Day 12, 13, and 14 Love Your Green

Mother's Day was the 12th.  I am plum tuckered out.  We spent Saturday doing more things than we usually do in an entire month, I think.  I am a pretty boring person when it comes down to it, but I am okay with that.

Here is a picture of my mom!  I don't get to spend time with my mom on mother's day so I miss my mom on Mother's Day.  I sent her some flowers and chocolates.  I know she will love them.

Sunday's smoothie was extremely filling.  It was filled with so much stuff I had to wait for it to thaw a bit before I could get it all blended.  Here is the recipe for Tropical Get Away- almond milk 2 cups, kale and spinach mix, 6 strawberries, 1 orange, 1 cup of pineapple, and 1 banana.  So thick and so satisfying.  I have to remember this one when cravings hit.

Monday's smoothie was good, but turned brown.  It was Strawberry Bliss smoothie.  I think I just used water but I might have used almond milk not sure, kale and spinach, 2 cups of frozen strawberries, 1 frozen banana, 2 tsp of vanilla, and 2 TB of honey.  Yummy!

Today's smoothie was a disaster.  First of all I didn't do what the rules told me to do, which was make up my own smoothie, but at the same time it posted a recipe so now I had a dilemma.  Play by the rules or don't worry about the rules because the rules told me to bend them?  For a rule follower that is almost the ultimate dilemma- seriously!  Well I ultimately decided to stick with the given recipe though I had not frozen any of it and was out of bananas.  The only bananas I could get on short notice were not ripe and the apples were not frozen.  My blender does not blend ice well and I don't even think I had ice.  So the smoothie was pretty gross and kinda warm.  I don't blame the recipe, I blame myself.  I tried to put it in the fridge but it was just too frothy.  I drank it but choked it down.  Also there was chard in it and I think a little too much of it.  This is the recipe in case I want to try it again the right way- Apple and Banana Smoothie: 2 cups water or liquids (I think it would have been better with soy or almond milk), 2 handfuls of greens, 1 apple (diced), and 1 banana.

Also some victories as well as set backs on eating this week in general- I was not tempted by anything sweet on Mother's Day.  It felt wonderful to be full and satisfied.  But somehow and possibly not food related I was SO tired Sunday night and almost all of Monday I was really grumpy.  I didn't want to make any food which also causes me to gain weight because I either snack or put on some kind of stress weight.  Any way Monday night was just full of carbs because that is how my husband cooks.  I was just so tired and hadn't planned well.  It was just frustrated.  I ate too many snacks today as well- crackers- why must you torture me with your convenience?  But I did find strawberries for .99 cents a pound!!!  That was the highlight of my day.  My husband has also started making his own green smoothies.  Yeah!  We will all get healthy yet!

Weight is the same- 148 lb even anyone cares.  I need to find a fun workout video.  Nothing is cutting it for me. 

Day 11 Love Your Greens

What a fun day!  This was the first time we have had the smoothie at a different time of day and also using almond vanilla milk.  The whole family went to breakfast at Neufeldt's.  We went to the Salem Saturday Market and bought my mother-in-law a bouquet of flowers.  We went to LifeSource for the food fair.  I probably shouldn't have had such a big breakfast because there was a lot to sample at the food fair.  The kombucha was delicious.  The grilled tofu and beet and carrot salad were excellent as well.  It was a hot day and hard to wait in line but we did it.  Plus we made a stop at Trader Joes for some chia seeds, flax, and almond milk.  I am starting to sound more like healthy hippie food nut every day.  I had a gift card or else I would have passed on chia seeds for another time.

Today's smoothie we made in place of dinner salad.  It was an apple cinnamon smoothie.  It had me at cinnamon.  I knew this one was going to be delicious and it was.  Here is the recipe I used- 2 cups of almond vanilla milk, kale and spinach mix, 3 apple pieces frozen, 2 1/2 bananas, and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.  It tasted like a apple pie milkshake.  It might be my most favorite. 

