Green Starter Smoothie

For my birthday last year, I got a blender. To some this may sound like a dull 25th birthday present, but I could not have been more excited. As silly as it sounds, that kitchen appliance changed my life. I'm not exaggerating when I say I use it four or five times a week. It is one of the best presents I have received.

For the first few months, I stuck solely to fruits. Then one day when I was feeling brave, I decided to try those green smoothies everyone was raving about. While the idea of downing a green drink did not really appeal to me the promise of a healthier, brighter complexion certainly did. After my first sip, I was hooked. If that was health, sign me up! I can do this all day, everyday.

And since then, green smoothies have become a staple breakfast at my house. I experiment with just about every green I can get my hands on: romaine, endive, kale, swiss chard, parsley, basil, dandelion greens, arugula. But my one true love, the one I will always, always come back to is spinach. It's also the green I pick when I'm trying to convince my friends and family to convert to the green side. The flavor is extremely mild and it blends into a smooth, creamy texture without one of those freaklishly high-performance blenders. This is why it's the star of my green smoothie for starters. This recipe is perfect if you want to get into green smoothies, but find them a little outside your comfort zone. Start with more fruit and less spinach if you are worried about the taste and remember you can always add honey to bump up the sweetness, but the ripe fruits alone should offer plenty of fructose to please your palate.

Post-Workout (Hangover) Smoothie

 

It’s no secret that eating and drinking after a workout (or a night out) is important. It not only replaces lost fluids and brings your blood sugar levels back up, it actually shortens your recovery time if done within 30 minutes of working out.* That’s why I try to get a smoothie in after a gym session.

My go-to recipe is just banana, cucumber and lemon with a few berries for a splash of color and antioxidants. It gives your body fluid and a little boost of potassium and magnesium to prevent muscle cramping, helps replace muscle glycogen and neutralizes the acid that forms in your body from exercise (and alcohol!!). Plus a tough workout (or night drinking) can weaken your immune system. The vitamin C from the fruit and veg helps boost your defenses.

This smoothie is very light intentionally. If you want to thicken it up add less liquid. For a little more protein (the optimal post-work ratio of carbs to protein is about 4:1), feel free to blend in some soaked chia seeds or quality protein powders. If you want a stronger alkalizing effect, leave out the berries and add a few leaves of romaine lettuce in. I promise you won't even taste them!

Recap of the benefits:

• Hydration: After sweating it out at the gym or a late night out, you need to replace those fluids! The fruits and veg really make the water more enjoyable to drink.
• Faster recovery: The carbs help stimulate insulin production which aids in replacing muscle glycogen.
• Acid neutralization: Working out or drinking alcohol causes your body to form acid. To neutralize this acid, your body uses valuable minerals, like zinc, potassium, iron and calcium. Cucumbers, bananas and lemons (yes, even though they are acidic) have an alkalizing effect on your body. This way you don’t lose valuable minerals!
• Blood sugar boost: After working out or drinking, your blood sugar is likely on the floor. Having easily digestable carbs helps bring it back to a healthy level and ease a headache.
• Immune system boost: Vitamin C!
• Antioxidants: The antioxidants from the fruit (especially the berries!) help fight the oxidation process that can cause damage to cells in your body.
• Flushout toxins: The lemon also stimulates your liver to flush out toxins, which is extra important after drinking!
• Extra potassium and magnesium: Help prevent muscle cramping.

* Read more here.

Tropical Green Smoothie

 

So for about the last month, I’ve been incorporating green smoothies into my morning routine. Not only are they actually absolutely delicious, they make you feel amazing! I can say without a doubt that my skin has never looked better. My energy levels are sky high in the mornings (much to the dismay and confusion of some of my coworker’s).

Now, those of your already on board with green smoothies, get excited! This recipe is a tropical take on how to get your greens in a glass. But I know there are some of you for whom the very idea of downing a green drink first thing in the morning has your stomach turning and face squinched in disgust. All I can say is, give it a try!  Look at the pros and cons: What’s the worst that could happen? You absolutely hate it and pour it down the drain. Bummer, but that’s maybe two bucks wasted. The best? You find yourself actually enjoying something that is FANTASTIC for you! You feel amazing, your skin glows and you have tons of energy. At least that was my thinking when I first tried them out.

