On the Green Smoothie Bandwagon

Posted by Hirono

I did it! I finally hopped on the fast-moving green smoothie bandwagon and purchased a super powerful Vitamix blender!

I felt extremely guilty spending so much money on a blender (it was definitely a case of the “want” overcoming logic) but I figured if this can help me get in the habit of eating breakfast daily, it’s worth the investment!

I own a juicer and I really enjoy the freshly-extracted veggie and fruit concoction, but blending might suite me better since I can take in all the fibers and other wonderful nutrients that go to waste with juicing. And I absolutely love that there’s significantly less clean up with the blender! Woot woot!

My goal is to drink a glass of green smoothie for breakfast for the next 30 days (and hopefully longer) – or at least enough time to get my money’s worth.

green smoothie

Here’s what I drank today. The recipe was inspired by Peach Coconut Dream by Simple Green Smoothies. I meant to use the frozen peach but grabbed a bag of pineapple instead and was too lazy to swap.

Pineapple Green Smoothie
(Serves about 24 oz, I think)

2 cups spinach, fresh
1 kale leaf
1 cup coconut water
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
½ cup fresh grapes

Blend the greens first with coconut water. Mix the rest of the ingredients in high, until smooth.

I went with mostly spinach this time but I think I can up the amount of kale next time. Maybe some frozen bananas would be nice too.

Since we’re on the topic of green — I made a green top and a matching bloomers for Pon Pon, with the same cotton gauze fabric I used for the other pair of bloomers but in green.

green dress

I Should Change My Blog Name to “Ode to Broccoli”

Posted by Hirono

Day 4 of a 15-day cleanse

Breakfast (10:00 a.m.): I had a tall glass of water with lemon and cayenne pepper as soon as I woke up. There is no sweetener in this drink but it tastes pretty good. I love the cayenne pepper in it. I drank three glasses of this concoction total and I felt great throughout the day. I think it even helped curve my appetite because this was the first time since I started the detox that I wasn’t always hungry.

Today juice: kale, celery, carrots, cucumber, yellow paprika, apples, and ginger root. I really like this drink. My goal is to reduce apples to just one. I’ll be trying Joe and Phil from Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead’s Mean Green soon, now that my fear of cucumber juice is gone.

Lunch (1:00 p.m.): The lovely broccoli salad (same as yesterday), with broccoli, red onion, red cabbage, kiwi, avocado, and carrots, with rice vinegar, oil (2 tablespoon olive oil and ½ tablespoon truffle oil, for indulgence), and salt and pepper.

Dinner (8:30 p.m.): I took a nap from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. I must have been either tired or severely sleep deprived (I went to sleep around 2:00 a.m. last night after finishing a work project … eek) or both, because I was out cold for two hours!

I made another broccoli salad for dinner. I crave this salad and nothing else. This time, I added some fresh mango chunks (1/4 of a large mango) instead of kiwi.

Snack (9:45 p.m.): A bowl of strawberries and blueberries.

Great news! I am about three pounds lighter since I began the cleanse three days ago. I’m not too concerned about the number on the scale and care more about how my clothes fit, but I couldn’t resist jumping on the scale.

I haven’t seen any other major changes to my body yet but I think my skin feels a little clearer. Not by much, but a little. My hands and feet are still colder than usual, but it’s not anything that can’t be cured by my favorite pair of Life is Good fluffy socks.

Eating More than Ever!

Posted by Hirono

Day 2 of a 15-day cleanse

Breakfast (9:30 a.m.): Juice with kale, celery, carrots, cucumber, romaine lettuce, apple, and ginger root. I’m surprised at how much I’m liking the cukes in a juice, since I usually don’t eat them unless they’re pickled or in sunonumo.

Snack (10:30 a.m.): I was still very hungry so I had a few fresh strawberries. They were incredibly sweet! I’m so excited that the strawberry season is right around the corner, in May.

Tea (11:30 a.m.): Enjoyed a cup of Le Palais des Thes herbal green tea. I brought this back from Paris more than a year ago, but it’s still surprisingly fragrant.

Lunch (1:00 p.m.): Arugula and spinach salad with cherry tomatoes and sliced red onion. I’m using the picture from yesterday again since I forgot to take one today. The only difference is that I added four olives to today serving.

Snack Part 1 (1:00 p.m.): Perhaps the best kiwi I’ve ever tasted.

Snack Part 2 (2:00 p.m.): I was still incredibly hungry (even after the huge bowl of salad) and I was particularly craving sweets, so I made myself a fruit-based juice. I know this is pretty sugary, with two apples and a pear, but I really needed it!

Snack Part 3 (3:30 p.m.): Celery and carrot sticks with the leftover hummus from yesterday. I was still hungry. I read that the first and second days of the detox / cleanse can be the toughest. I didn’t feel that it was all that tough, but I sure was hungry all day.

