How To Make Green Smoothies

Ahh, the love flame that once burned bright between green smoothies and I has been rekindled.  Patrick has also joined the delicious love triangle (well, I guess it only became a love triangle after he joined… ?).  I have already noticed a huge difference in the way I feel.  Green smoothies are amazing.

.

I drank my first (in a long time, at least) about a week ago.  I made it simple by using only romaine lettuce, bananas, and water.  It tasted pretty good, but I think that was mainly because I hadn’t had a green smoothie in so long.  The best part was that it gave me a ridiculous energy boost within about an hour of drinking it.  I seriously started having flash backs of when I was raw a few years back.  Those were the days…

.

A few days after drinking my first “so-so” green smoothie, I decided to make one again.  I actually made two, because Patrick wanted to drink some as well.  I used romaine lettuce, chilled bananas, kiwis, and fresh grapefruit juice.  It tasted superb.  The more I drink, the more I crave becoming a 100% raw vegan.  It gives me hope that one day, we will obtain our goal.

.

So, what are the benefits of drinking green smoothies?  Well, if you aren’t a salad eating type of person, they are a great way to get greens into your body.  Just blend up some romaine, spinach, or even kale, add your favorite fruits, and presto, you have a delicious, nutrient dense green smoothie.  Surprisingly, the fruit really does cover up the green taste.  (This, of course, depends on how much of each ingredient you use.) 

.

Some of you are probably thinking, “ew, that’s disgusting!”  Let me tell you, it’s NOT!  And, even if you are particularly fond of the first green smoothie you make, you can always change up your recipe the next time.  The possibilities are endless.  Plus, I can almost guarantee that if you drink a smoothie daily for a week, you will be hooked.  Your body will be begging for more.  Mine sure is.

.

How about a recipe?  I’ll add more later, but here’s the one I came up with the other day.  I strongly encourage you to try this.  You won’t be sorry.  Green Smoothies are like coffee on steroids.

.

Green Smoothie #1

  • 2 heads romaine lettuce
  • 2 chilled bananas (peel and break into pieces, then place in freezer for 1 hour prior to use)
  • 2 kiwis
  • 2 grapefruit (you can chill these before hand as well, then squeeze juice into smoothie mix)

.

Mix the fruit together first, then add the lettuce a few leaves at a time.  Pour into two large glasses for you and a friend. 

.

Enjoy!

.

February 25, 2010 | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments »

Grapefruit Is In Season In Texas!

Alright people, its grapefruit time in Texas, and as many of you know, when something is in season it’s usually good and its almost always cheap.

.

Wal-Mart and other regular grocery stores have mostly the smaller size fruits.  Whole Foods, however (who usually have fairly high prices), have an 18 pound bag of the big size fruits for $8.99 (that’s 50 cents a pound!), and they are fantastic!  It is hard to find good fruit that cheap, so hurry and get some.   We are about to get into our fourth 18 pound bag in the past month.

.

Sarah and I eat only fruit for breakfast, and when citrus fruits are in season and picked at the right time (silly farmers), they are awesome.  I would highly recommend anyone who has access to these cheap, in season grapefruit, to give them a try for breakfast as well.  You don’t have to give up your normal breakfast to give this a try, the grapefruit will be long gone from your stomach if you wait about 30 to 45 munites before eating something else.

.

Try it instead of coffee.  I used to drink coffee every day to focus in the morning, and I was never as focused and energized as when I eat good, perfectly ripened fruit first thing in the morning.

.

My favorite way to eat it is by cutting it in half, and digging it out with a spoon.  The skin around the meat is tougher than other citrus fruits, and this method allows you to get around eating it.  It is a bit messy, especially if it is really good.  Eat it over the sink and you should be fine.  (^;

.

By the way, this is Sarah’s dear husband, Patrick.  I will be posting every now and again.  If anyone in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex knows of any good deals on good fruits or vegetables we would appreciate the info, especially if they are organic.

.

We look forward to hearing from you!

.

January 17, 2010 | Tags: , | No Comments »

Natural Childbirth Videos

I’m back folks, and I’ve got some goodies for you! 

.

I found a couple of short clips of me while I was in labor 8 months ago, and I thought you all might like to watch them.  They aren’t very intense, but I still think they are neat to view.  That could just be because they are of myself, though.  (?)

.

I don’t know if I’ve told the story before, or not, but the actual “birth” was recorded by my mom.  Unfortunately, she somehow managed to forget to press the record button.  Ugh.

.

Talk about the ultimate party foul!

.

I didn’t let myself get too worked up over it.  I had an absolutely perfect birth experience, and a wonderful, completely healthy little boy to show for it, so I didn’t figure I had much room to complain.  The main thing that upsets me is that I’ll never be able to know whether or not I actually did as well as I think I did.

.

Haha, that might be a good thing now that I think about it!  I wouldn’t want to give up my bragging rights.  :p

.

In this first clip, I’m guessing I was around 4-5 centimeters dilated.  There’s no way to know for sure, though, as I didn’t get checked until a couple of hours later.  It was very easily manageable at that point. 

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmoqOoHaH8Y

.

In this next clip, I am having a contraction, and using a yoga ball to move around on.  I say in the video that I am 7 centimeters, but my midwife later told me that I was really at about 8.  The contractions were obviously more intense at that point, but I was still able to handle it, especially since I was getting a little bit of a rest in between them.  I feel for the women who don’t get any breaks at all! 

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOqZyQv992E

.

This last one is a very short clip, right before I was about to get in the tub.  I was almost 10 centimeters dilated.  Ready to have that baby!  Thanks for watching!  :)

.

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_annotate?ns=1&v=1quJ9IQ3yG4

January 16, 2010 | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Our New Domain Is Natural-Parenting Dot Net

Our domain name has changed.

.

Consider Eden wasn’t a good phrase for the search engines, therefore preventing people from finding us. The whole point of this blog is to get the word out about natural living, and more specifically, parenting. That’s why the new url is www.natural-parenting.net

.

Consider Eden is still “who” we are, though, so don’t think we’re throwing that out, or anything. That’s why the name is still written under our main header. You will still be able to get here from the old site, as well. It will immediately redirect you.

.

Hopefully, our new domain name will get more people here, so they can see how fun natural parenting can be.

January 9, 2010 | Tags: | No Comments »
Newer Entries »