are, pound for pound, the most rife with vitamins and essential trace minerals when compared to other foods. Because of this, it behooves you to get creative with greens and eat them raw as much as possible. Smoothies and salads are an excellent, tasteful way to ingest these healthy veggies everyday. Green smoothie benefits are bountiful and can benefit anyone, regardless of current state of health.

The best green smoothie for weight loss is one that is at least 70% green vegetables and 30% fruit at the max. This will insure that your drink is nutrient dense and not sugar heavy.

A low-carb green smoothie is what you should strive for because sugar from fruit (though healthy in moderation and when paired with naturally occurring fiber) will elevate your blood sugar, whereas the greens will not. Don't think deprivation. Rather, think nutrient dense green smoothie ingredients like cucumber, celery, green apple and the aforementioned kale and spinach powerhouse greens.

Begin to incorporate these easy green smoothie recipes into your daily routine for improved overall health. You'll notice very quickly that your energy levels & sense of well-being will improve. Weight loss may be a byproduct of this revived, healthier you. That said, don't get fixated on the scale. Your focus should remain on noticing things like:

Chances are highly likely that you'll experience many, if not all, of these excellent after effects of drinking green smoothies. The benefits are abundant, the expense is reasonable (grocery bill), the preparation is simple and fool-proof and there are no negative side effects.

There's truly no reason not to give one or more of these drinks a try! Who knows, you may become a healthy, inspiring influence on your friends, family and peers. Starting with one green smoothie a day can take you down a healthful road of longevity and vitality that will positively impact yourself and your community.

The best green smoothie for health is one that is high in alkaline-forming, nutrient dense foods (vegetables and fruit). To keep these green shakes low in sugar and high in nutrition, its best to keep the vegetable content high and the fruit content at bay. Its also crucial to keep them complete with each macronutrient.

Each of these recipes contains a course of fat, carbohydrates and protein (the 3 macronutrients). For example, hemp seeds, chia seeds and avocado are all great sources of plant-based fat & protein. Spinach and kale are also highly nutritious sources of protein, while fruits like green apple and banana complete the puzzle with some healthy carbohydrates.

It should be said again: don't fear the green! Especially when coupled with delicious plant-based flavors like mint or apple, greens can become a food item that you crave for the bountiful benefits they provide you. They will be your new, much better source of natural energy!

Original article and pictures take upcominghealth.com site

Green Smoothie Pancakes

Green Smoothie Pancakes

This recipe for Green Smoothie Pancakes has all the healthy ingredients from your favorite smoothie in pancake form so you can prep them ahead of time and reheating for breakfast during the week!

Hi Friends!

It’s time for another month of Recipe Redux! This month the theme was breakfast – my favorite meal of the day!

Break Out of Breakfast Boredom

Cooks aren’t always pressed for time in the mornings – they just need new ideas. Think mug cakes, smoothie bowls, breakfast cookies and more. Show us the healthy way you wake up your breakfast – or wake up just for breakfast!

While I’m fairly happy eating the same thing for breakfast every day, I’m doing my best to expose Squish to a variety of new foods so I’m always looking for new breakfast ideas for him.

I like simple recipes that are packed with nutritious ingredients and I especially like breakfasts that can be prepped ahead of time so I can get breakfast ready quickly in the morning.

These Green Smoothie Pancakes fit the bill. We’ve been enjoying them for breakfast AND lunch. I actually like them even better the second day and even sometimes prefer them cold, straight out of the fridge! Squish likes them smothered with peanut butter.

Here’s how you make them:

These pancakes are packed with healthy green ingredients like spinach and kiwis, plus hemp hearts, nut butter and greek yogurt for added protein and healthy fats! We’ve been loving smoothies as a snack lately, but I just can never seem to get into them for breakfast. I think I just like chewing my breakfast. Green Smoothie Pancakes are the perfect compromise! All the delicious smoothie ingredients in a form you can eat with a fork!