Dinner (7:45 p.m.): Another gigantic bowl of salad with arugula, spinach, cherry tomatoes, red onion slices, and yes, avocado chunks!

I think I’m eating more than before since I went on this 15-day cleanse yesterday! I love it!

Let the Cleansing Begin …

Posted by Hirono

Day 1

Breakfast (9:30 a.m.): Juice with kale, celery, carrots, pear, orange, and ginger root. I made a mistake of putting in too much ginger, so the juice came out too spicy. I ended up adding a juice of another orange to it just so that I can drink it.

Lunch (1:00 p.m.): Salad with arugula, spinach, red onion, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and red cabbage, with 1 tablespoon of homemade dressing (garlic, rice vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper).

Snack (3:00 p.m.): Celery sticks with jalapeno hummus.

Dinner (7:00 p.m.): Another salad with arugula, spinach, tomatoes, and strawberries, with the homemade dressing.

Today was Day 1 of my 15-day cleanse, inspired by Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I’m not following the program to a T, but I’ve committed myself to eating only clean, vegan food for the next two weeks (in both solid and juice forms). The cleanse is also part inspired by Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Diet so you can say that this is a love-child of two of my favorite detox / cleanse champions.

Although dropping a few pounds would be nice, I’m doing this because I really want to clean my body and mind from the inside out. And I can eat as much vegetables as possible (and lots of fruits) in the next 15 days so I’m very excited about it.

Kale and Okra Soup with Homemade Croutons

Posted by Hirono

I made a soup using the pulps from the Kale Juice and it was amazing. This is a great way to salvage the delicious vegetable bits after juicing, and a great way to add fiber back into your body.

Kale and Okra Soup with Homemade Croutons
(Serves 2-4, depending on your appetite)

Ingredients:

Vegetable bits (kale, celery, pepper, and carrots) from the Surprisingly Delicious Kale Juice.
1/2 strip of bacon, chopped (you can omit this if you want to make it vegan)
1 cup okra, chopped
2 tablespoon maple syrup
12 oz. peeled tomato (if you buy the whole tomatoes, chop them into bite-size pieces)
3 tablespoon olive oil (2 tablespoon for the soup, and 1 tablespoon for croutons)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup bread (preferably a day old), cut into bite-size cubes

Instruction:

When you make the kale juice, make sure to juice the vegetables in this order: kale, celery, bell pepper, and carrots. Before you throw in apples, pears, and ginger, take out all the scraps from the machine and set aside.

In a medium-size pot, sauté the chopped bacon in olive oil in medium heat. Put the vegetable bits in the pot and cook, until they begin to sweat. Add tomatoes and chopped okra, and cook for about 15 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Add water, if you want to thin out the soup a little. Add maple syrup, and salt to pepper to taste.

In a separate pan, heat the olive oil. Add a one day old bread pieces and cook until both sides are golden brown.

Serve the soup in a bowl and top it with the croutons and your herbs of choice (I used fresh dill).

Juice Me: The Joy of Juicing at Home

Posted by Hirono

Inspired by my mother who started incorporating juicing into her life, I purchased my own juicing machine and may I say, I’m hooked! I had a terrible habit of skipping breakfast but now I drink the carrot / celery / apple / ginger concoction every morning and I love every sip of it. I seriously cannot get enough of its deliciousness and my body has been feeling well since I started a week ago.

I purchased the Breville Compact Juice Fountain from Amazon. It was reasonably priced compared to the other models. I was pretty shocked, at first, by how expensive these machines can be (there are some that cost more than $600!) but compared to how much you have to pay for a delicious juice at juice stands and restaurants, I thought it would make financial sense to go for it. These fresh juices typically can cost an upward of $6 for 16 oz at a place like The Real Food Daily.

I wouldn’t necessary call juicing controversial but there are split opinions on juicing benefits (check out this article, “Juice or Not to Juice” by Lululemon Community). One side is convinced that juicing allows the replenishment of vitamins and nutrients our body need, while the other side argues that taking out all the fiber contents from juicing fruits and vegetables has no real health benefits. I think both arguments have validity to them so the decision to juice or not to juice is a personal choice for everyone.

I don’t juice as a method of a weight loss. It would, of course, be nice if I can drop a few pounds (or 30) but I juice because it just tastes so darn good! It’s really that simple. The only downfall is that you have to clean up the machine immediately after you juice; otherwise, these bits of leftover peels can get stuck making it very difficult to get them out later.

Here’s my favorite recipe, using produces that you can easily find in your refrigerator!

My Breakfast Blend

2-3 medium carrots, unpeeled
2 stalks of celery
2 small apples, unpeeled
1 tablespoon ginger, unpeeled (you don’t see it on the photo but ginger is a must!)

Throw everything in the juicer and enjoy! It makes about 16 oz of juice! My next adventure is to start using the peels in spaghetti sauce and carrot muffins.