I got hooked after watching Kimberly Snyder make her Glowing Green Smoothie (YouTube link here). One look at her shiny hair and radiant skin and you want to be doing whatever it is she is doing. Clearly it is working!
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A breakdown of the benefits
Spinach and romaine lettuce – The list is long my friends. It’s high in fiber, vitamin K and A, rich in cancer-fighting antioxidants (like lutein) that neutralize free radicals; it’s anti-inflammatory and it helps regulate blood sugar and strengthen bones. And the list goes on. Click here for more.

Avocado– It’s not only creamy and delicious, it’s a super food! Along with omega 3’s that boost brain function and cardiovascular health, they are a great source of potassium (more than twice as much as a banana!), vitamin C, B-vitamins and folic acid. Their fiber keeps you full, helps you absorb more nutrients while digesting.

Lime juice – Helps your liver flush out toxins, gets your digestive system moving (diuretic) and gives you a dose of vitamin C.

Kiwi – This little sucker has more vitamin C than an orange! Helps strengthen your immune system, promotes cell repair (better skin), and helps us deal with stress better!

Banana – A dose of potassium and B-vitamins! To keep your energy up and muscles moving.

Mango – Contains cancer-fighting antioxidants like quercetin, isoquercitrin, astragalin, fisetin, gallic acid and methylgallat. High in fiber. A good source of potassium, vitamin-B6, and vitamin A, C and E.

Water – Hydration. You just spent 7-8 hours not drinking anything. Give your body some liquids!

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Smoothie tips:

· On a budget? Buy frozen spinach! So, so much cheaper and it keep for ages.

· New to green smoothies? Start with more fruit and less greens. Slowly add more. Like many good things in life (beer, wine), you may find it’s an acquired taste. But one totally WORTH acquiring!

· Peel and freeze your bananas for an even creamier smoothie

· Still too grassy? Citrus cuts that flavor. Add more lime or lemon juice and fresh orange, grapefruit or tangerines to help balance the taste.

· Still need the kick that coffee gives you? Try using chilled green tea, which will give you some
   caffeine with a ton of antioxidants.

Green Ice Tea Detox

A brief history of my relationship with green tea

Green tea and I didn’t use to be friends – I found it to be so, so bitter. But everywhere I looked someone was gushing about its incredible health benefits: It’s packed with important antioxidants. It has cancer- and heart-disease-fighting properties. It can help burn fat while lowering bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol. It improves artery function and can help prevent diabetes and stroke. And researchers seem to agree (Harvard Health Publications, WebMD).

If I could enjoy even half of these benefits, I wanted to be on board. So I’d try time and time again to spark a lasting, loving relationship with green tea. I thought maybe I just had to get accustomed to the flavor. You know like when you have your first sip of coffee or beer and feel compelled to spew it back out. Then five years down the road, you find yourself laughing at your former, naive self and wondering how you could ever have disliked beer and all its greatness. I’d reluctantly add spoonful after spoonful of sugar or honey to my tea just to try to mask the taste then ultimately abandon my sickeningly sweet concoction about halfway through.

New beginnings

But, I’m both proud and excited to say that green tea and I are now best buds! And it’s all thanks to a colleague who showed me the light. He made me my first cup of good green tea. It was NOT bitter in the least. Apparently, I’d been brewing it all wrong. Go figure. Unlike black teas where you can dunk the tea into freshly boiled water, green tea requires cooler water. By scorching it, I was bringing out that terrible taste. You simply boil water and then let it sit for a while. My rule of thumb is more like a rule of index finger: If I can dip my finger in without pain, it’s ready for the tea. Then let the tea steep for about 3 minutes. The result is a very delicate, grassy flavor.