Plus the green color makes them fun to eat and all the flavors covering the spinach makes them kid-friendly! One thing I did notice is that if you eat them hot straight out of the pan, you can taste the spinach a little more than when you let them cool down a bit or eat them cold!

Enjoy!

–Lindsay–

For more creative breakfast ideas, check out the links below:

Original article and pictures take www.theleangreenbean.com site

Green Machine Milkshakes

Green Machine Milkshakes

Need something fun and green to feed your family on St. Patrick’s Day – but hoping to avoid green food coloring? I’d encourage a tossed salad with spinach and other fresh greens, cucumbers, and zucchini – but I’m guessing your family might not think any of those foods are cute or festive.

Instead, I’m recommending an avocado. Am I the life of the party, or what?

These milkshakes are smooth, rich, and creamy. So what makes these green? Maybe you weren’t listening. I told you already. It’s avocados. Welcome to my way cool party. (We’ll end the evening by shelling some peas and shredding cabbage for slaw.) Rock on.

I personally love these green milkshakes. My family can’t decide if they agree with me or not. Is it because they know these have avocado in them, so psychologically, they think they taste weird? I’m not sure. I really can’t tell these milkshakes are made with avocados. To me, they just taste like a smooth and creamy, lightly sweetened milkshake. What my kids don’t drink, I will, so it’s all good. They can just stick with Asa’s awesome guac for their avocado intake.

Green Machine Milkshakes

3 ripe avocados, halved and pitted

3 cups whole milk

4-5 Tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serve right away. Makes 5-6 cups.

If this recipe isn’t exciting enough for you, might I suggest roasting some asparagus and steaming an artichoke? I believe it goes without saying that this is going to be the most fun and memorable St. Patty’s Day ever.

Original article and pictures take heavenlyhomemakers.com site

Greek Hummus Wrap

Greek Hummus Wrap

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Introduction

This hummus and feta wrap is so quick and easy if you store pre-cut vegetables in your fridge. It is a great, lowfat, heart healthy lunch!

Ingredients

Directions

Makes 1 Greek hummus wrap

Spread 4 T of hummus on the bread. Sprinkle a 1/4 cup of feta on top of the hummus. Add all of the veggies. Roll the bread in a burrito style and enjoy!

Number of Servings: 1

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user ANNACARABALLO.

Original article and pictures take www.sparkpeople.com site

Grain-Free Sausage & Cheese Biscuits

Grain-Free Sausage & Cheese Biscuits

Breakfast-time at our home can be a little bit chaotic…for daddy. You see, since I got sick with Lyme disease, I’ve spent mornings catching up on extra sleep while my husband so sweetly cares for the kids. He gets them fed and dressed before waking me up and taking off for work.

We try to focus on protein-packed breakfasts that will help keep the kids full and fuel their brains for the morning. My hubby is a good sport, and doesn’t complain that I don’t stock the house with convenient breakfast foods like pop-tarts and cereal. But, he does appreciate it when I make some breakfast foods ahead so they’re easy to grab and warm up for the kids.

If you’re looking for a good source of grass-fed meat, Butcher box has high-quality meat that they will deliver right to your door. If you use this link to Butcher Box, you can get $15 off your first box and FREE bacon(!!).

Grain Free Sausage And Cheese Biscuits Brainy Breakfasts

This recipe for grain-free sausage and cheese biscuits fits that bill! You can eat them right out of the oven, or they refrigerate and warm up well (you can use the microwave, but they’re even better if you warm them up in a toaster oven).

Savory and Smart!

These savory biscuits are also smart! As I mentioned, they’re great brain fuel—packed with amazing ingredients like eggs and coconut flour.

I have a son who’s decided he doesn’t like eggs (seriously?! how can you not like eggs?). But when the eggs are hidden in something like this, he devours them!

Given that eggs are one of the healthiest foods you can eat, I like to make sure my kids are getting them on a regular basis. In addition to being packed with protein, they also have brain-boosting fats, vitamin D, choline, and more!