Day 10 Love Your Greens

This was the first time I have tried regular milk in the smoothie.  Before this greens challenge I had never had a green smoothie.  I don't think I ever would have considered having one before this.  But things change and you grow and learn.  It has been fun retraining my taste buds and really challenging my narrow minded views on food. 

So the original recipe called for chia gel but I failed to get that, but besides that pretty much stuck to the recipe.  We mixed whole milk and water (2 cups), spinach and kale, 2 cups frozen blueberries, and a tsp of vanilla (and you count to 4 and you never get your filla! smoothies so sweet and taste, smoothies don't be too haste! smoothies! smoothies! smoothies! smoothies!)  Sorry!  I couldn't resist the My Little Ponies plug.  Any way... to quote Hermione, "It tastes like a healthy vanilla milkshake!"  She was right.  We also had to doctor this one up a bit.  It was pretty sour when we first poured it so we added a bit of honey.  That perked it right up.  

Day 9 Love Your Greens

We have been dared to try dandelion greens but I am going to wait till I can get to LifeSource because I know for sure they have chia seeds and they are having a food fair on Saturday.  What a great excuse to get out of the house! 

For those of you who may be curious LifeSource is a locally owned health food store in Salem, OR.  It is probably comparable to Whole Foods but a little smaller.  I use to work next door to it- at the party supply store.  I wish now that I would have taken time to learn more about health and nutrition but alas I was a very poor college student who lived off of Top Ramen and bummed food off of friends which was usually pizza or spaghetti or burritos. 

Any way, on to the challenge.  Today will be a short post.  I thought I had run out of pineapple and was seriously thinking of going into the nearest town to get a fresh one, but I could justify the gas.  So to the dinky Aumsville Market I went for some canned stuff only to come home and realize I put the pineapple  in the box I keep the next day smoothies in.  Silly me- being all prepared.  The kids liked having extra pineapple any way.  The smoothie today was called Tropical Orange Heaven.  Here is the recipe- water, spinach and kale mix, 1 mango, half cup of pineapple, and the juice of 2 oranges plus I went a little off the recipe and added 5 slices of frozen oranges.  Very yummy!  After butchering the mango I had to Youtube how to cut one up.  I felt like an idiot because that is how my mom cut them up all the time.  I just didn't realize there was a reason- there is a huge pit inside!  I also looked up how to cut a pineapple whenever I decide to get a fresh one.  For right now I will stick the with the canned or frozen in the bag variety. 

Oh I will post this just because:
Weight- 146.5

Day 8 Love Your Greens

A big dose of honest- I do NOT want to weigh myself today and I am not going to.  I had a little bit of a set back today.  I didn't binge on carbs and sweets but I know I over did it in the fatty meats department.  I was cooking a pork roast today and the crunchy fatty bits said, "Eat us!  We are deee-lii-cious!"  It was torture.  I was so hungry.  The roast took 4 hours to cook.  I ate the fatty bits.  They were good, but now I regret it and feel yucky.  It is time to start the ab challenge along with the greens challenge.  When there are days like this when I don't even feel like this is my body, I need a change.  

I ran across this today on Facebook.  I think it could be something I could do that would not require my medication.  I will let you know how this goes too.

Well update on the original challenge- The novelty of making smoothies has worn off for Ariana.  She didn't want to help make one today even though Hermione wasn't here to hog up all the helping- not that she does but sometimes there are fights.  But Ariana did drink this one and it was a pretty neon green color a lot like the first one we made.  I have been waiting to try this particular smoothie after I saw it posted on Unconventional Kitchen.  It is called Pineapple Bliss- 1 cup of water, 1 cup of coconut milk (my first time with this ingredient!), spinach, 1/2 cup of pineapple, frozen pear pieces (hoping for at least 2 small pears worth), and 1 banana.  Even though this one had banana I could barely taste it.  It was yum and I had 2 because- surprise, surprise- my husband asked for one for lunch!  We will get some greens in his diet yet!  I also made extra for Hermione as a snack for after school.  I still love making and preparing the smoothies even if one of kids doesn't show interest.  But now I am out of pineapple.  I hate making special trips just for one item but I want to do this challenge right so I will probably be off to the store tomorrow trying to find a pineapple and dandelion leaves (we were challenged to add those- I could probably get them at Lifesource but that is downtown, hum, the only other options are Safeway and Roth's- let the hunt begin!). 

