sustenance

Eating healthy is a big deal to me. I kind of slacked while pregnant and I'm not doing that great while nursing (I made chocolate chip cookies on Saturday and a tater tot casserole last night), BUT I do try to get my daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. I has been hard finding time to do that with a newborn though. I feel lucky if I can take a quick shower and eat a bowl of cereal in one sitting.

Anyway, my friend gave me a recipe for a smoothie called the "green drink" and it is fantastic! It incorporates fruits and vegetables in one so I don't have to worry about getting my leafy greens at any other point during the day.

The Green Drink

It's definitely green, but it is good. Here's the recipe if you need an all-in-one drink that covers your food pyramid basics every day.

Place the following ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth:

2 or 3 tbsp almonds
1-2 whole carrots (or baby carrots)
1 banana
½ or whole red apple (Fuji, Braeburn, or whatever is in season)
2-3 kale leaves
1 or 2 handfuls spinach
4-6 frozen strawberries
1 handful frozen blueberries (you can use any kind of frozen or fresh fruit-I use raspberries because they have lots of fiber))
2-3 stalks celery
1 tbsp flax seed (whole or ground)

Liquid: OJ, soymilk, almond milk, or water

Optional:
½ avocado
¼ bunch of cilantro or parsley
1 tbsp raw unsweetened coconut
cucumber or zucchini
Ice (if you use fresh fruit instead of frozen, you will want to add ice)

The Ingredients

Note from my friend: My favorite thing about this is you can leave out whatever you are missing or add any extra veggies you have on hand. Just throw in any veggies that are starting to go bad, like leftover romaine or tomato. In the past, I have added kidney beans, oranges, pineapple, pears, dates, persimmons, (frozen) grapes, fresh ginger, and frozen green beans. I have added both uncooked and leftover cooked oatmeal like we talked about last night. Some concoctions have been a little gross so I usually stick to the tried-and-true recipe above, but there is definitely room for experimentation.

It really is great. I'm going to go make my green drink right now so I'll have some energy before this guy wakes up. I spoke too soon...

The Best Baby EVER