And coconut flour…well, coconut flour is the darling of brainy-friendly baking. Coconut flour, unlike wheat flour and many other starchy flours, is high in protein, high in fiber, and has is exceptionally low on the glycemic index. That means, you and your kiddos won’t suffer from that mid-morning carb-overload crash!

PS: Don’t worry, you won’t taste the “coconut” flavor at all in these.

Print

Grain-Free Sausage & Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 6 T. butter, melted
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
• 1lb cooked ground sausage

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease 32 mini-muffin tins.
2. Combine the coconut flour, garlic powder, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the eggs and melted butter. Mix thoroughly.
4. Fold in the cheddar cheese and ground sausage.
5. Fill the mini-muffin tins to the top. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

What are some of your favorite make-ahead, healthy breakfasts?

Need some more tasty, kid-friendly breakfast ideas?

square brainybreakfasts

Check out our cookbook Brainy Breakfasts – it’s filled with over 40 grain-free, brain-fueling breakfast recipes to keep things new and exciting! It’s available as a downloadable or softcover book. You won’t run out of healthy, tasty breakfast recipes anytime soon with this cookbook

Original article and pictures take www.intoxicatedonlife.com site

Grain-Free Banana Nut Butter Cookies

Grain-Free Banana Nut Butter Cookies

Perfectly chewy and surprisingly healthy, these grain, egg, and dairy-free Banana Nut Butter Cookies are just the treat you need!

Healthy treats.

As a healthy-minded momma, I try to keep my kids’ treat options as healthy as possible. And these Banana Nut Butter Cookies are some of their recent favorites.

They’re free of grain, dairy, and refined sugar, and full of nutritious ingredients like bananas, nut butter, honey, cinnamon, raisins, and one of my all-time favorite flours – buckwheat.

A grain-free alternative.

Yep, they’re grain-free and contain buckwheat flour. If you’re confused, head no over to Intoxicated on Life, where I’m sharing this delicious recipe, and find out how these little buckwheat beauties are grain-free!

Don’t forget to pin these grain-free Banana Nut Butter Cookies for later!

Want more of my favorite nut butter treats? I know you’ll enjoy these!

Quick & Easy Nut Butter Freezer Fudge

Cinnamon Maple Nut Butter Covered Apples

Banana Nut Butter Blondies

Original article and pictures take raiasrecipes.com site

Grain-Free Banana Coconut Cookies (sugar-free, egg-free, and dairy-free)

Grain-Free Banana Coconut Cookies (sugar-free, egg-free, and dairy-free)

With only four ingredients, and two of them optional, these Grain free Banana Coconut Cookies are about as easy as you can get. And being a busy mom, easy is usually a necessity. Actually, you’ll have a hard time finding me in the kitchen doing something that isn’t easy. Excluding keeping up with the dishes, that is.

Grain free Banana Coconut Cookies

It’s not that I don’t enjoy making fancy, gorgeous foods, I just don’t have much extra time to make complicated snacks. And even though I strive to meal plan, snacks are usually forgotten until I hear four kids clamoring for them ASAP. You moms know the kind of clamor I’m talking about: it’s the “Feed me immediately, or I shall perish in utter agony!” kind.

Grain free Banana Coconut Cookies

These little Grain free Banana Coconut Cookies are a compilation of above-mentioned drama and a mom frantically looking through the cupboards and finding nothing to snack on other than coconut and bananas. So into a bowl they went – with a few random things like leftover walnuts and raisins – then into the oven. And they were a hit! Even the hubby, who’s quite picky about his gluten-free treats, loved them. They’ve since become a go-to snack on days when the clamoring is filled with agony.

