Pucker-Up Smoothie

I loved this mornings smoothie so much because I was really craving something tart and this was it! Very refreshing for a morning that started out at over 80*F

2 Granny Smith Apples
1 Cucumber
Juice of 4 Key Limes
2 Tbl Honey
1 cup water
1 cup ice

Blend until smooth

I Don't Like...

I always hear those words... it doesn't matter what the ingredient is - Spinach, Beets, Celery, Kale, Chard - ah ha, there was at least one of those you nodded your head to, right? Well, let me tell you. There's times I don't like something...I mean really...Jicama?...who eats Jicama anyway... but I've learned the trick to eating something I don't really find appealing...

Take beets for instance, the number one veggie everyone tells me they don't like when they see it in my smoothie ingredient list. Once upon a time I wouldn't touch a beet with a ten foot pole, and then a friend of mine shared a photo of her smoothie...and it looked so incredibly disgusting, so wrong, so...bloody... and that's when I knew I had to find out just what she was drinking... turns out it was beets and I trepiditiously (I don't think that's a real word) went to the store in search of organic beats... and found them. It took a few days of staring at them before I actually threw one in the blender... and low and behold... yum! But not because I loved beets, because I loved what I mixed with the beets to mask the flavor. Pick a fruit, any fruit, preferably one with a strong flavor that steals the show: bananas, pineapple, very ripe peaches, strawberries.

The strange thing is - and this really did happen - the next morning, I woke up craving beets. Not the flavor of the smoothie so carefully masking the flavor of what I thought I didn't like, but the actual earthy taste of beets. Weird  right? Well, I never dismiss a craving, because I know that my body is instinctually aware of what it needs. I made another smoothie, different masking flavor, one that allowed some but not all of that beet flavor through...and I'm not going to lie...I didn't love it...but my body loved it. It seemed like every cell was doing a happy dance for hours after that smoothie.

I did a little research and discovered that beets contain nitrates. Yes, this is a good thing and here's why. Nitric oxide allows the blood vessels to dilate which allows for increased blood flow. No wonder my body was doing a cellular level happy dance:)

I was also really fun to drink the scarlet smoothie in front of my hubby to see him cringe. He said it looked like "Goat's Blood" and hence my smoothie had a name:)

**Goat's Blood Smoothie

1 Beet, 6-7 Baby Carrots, 1 Celery Stalk

1/2 cp Blueberries 6 Lg Strawberries

1 cp Organic Lemonade

1 cp Water

**No animals are harmed in the making of this smoothie -Please Use Organic Produce! Your body will thank you. 

Blend all except water at Medium speed until all veggies are smooth increase to High Speed for about a minute (if you use a blender as I do this smoothie will have "texture" add enough water at this point so that you do not feel like you have to chew...) I add 1cp Water and mix for a few seconds on High.

Supplies 3 Veggies, 2 Fruits approx 253 calories (for 90 reduced calories use all water no lemonade)

Another One?

Does The World Really Need Another RAW Food Blog?

If you google RAW food you will find dozens of pages...hundreds of blogs...more ex-chefs turned RAW-chefs selling everything from cookbooks to supplements to their personal advice and life-coaching skills for a lot of moolah...
So in answer to the question...NO! The world does not need another one of those...

This blog is for me... a way to keep myself accountable because I keep falling off the RAWwagon... and for my friends who are kind enough to email me asking for the ingredients to the last fab smoothie I posted on Facebook:) There is no promise I will never, ever, ever write a RAW cookbook (I am a writer) and I never, ever, ever try to second guess the fates... but for now, it is not my plan or intention so if you are here and enjoy a recipe use it. Just please do not re-post as your own.
And with that said, I present the first recipe. A smoothie, of course.

Perfect Summer Morning Starter

1cp Summer Squash, 6-7 Baby Carrots 

1Banana, 1 cp Pineapple, 3/4 cp grapes

1 cp Organic Lemonade

1 cp Water


Blend all except water at Medium speed until all veggies are smooth increase to High Speed for about a minute (if you use a blender as I do this smoothie will have "texture" add enough water at this point so that you do not feel like you have to chew...) I add 1cp Water and mix for a few seconds on High


Supplies 2 Veggies, 3 Fruits approx approx 271 calories (for 90 reduced calories use all water no lemonade)