When the colder weather arrives, there’s one health-related question I hear more than most: How can you drink smoothies in the fall and winter? Usually, the person is also silently asking how it is that they can manage to drink one in the winter, too, without feeling like an icicle. I can give some answers to this, but I think one must also consider why it is they want the smoothie in the first place. There are three major reasons that smoothies are a go-to breakfast choice for people: Continue reading
Tag: nutrition tips
Guest Post on the Purely Elizabeth Blog
I’m inside taking a break from the waves right now (vacation, yeah!) to tell you about a very special article I wrote for Purely Elizabeth‘s Wellness Wednesdays. If you follow my blog, you’ll know that I am recovering from toxic mold, which caused havoc to my gut and adrenals. This winter, my doctor ordered some tests (ones that I’d gotten a few years back) to see if conditions in my gut were still in need of healing since I’d hit a plateau in the progress in my health.
Raspberry Orange (Green) Smoothie
I always keep my freezer stocked with a variety of frozen fruit, some of which I buy frozen and others which I freeze myself.
When I found an opened bag of raspberries stashed in the back of the freezer, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d used them. I go through phases with different fruits; I’ll eat them like they’re going out of style. Recently, it’s been bananas, blueberries, and oranges, the latter of which makes an appearance in this smoothie. But raspberries? It’s been a while.
Silky Smooth Mango Banana Green Pudding
I like my smoothies to be fairly thick; I more often eat them with a spoon than drink them through a straw. Usually I rely on various food powders and frozen fruit to thicken it up, but frozen fruit isn’t exactly what I crave when it’s 15 degrees outside.
One day, I set out to make a smoothie with a luscious, creamy consistency. What resulted was this pudding. Mango, banana, and chia are all useful for adding body to foods. Add them all together, and bam!, creamy dreamy pudding.
Be a Vegan Label Sleuth
When deciding to go vegan, rarely does one realize how adept they will become with deciphering food labels. For me, it’s second nature; I don’t even think about what I’m doing. If I see a packaged item that I might like to try, I immediately flip it over to scan the ingredients. I can go through a list of 50 ingredients–including all of those hard to pronounce ones–in a few seconds, swiftly picking out any that are not vegan. Of course, I make it easy on myself by not eating too many heavily processed foods, but there are always moments when you need to use these skills. Maybe you’re on a road trip and must resort to food shopping at a gas station, or maybe you’re at your niece’s birthday party and there are some packaged foods that you’d like to try that may be vegan. There are endless scenarios when you may need to label read. If you are a newbie, learning all of this can be a daunting process, but don’t let it deter or frustrate you from making compassionate food choices.