Grain free Banana Coconut Cookies

Grain-Free Banana Coconut Cookies

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mash bananas, stir in remaining ingredients.
3. Scoop out about 2 tablespoonfuls of "dough" onto a spoon and gently form it into a ball with your fingers. It will be soft and crumbly.
4. Place it on prepared cookie sheet and gently flatten with the back of a fork. You may have to reshape it a little.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, then let cool for a few minutes before eating.

In need of some more easy, kid-friendly snacks? Try these!

Want more Cookie Recipe inspiration? I’ve put together a great Cookie Recipe Cookbook.

**If you are grain-free, or you are looking to cut back on the grains you eat, this cookie cookbook gives you 25 amazing cookie recipes to continue to fill your home with the pleasant traditional tastes and aromas.

grain free cookie recipes

Don’t forget… These Cookies aren’t JUST for Christmas!

Follow our Gluten-Free Snack Ideas Board

Original article and pictures take www.intoxicatedonlife.com site

Grain Free Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting (Paleo, SCD, GAPS)

Grain Free Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting (Paleo, SCD, GAPS)

Grain Free Carrot Cake with Coconut Frosting

Conventional carrot cake is actually filled with loads of refined sugars and rancid vegetable oils. Try this Grain Free Carrot Cake instead!

Conventional Carrot Cake is Not Healthy!

Adding to the sugar assault is the sickly sweet cream cheese frosting. Here is a recipe that is grain, sugar and dairy free and astonishingly satisfying without being cloyingly sweet.

The earthy taste of the dates and pecans combined with the mild sweetness of the carrots makes for a beautifully textured and warmly comforting food.

The thin layer of coconut cream icing adds another dimension to the experience. Your kids will love it!

Carrot Used in Desserts

Carrots have been used in sweet desserts since medieval times mainly because sweeteners were scarce and expensive, while carrots, which contain more sugar than any other vegetable besides the sugar beet, were much easier to come by.

The origins of carrot cake are disputed but it is thought to come from Gothenburg, Sweden. Because of rationing during World War 2 the popularity of carrot cake was revived.

Here, I used 3 tablespoons of honey, but you can experiment and probably use less because the dates and carrots also sweeten the cake. I also like to soften the grated carrots by cooking them first in ghee, but you can skip this step if you like a somewhat coarser texture.

Print

Grain Free Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting (Paleo, SCD, GAPS)

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups grated carrots (organic)
• 6 large eggs (pastured if possible)
• 3 tablespoon raw honey
• 1.5 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 pitted and pureed dates
• 3/4 cup pecan butter from 1 1/2 cup crispy pecans (where to buy crispy pecans) (how to make crispy nuts)
• 1.5 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or freshly grated
• Pinch clove

Instructions

1. In the food processor grate about 6 – 8 medium organic carrots
2. Remove and place in a large pan and saute the grated carrots in ghee until somewhat soft (this can be omitted if you prefer and/or tolerate raw carrots)
3. While the carrots cook, place the pecans in the food processor and process until it is a nut butter
4. Place the eggs, ghee, honey, cooked carrots and vanilla in the food processor and mix
5. In a bowl soak the pitted dates until soft (about 30 minutes) (start this when you start preparing)
6. In a small processor, puree the dates until it is a paste (this will still have some chunks in it)
7. Add the date paste to the large food processor and mix
8. Add the coconut flour (start with 1/2 cup), baking soda, and spices and mix
9. The batter should be somewhat thick but still pourable
10. Pour batter into 3 small (7″) baking pans
11. Bake on 325º F for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
12. Cool on a rack

Icing

Variation

• Slice the cake in half horizontally and create a layer in between the two halves. Ice the top as well.

Original article and pictures take realfoodforager.com site

Grace for Your Disappointing Birthing Experience

Grace for Your Disappointing Birthing Experience

‘Erin, you have to wake up. You have to wake up. You need to feed Audrey’

My husband had been trying for several minutes to bring me to consciousness but I wasn’t responding, I didn’t want to respond.

‘She’s beautiful – she looks just like you. Don’t you want to meet her?’