Well after all that greasy meat I need a shower and a good show to unwind my day and maybe some crunches, though I think I would feel better if I started that tomorrow. 

Day 7 Love Your Greens- one whole week!

One whole week of green smoothies every day!  I love it.  I could do this every day if I could spend that much.  Still trying to figure out the costs.  We will have to see how this month goes then reevaluate.  Speaking of cost I definitely had to get more produce today especially now that the kids are on board.  Strawberries seem to be a big hit so they disappear as soon as you turn around.  I need to look for U-Pick place soon.  Here is the evaluation of today's smoothie-

Weight- 147 BMI-28.7
Feeling: not loosing weight is not so much fun but I guess since I am not working out I shouldn't be too surprised, but I do feel energized and I feel like I am doing something good for my body

I honestly didn't expect to loose weight so that is okay, but I thought just MAYBE I could be wrong.  It's okay.  I like how I feel so far.  My sugar and carbs cravings have really gone down.  I spit out chocolate frosting today.  The only reason that was even available to me was because a lady at the store was giving them to my kids ad I was trying to decrease the mess that the baby would make so I thought I would just eat the frosting off the top.  Oh!  It was so gross, ladies and gentlemen.  I am not a huge frosting fan to begin with but I can't even keep it in my mouth let alone eat it.  It also helps when I don't keep any junk in the house either.

I needed to go to the store for today's smoothie.  We were really low on strawberries, bananas, and limes and of course the most important ingredient- the GREENS!  Today was Zippy Lime Smoothie with water, kale and spinach mix, 1/4 cup of lime juice, 2 tsp. of zest (that took way too long to grate), 1 banana, and 10 strawberries.  This was by far the thinnest smoothie we have made probably because some of the strawberries were not frozen.  Since I enjoy them a little more thick I added a few scoops of Greek yogurt and since it was quite tart I added some honey.  It was yummy, refreshing, and light.  Ariana abandoned her smoothie and ate the rest of the container of strawberries instead.  I have heard the next smoothie is really good so maybe she will try the next one.  I am excited to use coconut milk.  Tomorrow I will try to add up some of the costs.  I know I spent a little over $100 on groceries this week but I feel like I am okay with that.  I am determined to make this work.  

Day 6 Love Your Greens

Weight- 148 (yikes! I think I am eating too many fatty nuts from all the granola) BMI- 28.9

Well the weight is not so encouraging.  I better get up and try some Pilates tomorrow.  I am feeling pretty tired from a 3:30am emergency last night.  Don't worry!  Everyone is okay.  I just don't function well on too little sleep. 

Today was also a fail.  Someone did not want to try the smoothie today.  It was the 3 year old.  She was turned off by the color.  This was my first "green" smoothie that was more of a brown muddy color.  I forgot to warn her that the berries would turn the smoothie very dark- almost black.  The recipe for today: the Berrylicious Smoothie or Berry Green Smoothie- water, mix of kale and spinach, 2 big handfuls of raspberries, 3 big handfuls of strawberry slices, 2 bananas, and 1/2 cup of sprouted cashews.  This was the first time I sprouted something.  Which in this case was just soaking nuts overnight.  They blended much better than the last time.  Hermione was almost put off by the color so I let her taste it before pouring it.  She said, "Yum, tastes like bananas."  Baby Lucy loved it.  She seems to love anything through a straw.  Since Ariana would not touch it I was able to give my husband his own.  Hermione took a picture of him.  Will get it up soon.  I thought it was very good.  I did taste the tart raspberries even though many of these recipes have tasted like banana.  Bananas are strong.  It has taken me a long time to even tolerate bananas.  I am hoping that the nutrients I am receiving from them will really help my body in the long run.

I am running really low on ingredients so to the store I go tomorrow especially for lime.  I do enjoy the limes.  I pray that I can keep this week's budget under $100.   