Having found this new friend, I’ve been looking for ways to incorporate it into my life. And this green ice tea detox is one of my absolute favorite. To boost the long list of benefits, I add some lemon juice which contains vitamin C and helps flush out toxins. Depending on my mood, I’ll toss in some mint or cucumber for added flavor. And besides just drinking it over ice on a hot summer day, you can also put it in smoothies instead of milk or water. Besides the wealth of health benefits I listed above, it is low in calories and gives you a slight caffeine boost. I LOVE it in my morning smoothies! I’ll try to do a post soon with some of my favorite green tea smoothie recipes.

Pomegranate Rosé Summer Spritzer

I'm back at home in the good ol' US of A to celebrate my no-longer-little sister's 21st. When did she get so old!??? When did I get so old??? SOBBB. While this milestone initially left me nostalgic for years past when we all lived under one roof, it dawned on me that I have also gained a new drinking buddy. We can show up to happy hours across America and slip on cocktails. We can order margaritas and chow down on Mexican food. We can order a beer with our burgers! 

As the older, wiser sister, it was my job to pick out a drink for the family birthday bash that would good down easy with everyone. Since we were having crab cakes, it needed to be something light and refreshing. We ended up making my go-to summer drink: a rosé spritzer. Normally, I keep it super simple with a fresh, fruity rosé and some sprite. But I wanted to "kick it up a notch" to borrow Emeril's catch phrase). She is turning 21 after all. Some pomegranate juice, lemonade and fresh berries made it just that much more festive. 

Disclaimer: This drink is excessively drinkable. Luckily it doesn't have the same punch as a Long Island Ice Tea or we'd all be in trouble. 

Hope you enjoy! 

Get Well Soon: Lemon Ginger Tea

Success!! The boyfriend is no longer sick and I dodged the bullet entirely thanks in no small part to this tea! I literally made pot after pot of it. It’s just so much stronger and fresher than what you get from a tea bag that you won’t want to go back.

And it’s especially great for colds that give you a stuffy head, scratchy throat and sinus pressure. Why?

1. The lemon juice is full of Vitamin C and phytochemicals, which help boost your immune system.

2. Like any tea, the warm liquid helps loosen congestion in your head.

3. Honey helps sooth your throat.

4. Ginger stimulates circulation and is a diaphoretic, which means it brings heat into the body and causes you to sweat. This helps flush out bacteria and other toxins through the skin.

5. Staying hydrated helps reduce fever and replace fluids lost to sweating.

Added BONUS: You can also use it for gargling. Just add a big pinch of salt to a mug full of warm tea and gargle as you normally would.

But this drink is not just for sick people. It’s makes a delicious tea for the fall and winter months and I drink it cold in the summer and spring. To jazz it up, I just drop in frozen raspberries and mint. Then you have a gorgeous and refreshing drink to serve.

Lemon Ginger Detox Drink

This is how I've been jump starting my mornings lately. Lemon-ginger water. 

Before starting on my 40-day health quest, I had read and heard that drinking lemon water right when you get up was a must-do. Models and celebrities like Miranda Kerr and Gwyenth Paltrow seem to swear by it. So I looked into myself. And let me tell you: It may not seem like much, but I guarantee you will feel it working... sometimes within minutes. I'll just put it that way.

Besides starting your day off with a little vitamin C and hydration, the lemon juice is considered an antioxidant and mild diuretic that supports your liver and kidney in their job of flushing out toxins. You can read more about the benefits here.

To save time, I prepare a big pitcher of lemon juice and ginger on Sundays and have it waiting in the fridge for me. Each morning, I pour a few tablespoons into a glass and add room-temperature water.

Berry Beet Juice

Beets for breakfast?

Alright, admittedly, it sounds suspicious, but it’s actually delightful. So much so that by the time I thought to take a picture, my cup was more than half empty.

Ever since I realized the nutritional benefits of beets, I’ve been trying to sneak them into my diet . I say sneak, because for the time being I am inexplicably mildly repulsed by their texture. (more on nutrition below recipe)

For those of you who share this sentiment or just are interested in incorporating beets into your diet, juicing is one way to go. If you happen find yourself without a juicer, (like me) don’t worry, I got you!