Jolly Green Drink

Smoothies!
After Thanksgiving you may be looking for a really good upgrade for your food intake!
I found a recipe in my favorite e-book:  "crazy sexy Juices & Succulent Smoothies" by Kris Carr called "Breakfast of Champions," a recipe contributed by Christine Cook.  I did tweak it as I love my coconut milk!  The recipe below is what I made this morning ... it truly gave me tons of post Turkey Day energy and it kept me full past lunch!

Just a heads up ... this makes 48 oz!  I shared it with my husband and daughter ... who had no idea there were greens filling their glasses!  If you are afraid of green drinks, here is another one to convert you (and your family)!

Now is a great time to refuel with some great foods as we are now into the holiday season of over-indulgences and those stresses that usually catch us off guard in December.  Do something good for yourself and drink those fruits and veggies to boost your immunity and keep you going like the Energizer Bunny!  Once you incorporate these energy boosting drinks into your day, you will make it a part of your routine.  Your brain and your gut are very good friends.  There is a direct line of communication between your belly and brain.  What you put in one majorly affects the other!

Brain in Belly ... ok not this direct but there is such a connection with how we feel when we eat well!

Jolly Green Drink ... although it was pink!

Makes 48 oz.
3 big handfuls of spinach or baby kale
1 banana
1 green apple
2 handfuls of frozen blueberries
5-6 frozen strawberries
5-6 pieces of frozen mango
1 scoop of protein powder (I use Jay Robb's egg white protein)
2-3 cups liquid enough to think it to your preference (I used coconut milk along with water)

Blend and serve immediately!

Secret mission for hiding fiber ...

Quick little tip I wanted to pass on ...
I have a very picky eater ...
She really is giving me a hard time with her veggies and most fruits ... (you'd think this would be getting easier as they get older right?)  Especially with the addition of braces and all those non-foods they tell you not to eat!  Ugh ... and I'm not getting into the belly aches that accompany non-fiber diets here, but those aren't fun as you all know.

If you make lasagna or other Italian pasta dishes ... take a can of white cannelini beans ... rinse them well and add them (I use 1/2 a can) to some red sauce in the blender.  Your family will never know they are hiding in there!  You can get more creative with different meals but it is so easy to do.  I told them after they devoured it and they could care less.  Whatever...

Enjoy your secret mission!



PS ... I love, love, love my Vitamix blender ... we use it multiple times each day and it always does it's job.  See my book for more uses of this godsend:

www.refuelyourathleticfamily.com

Back to Regularly Scheduled Programming...

If you're like me, today is really the first "regular" day in over two weeks since we experienced that bad girl Sandy.  I'm not into talking about it anymore...so hopefully everyone has recovered and is ready to move forward.

But ... one thing I heard from so many people is that the loss of power, heat and "normalcy" led to let's just say ... lots more wine.  More hot coffee.  And crabby attitudes after about 3 days without power.  I for one am guilty of this.  Add to this mix Halloween and sugar in the kids who are not on their active schedules ... not what we were used to.  I used to envision loss of power to be kinda nice without any tv, computers, phone, etc.  Using that time to reconnect over board games was nice for maybe a few days but everyone had had it after 9 days!  When the power returned, everyone felt better and my dormant vacuum, dishwasher and hairdryer were happy to be back!!  Anyway, the only reason I bring this up is because I felt pretty crappy while the power was out.  Not terrible, but boy did I feel so much better when it came back!  Eating my regular fresh foods and more importantly ... drinking water made everything easier.  I'm assuming when you are cold without heat you just don't crave water or want to drink it.  Here are some tidbits I found to help you all get motivated to drink your water:

*75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
*In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak it is often mistaken for hunger.
*Even mild dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.
*One glass of water shuts down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
*Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
*Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
*A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
*Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

DRINK YOUR WATER!

Ok, so how much?  The rule I advise my clients to use is simply this:
Divide your body weight in half.  That is the number of ounces you should be drinking!
Ex:  120 pounds ... 60 ounces

It's really quite amazing when you take a minute to listen to your body.  As soon as I refuel with water after forgetting to drink ... the headache disappears, the energy rises and I don't have a craving for sweets!!

So give it a try ... and remind your kids to drink as well!  Those math tests could sky rocket!!

Drink up!
Krista

If you'd like to learn more about the benefits of eating right, please visit my website to check out my book:  "Winning the Game:  The Busy Mom's Guide to Refueling her Athletic Family in 6 Easy Steps"  ... www.RefuelYourAthleticFamily.com