Day 5 Love Your Greens

Weight- 146  BMI-28
Feeling: a little sore throat but feeling good, sugar cravings have gone WAY down today,  I walked past a tray of cookies and was not tempted to eat even one.  Also I couldn't even stomach a roll made with white flour and HFC.  I spit it out!  How crazy is that! 

Today we tried the Lime Sublime Smoothie.  We mixed water, kale and spinach, 2 cups of frozen green grapes, the zest of a lime, and 1 cup of pineapple.  It was  a lot like yesterdays without the cilantro-y taste.  Yummy limeade goodness!  Lucy got to try some this time.  Drank it all up.  I have got to share how crazy this is next time I have free time. 

Day 4 Love Your Greens

I am spending this evening downloading many MANY ebooks from the Ultimate Homemaking ebook bundle- sorry the deal expired tonight- I waited till practically the last minute as to whether I wanted it or not.  There are at least 3 books in the pack I REALLY wanted so I figure it might actually be worth it plus it was a great deal (95% off).  I know that has nothing to do with the challenge I just have to keep explaining why my posts are always shorter than I would like them to be. 

Weight- 145 BMI-28
Feeling:  good, a little sore from I am not sure what, my throat hurts a little and my ears seem stuffy but I don't feel bad

Today's smoothie was so interesting.  It was different because it didn't have banana.  This one was called Delicious Detox smoothie.  This was what we used for the recipe: water, kale and spinach mix, the juice of one lime, 2 cups of canned pineapple that had been frozen, a frozen avocado, a few shakes of ginger from the spice rack (it called for fresh but I don't think I am ready to spring for that yet), and cilantro (I put in 1/3 cup).  Thank goodness we all like cilantro.  It does not taste like soap to us.  In fact, Hermione said she couldn't taste it.  She said it tasted like pineapple.  I was worried because of the avocado.  I don't like avocado but I heard that mixing it in a smoothie just makes it creamy and you can't taste it.  Good thing because it was great.  I thought it tasted like a healthy lemonade.  I might actually use lemon juice next time.  It was tart but I got use to it after a few sips.  The baby didn't get this one.  She was napping and I was a little worried about the detox side affects.  So far there does not seem to be anyone having any side affects so I think we are good. 

Oh!  I also went out and bought new smoothie cups from the Dollar Store.  Check them out!

New Smoothie Cups

Hermione and Delicious Detox Smoothie

Me

Ariana-age 3

Hi!

I love this one!

Day 3 Love Your Greens

This is another short post.  I have a women's brunch to prep for- making 6 pounds of homemade granola and have to finish the crafts for the kids.  It will be a long night.

Well slipped off the whole foods wagon for tonight because of business.  My husband got some fried chicken, potato chips, and soda.  It was still good and I hope I ate in moderation.

Weight- 145 BMI-28
Feeling: Good, energetic, rested, still a little heavy but working on it, also mad at my hair (that has nothing to do with the challenge just thought I should mention that), I think some of the sugar cravings have gone down, but it could all be in my head. 

Today's smoothie was Strawberry Orange Green Smoothie.  I used water, kale and spinach mix, 2 oranges, 1 banana, a few handfuls of sliced frozen strawberries, and a few TBS of cashews.  We almost substituted almonds for the cashews because we were waiting for Daddy to come home with them.  Hermione did not want to make it with almonds.  She insisted we have to make it by the rules.  She is my first born for sure!  I probably would have said the same thing at her age.  But we got the cashews just in time.  This is the first smoothie we had to sweeten with honey because it came out a little tart.  I think the oranges weren't as sweet as the first ones we used.  This one was a big hit, though, it was a little grainy because of the poor blender.  We even made enough for Daddy.  He tried one.  He said, "Not bad."  So far so good.  

