The greenest smoothie & is it really March again!?!

Holy smokes!!  March 2013 and I'm finally posting again......I mean it's only been a year!?!
Well a lot has happened for sure.

Without a doubt, the most exciting addition to the kitchen is my new little cooking buddy:

....he's amazing! & he loves helping me whip up food we can all eat!!

I kind of fell off the wagon in terms of my clean diet.  But I guess pregnancy & having a new baby will do that to you.  Actually, I think all of the pregnancy hormones helped because I was eating everything (in sight!) and feeling okay. (Woohoo!) Then came baby, and things sort of started going downhill in terms of my skin & belly.

Gradually I have decided to go back to my "clean" living of before and get that healthy feeling back! Plus who couldn't use a little more energy?  I know these days I could.

Join me on my newest eating and cooking adventures.  Of course I'll be posting my creations here for you all.  Hopefully you'll find something to enjoy, and as always.......it's food we can ALL eat!!

To get the ball rolling, I thought I'd start off with this super-healthy, super-green smoothie. My belly has really been feeling in need of a good spring cleaning lately, and this sure did the trick!  

Since we have an OVER-abundance of kale out in the garden right now:

.....it's ingredient #1!

Not to mention the fact that it is SUPER healthy.  It's got fiber, vitamin A, calcium and lots of other amazing nutrients.  Anything that can survive four seasons in my garden like this is surely a super-food!

I also added CUCUMBER: filled with vitamin B, super-hydrating and great for hair and skin,

PARSLEY: antioxidants and vitamin K, plus it's anti-inflammatory (good for eczema,etc.),

AVOCADO: contains vitamins A,C,E,K and B6 and lots of potassium,

APPLE: filled with fiber, vitamins B and C and antioxidants,

BLUEBERRY: #1 antioxidant, iron, zinc and can even work as an anti-depressant

PEAR JUICE: contains vitamins A,B,C, folic acid and niacin, plus it cools your body

BANANA: fiber, potassium, vitamin B6, and it does great things for your gut.

With all of these great ingredients, you know it will make you feel amazing!!  So here's the down and dirty recipe:

Super-green smoothie

This recipe makes enough for two, or one REALLY big smoothie.

1. In a blender combine: 1 cup of kale, half of a cucumber(including peel), 1/2 cup of fresh parsley, half an avocado, 1 apple - cored, 1/2 to 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, 1/2 a cup of pear juice, and 1/2 a cup of water or coconut water, 1 banana and the juice of  1/2 a lime or lemon.

*You can add as much or as little of the fruit and juice that you want, depending on how sweet you like it...........Or you could go hard core & do mostly veggies too.

.....I know, it looks like a salad in there.

2. Mix it all up & serve!  I love this b/c I can save half for later or tomorrow (and I don't have to do the work all over again), or I can share with a friend.

I feel like I should add this WARNING!!:  This thing is serious!  But if you're really feeling in need of a good spring cleaning, this will take care of that.  (I speak from experience) Personally, my belly and skin are feeling MUCH better.  

Hey, and if you have a little TOO much fun this weekend (....I am kind-of jealous!), this smoothie should help get you back on track.  

Give it a try if you dare, & let me know what you think below..........

Who ever said you can't drink your veggies too?

 "Life is not merely to be alive, but to be well."

 ~ Marcus Valerius Martial