I don’t know what held a tighter grip on me: the pain, the anesthesia or the disappointment that my daughter was just born via C-section.

I had planned on a natural birth in the hospital but when Audrey’s heart rate began dropping drastically with each contraction early on in labor the doctor wanted her out now and I was not in a position to argue.

She was born healthy and I was so happy to be holding my precious baby girl in my arms but I mourned not bringing her into this world by the strength of my body with a clear mind and an open heart.

Though I knew there was nothing I could have done to prevent the C-section I was determined that my next birth would be the natural and empowering experience I hoped for.

Twenty-months later I was once again in a hospital, this time pregnant with my son. It was 8 weeks from his due date and I was having intense and regular contractions. The next three weeks would see me in and out of triage before I went into labor 5 weeks early.

Despite the fetal heart monitor strapped to my belly and IV in my hand, I labored naturally with the support of my husband and midwives. Everything was going as planned until I began to push.

My son’s heart rate dropped and because he was moving through the birth canal quickly the 2nd midwife lost track of his heart beat. She knew he was coming soon and she needed to be ready to receive him so she called for a nurse to come and hold the monitor.

Because I was a premature VBAC, the full medical crew showed up and took over.

One moment the midwife I knew and trusted was delivering my baby and the next it was a doctor I had only briefly met and I knew didn’t hold to the same birthing philosophy as my midwife and me.

Because she believed my son was in danger the doctor gave me an episiotomy to speed things up and he was immediately taken to an exam table rather than placed in my arms.

While my son’s birth was a much more natural and empowering experience than my daughter’s, there were aspects that left me disappointed and frustrated.

– – –

Child birth doesn’t always go as planned, does it? You might plan for the most gentle, natural home birth conceivable only to still need interventions, or for it to end as an emergency in a hospital.

You might not even be able to plan for a natural birth, much less a home birth. There might be medical conditions or location restraints that dictate you deliver in a hospital under medical supervision.

Sometimes your preferred options aren’t available. Sometimes people make mistakes. Sometimes people make the wrong decision or a decision was made and you’ll never know if it was the right one. Sometimes your body needs help.

And all of this is okay.

Yes, you carefully chose a birth care provider, you know the advantages of natural deliveries and the reasons why a home birth can be better than a hospital birth. But the reality is that sometimes what is a beautiful, completely natural expression of the female body turns into a medical condition that requires intervention to save the life or health of the mother or baby.

You do the best you can with the options you have available and you respond as well as you can when labor throws you a curve. No matter what has to be done to bring your healthy baby into your healthy arms you should never be made to feel like less of a mother, less of a woman for it, by others or by yourself.

You brought a new human into this world and that, in and of itself, is amazing.

It is disappointing, maybe devastating, when your ideals and desires don’t match your reality, especially when your desires are what’s best for your baby. Other people probably won’t understand this. They might say, ‘Your baby is healthy – that’s all that matters’. Yes, the most important thing is that your baby is healthy but that does’t mean how you experience your baby’s birth is insignificant. For most of us giving birth is a deeply emotional and vulnerable experience and when it isn’t empowering or satisfying we can be cut deep into our beings.

And that’s okay. It’s okay to be disappointed, left wanting, to cry, to mourn.

But remember: how you brought your child into this world is a very small piece of how you raise him. It’s an important part of your story as your child’s mother but as time goes on you’ll write whole new pages and chapters and books together that will far outshine the birth.

The shared memories and laughter will cast redemptive light on the shadows of an imperfect beginning.

– – –

When Audrey first noticed the long horizontal scar on my lower abdomen she asked what it was. I explained that it was from the cut the doctor made so she could be born.

‘Mommy, it’s beautiful’

She gently touched it and I cried, but unlike all the tears I shed because of her birth before this moment these tears were ones of acceptance and grace.

You can read Audrey’s full birth story here and Alistair’s here and you can follow my new series about being pregnant in Macedonia.

Original article and pictures take redandhoney.com site