Day 2 of Love Your Greens

It is late so this will be short post.  Since it was nearly 80 degrees out in Oregon today we had our smoothie in the sunshine.  It was a Sweet Kale smoothie.  It was our first experience with kale.  I was really not sure about this one because I have been told it is very bitter, but I took the advice from many on Facebook to freeze it first.  We blended about 2 handfuls of kale with apple juice and water.  I had already frozen an apple and added that because the recipe called for more apple juice than I had.  And then blended 3 bananas.  It was enough for one meal replacement size for me and split with the other 3 girls.  We liked it very much.  It was very sweet- maybe next time less banana and maybe try a tart apple.  The blender had a tough time with so many bananas and the kale wasn't quite as mashed up as I would have liked, but still we were able to suck it all through a straw. 

Weight: 146 BMI- 28
How do I feel?  I love drinking the smoothies.  I am still very excited about it.  I got to tell my mother-in-law today and of course she is very supportive.  With all this extra fiber I have to be honest that I am feeling a little gassy, but that is no reason to quit- so watch out people.  Hopefully my body will adjust.  I feel a little more energetic, but that is hard to judge because it has only been 2 days. 

See you tomorrow with another update. 

Here is the Big Day! Day 1 Love Your Greens 30 Day Challenge

I am so excited!  I want this to do be more of a lifestyle change than just 30 days out of my life to eat greens.  I might not make a smoothie EVERY DAY after this but I am going to consider putting them in my weekly rotation.  

First of all I have some questions to answer.  What do I want to accomplish?  Why am I doing this?  I want to attempt to reverse my pre-diabetes and start my road to a more healthy lifestyle.  Although I truly would not mind loosing some of the weight at least 10 pounds at this point couldn't hurt.  I will be at least chronicling the weight (this is me being very vulnerable) and trying to observe the changes in my body over the next 30 days.  I am doing this because it sounded like fun.  I love smoothies and I like spinach- why not mix it up?  Also since I have been a regular visitor to 100 Days of Real Food that is where I discovered the challenge, I thought I could learn a lot by participating in a challenge.  Before this I had never heard of the Unconventional Kitchen and have been thrilled and encouraged in this journey. 

Day 1
Weight- 147 lbs.  BMI- 28
Since I like quiet morning (A LOT) and my baby has VERY sensitive ears I decided to wait on the smoothie till lunch.  Plus I promised Ariana she could be a part of this.  Although I had never originally planned on getting my children involved they seemed more than willing to participate so I will have to update my list and buy more produce.  Ariana already plowed through 2 pounds of strawberries this morning so good thing I have 3 more pounds (1 in the freezer and 2 more in the fridge). 

The first smoothie was suppose to be a basic green smoothie.  I also want to point out that this is my very first GREEN SMOOTHIE!   So we used a large handful of spinach and about 1 cup of water blended it nicely.  I have an Oster blender that was my husband's before we were married so I am unsure as to how old it is.  I hope it will make it through all this challenge.  After the spinach and water were blended we added some frozen fruit- half a banana, a whole frozen orange that had been frozen in sections, and a few spoonfuls of pineapple.  The blender took a few tries but with the help of the poking down spatula it blended nice and smooth.   We did not add any extra sweeteners like honey or agave.  It was delicious.  My girls drank it all before I even had a taste of my own.  My only ever so minor complaint (and this is EXTREMELY minor) was the orange's pulps made the texture a bit strange, but that was easy enough to get over.  The whole time we were drinking the smoothies the baby was eying it so I guess I need to get her her own smoothie cup (the kind with the straws).   My oldest, Hermione, has really stepped it up and has seen the change in our eating habits.  She asked me today, "So if we are trying to eat healthy, what do I eat at birthday parties?"  I told her it was okay to have treats sometimes but when we go to parties we eat one small slice of cake and small scoop of ice cream and if there is candy you do not need more than 3 pieces.  I am trying to be reasonable and I do not want to be a snob by making my child bring a her own healthy snack to other parties.  I can understand if kids have allergies but mine do not so we try for moderation as the goal and be thankful and grateful for all the work that goes into party food.  Going to see if I can get my husband to try one over the weekend.  By the end of this challenge hopefully everyone will have their picture in here drinking healthy green smoothies!  

Hermione, age 5, and Ariana, age 3 drinking a Basic Green Smoothie